Is it just me, or are new bikes....

I have an '83 XJ550 Maxim, in pretty good shape. I was in the cycle dealer the other day getting a new front tire mounted.

I was looking at the new bikes. I don't like them. It seems they are either:

- crotch rockets
- huge engine cruisers
- dirt bikes

It made me look online at the different manufacturers current lines. It seems Japanese companies don't make street bikes of the style these mid 80's Maxims and Secas in the 550-750 range.

Harley makes some of similar style, but they are really expensive.

Except for the Suzuki Boulevard S40, ore the Honda Rebel which are really small engines, it seems like these style bikes aren't made any more.

Thoughts?

 

They may not be making that particular style but one style that I do like that seems to be making a come back is the cafe style like to Ducati Scrambler

 

I had the same thoughts, all cruisers and rockets. I have no interest in the new bikes. They all look the same. The Triumph bonneville and America, I would think about buying. I cann't give up the maxim and seca though. Just to much fun and simple to maintain!

 

Is it just me, or are new bikes....
lighter, faster, better suspended, more fuel efficient, safer, cleaner running, and as dependable.
yes

 

The Ducati and Triumph are nice examples if the style I'm talking about. However, they don't burn rice.

 

There are plenty of standards out there....just almost none of them are sold in the U.S.

 

I agree with the seemingly miising group of bikes on the market, but I keep coming back to check out the Yamaha Bolt. It's a bit more cruiser styling but still has a nice look. Here is my custom build from the website. Looks a bit like my XJ:

 

Great. Now where's the shaft drive? That's the reason I bought the XJ in the first place...

 

The closest Yamaha relative of the XJ line is the XJR.

They still make it. They still won't sell in in either North or South America.

 

It's on the Super Tenere'

The Bolt looks great, but it's too low and feels small even compared to a Maxim 650.

 

Matti wants one of these:

Honda 599.
They're kinda expensive. And no shaft drive. The styling on most other standards is too crazy for me. Round headlights are better in my book. Swoopy, swirly plastic makes bikes and cars look like bicycle helmets. I like Suzuki SV650, too, but the V-twin kinda weirds me out.

 

Yamaha makes the SR400, a standard motorcycle with an air-cooled parallel twin. From the Japanese bikes, it's pretty much the only one of its kind. It's similar to an XS400, but with some modern amenities like EFI.

Most modern bikes are going to be EFI. Manufacturers need to design bikes that will hopefully be embraced by the public, and hopefully, not pushed out of the market due to emissions standards. I bought a brand new DR650 about two years ago now, and it was really obvious to me that Suzuki really has to make some big compromises to the bike to have it leave the shipping doc - since it is a carbed bike, getting it to pass our tight emissions standards, it barely ran when it was first delivered to me! The bike required choke until the cases were HOT (probably 10 minutes of riding), and would still stall out if left to idle much longer than your average stop light. The pilot screw was just about bottomed out (about 1/2 a turn out) and was plugged under a brass insert. Once I removed the brass insert and adjusted the pilot and idle, the bike ran SOOO much better, but the performance was still lacking, and at mid throttle while cruising, I'd get lean bucking. Many people buy jet kits and modify the stock carb on that bike (since it comes stock with a non adjustable needle) - but I chose a more long term fix, and replaced the CV carb with a pumper carb. Before the mod, the bike was anemic, asthmatic, and could not pull out low rpm's (which made it a bear to ride off road), but now, the bike runs healthy, probably about how the designers in the early 90's thought it should... But just to be sold legally in the states with a carburator, they have to starve the thing of fuel and air so that it appears to pollute less.

Long story short - the modern emissions standards of US models must meet emissions standards that are becoming ever more stringent, so a lot of this old technology we are used to will become a thing of the past, and quickly. EFI makes for easier control on the part of the manufacturer, and can lead to better fuel economy, more performance, etc. I for one am happy with my carbs - I understand them, and can fix them on the side of the road if need be. Not so with EFI, at least not yet.

Yamaha still uses what appears to be an IDENTICAL shaft drive on the FJR, which is a 1300cc sport tourer, a monster in its own right.

 

The Sr400 is a single.

Euro emissions are more stringent.

The U.S. Motorcycle market is among the smallest in the world, which is a large part of why we get so few choices.

 

Woops, my mistake. Air cooled and EFI, though.

Also true - but they have all but gotten rid of carbed bikes as well. Most manufacturers aren't designing new bikes that use carb's. When new models come out, they come out EFI. Triumph is the only company I can think of who has a whole segment of their line up relying on carbs.

There are a ton of choices, really, but they tend to stick on a few key segments. Cruisers, Sport, Touring and ADV type bikes - and just about every brand, regardless of nationality will have an offering in each of these categories. I for one would like to see more true dual sport options, particularly out of the japanese brands. I'd also like to see more done with naked street bikes. I was very excited by the FZ-09 when it came out - a nice hooligan/standard triple. But agin, to the original point of the OP, not a lot in common with our XJ models when it comes to final drive, fuel delivery, looks, etc.

So yeah, hundreds of options, so long as you want one of the 4 mentioned categories.

 

US is almost unique in the world in that our laws negate one of the main advantages of motorcycles - ability to get through traffic faster via lane splitting. This is why the commuter bike, which a standard can easily be, is not a particularly popular thing.

 

Granted it's only a 250cc, but there's the Misfit (gen 2) from Cleveland Cyclewerks.

 

Hmmm...

 

you can put a Suzuki Bandit in there too

 

Okay, then. Hmm...

 

Wait, that doesn't look right. You meant a Suzuki bandit, not a bandit that just snagged a suzuki