When is a Bike Old?

I notice that somebody wrote in that they loved this site because they loved "old" bikes. Have our ideas of "old" bikes changed, or is it just because I'm now a bit of an antique myself?

In 1967, I rode a 1951 AJS Model 18 500 single. It was a real old clunker. (Didn't stop me having a great deal of fun on it!) Cast iron cylinder, rigid rear end, manual advance/retard, separate magneto and generator, pressed tin primary chainguard, Lucas electrics (sometimes) and I used to do the timing and tappets every Saturday morning. My point is, it was only 16 years old, but it was hopelessly out of date and falling apart only slightly more slowly than I could put it back together. It was both transport and a full-time hobby!

In 2008, I ride a 1984 XJ900F. It's fast, comfy, handles well, has all the gadgets I need, is reliable and makes perfectly sensible everyday transport, even though it's eight years older than the AJS was!

Am I the only one that feels the boundaries have moved in the last quarter century?

 

A bike is only old when its no longer taken care of and no one wants it. Some may grin at my 1980 XJ 650 but it keeps going were now up to 150Km. How many of the modern bikes will be arround in 27 years? The bounderies haven't changed that much but todays disposable everything attitude pervades all that was good, there is always something better ,which costs more!
For all the hype modern bikes are just reicarnation copies of the XJ s.
If yamaha made the XJ again with modern technology and the robustness of the original I might consider getting one.
Bike on

 

Can you pass us some of those drugs you're on there buddy? 8O

 

When you are too old to get on a bike, then it's too old. Most bikes never die, they just get reserected back to life!

 

I think of my bike is old (it is older then I am). After riding a nearly new bike I realize how out of date the suspension on our bikes is (just one example) but in 27 years I hope they made improvements! I keep my bike in nice shape and am not ashamed to ride an old bike, I just make sure I keep a picture on it in my wallet and on my phone. People ask what I ride and when most of them hear a “Yamaha XJ750” they have no idea what it is but after seeing the picture, most don’t think it is really an ’81. Sometimes it’s fun having an “old” bike…. I got some nice reactions when I would tell people 2 years ago about my cross country trip… that I took on a 25 year old bike.

 

Yeah I call a bike old when it's older than I am (as is my 83 Seca).

Doesn't mean I don't love the thing.

 

I prefer to think of my old bike as "vintage iron" : )

 

my bike is just as old as i am we were both produced in 1982 though i dont consider myself old the bike is getting there. i hope to get a yamaha fz1 sometime but dont plan on getting rid of my xj650rj

 

You know, this is an interesting, thought-provoking thread.

Forgetting for a moment any problems that may have arisen from age, how are current bikes better than say, my 81 XJ?

This is a serious question: I like old cars, too. But I'm not kidding myself that a new Chevy pickup isn't way easier to live with than my restored 56. New cars have better mileage, brakes, steering, crash protection and lots more.

But is the same true of bikes? Is a belt drive model better than the shaft drive on my XJ? I've had zero problems there? What about other stuff? (Again, I'm temporarily ignoring that an old worn part couldn't give more trouble than a new one.)

Once an old Brit biker, I wanted less vibration. My Max is okay on that. (though modern suspension may be better)
And I like electric starting. But again, the 81 has it and it works fine.

I'm not saying there aren't improvements in newer bikes, just curious what they are. (carburetion/FI probably one area)

 

Better? I'll bite.

I had a maxim. I loved it. It did everything well.

That being said I now ride a 2000 CBR 600 F4. The suspension is far superior (go figure), the gas range is better, the seat is as comfortable, the wind protection is superior, the brakes are superior, and no questions asked the right hand controls are stronger.

Is it a better bike? Define the measure of a good bike.

For racing? CBR
For long distance? Surprisingly, I prefer the CBR - fits me better, better protection, better fuel range.
For stopping? CBR
Commuting? Maxim
Character? Maxim

Depends what you want... I would love a maxim again. I would commute on it. I would tour locally on it. I wouldn't pick it to goto NY over my CBR today though.

When is a bike old? 2 years in the sportbike world, 15 years for a cruiser...

The maxim has the heart of a sportbike and the looks of the cruiser... so 2*15 = 30 years... so it's not old yet!

 

Some of the more obvious improvements are:

Improved suspension
Improved brakes (drum brakes?? EEK!)
Liquid cooling
Fuel injection
Fusing/reliable "electrics"
Ergonomics (ie. the "cruisers" of today typically are much more comfortable in both the rider position and the quality of the saddle...in my opinion)

The biggies to me are the cooling and the disc brakes that all bikes have nowadays.

Now, if you want to talk "what makes a bike old", I would say bikes with points, magnetos and kickstart-only are old! Points. Ack.

 

Shafties are great... next to no maintenance really.

FI is good when it is working, but a carb'ed bike can be fixed road side and will limp a long time before dieing.

 

any bike 10 years old or more is 'old'..

new to me is still that 1-9 year range.

Mine being an 82, but turbo'd... I wouldn't trade my old bike for anything.

But I do plan on getting new (2008) bikes.

as far as better, the kids now-a-days do alot more damage to bikes than before. Not saying before wasn't bad either.

really, in the end, it's your ass on the seat, and your hands on the bars.

if you like older bikes, ride em, if you like newer bikes, ride em.

A bike is a bike, and as long as they are cared for, will last a long time. Kids these-days don't know how to take care of stuff because, if they break it, insurance writes it off and they get a new one. Sad thing is, if a small scratch happens or such, insurance will total it and give it salvage title.

 

any bike 10 years old or more is 'old'..

new to me is still that 1-9 year range.

Mine being an 82, but turbo'd... I wouldn't trade my old bike for anything.

But I do plan on getting new (2008) bikes.

as far as better, the kids now-a-days do alot more damage to bikes than before. Not saying before wasn't bad either.

really, in the end, it's your ass on the seat, and your hands on the bars.

if you like older bikes, ride em, if you like newer bikes, ride em.

A bike is a bike, and as long as they are cared for, will last a long time. Kids these-days don't know how to take care of stuff because, if they break it, insurance writes it off and they get a new one. Sad thing is, if a small scratch happens or such, insurance will total it and give it salvage title.

 

I got the bike I did because I wanted a cheap beater on which to learn how to ride. I thought of my bike a just that, a cheap ride and not very special. Then I was at a gas station fuelling up and this guy came over. He started gushing about my bike and what a classic it was. I said "it's not that old." He said, "it's 25 years old man." But the way he said it was a compliment. Like it was something worth preserving. Since that day, my bike has seemed much more shiny and special. It gets lots of TLC now.

 

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"

No bike is too old.
Only the one that got beat on and don't run well any more.

But, you never know who will buy it and fix it up.
It a disease.
Highly contagious!

 

I wasn't really thinking about "When is a bike worn out?" I was thinking about when is it old-fashioned in design and concept.
The newest road bike I've ever ridden was my 1993 FJ1200, and quite frankly, I didn't think it did all that much that the 1984 XJ900 doesn't. Faster, yes, but not much. Brakes no better. Much the same around corners. (My cornering speed these days is limited by the knowledge that when you're over 60 your bones don't knit all that fast, and my maximum road speed is governed by the fact that our police are a bunch of radar equipped killjoys.)
I kind of feel that if a mate and I set out on a 700km trip together, he on a brand new bike, me on the XJ, we wouldn't arrive all that far apart. On the other hand, if I were still riding the AJS, no matter how few miles it had on the clock, I think my friend might well have a spare day to enjoy the town he reached long before me.
I'm thinking back to the days when you didn't even ride around the block without a pocket full of spares and tools. I used to ride my G12 Matchless 650 about 250 miles each way at weekends to see what was then the girlfriend (and boy, did she get old fast when I married her!) and stuck in the saddlebags were tools up to and including a valve spring compressor!
My most important tool was the big pair of pliers I used to cut lengths of wire out fences, and then used to re-attached those bits of fine British engineering which had chosen to detach themselves from the bike.
I'll wager not many of us have exhausts held on with bent wire!
Bikes have really improved in my riding lifetime, but how much better have they become in the last twenty years?

 

The FJ's first came out in 84 (in 1100 guise), and design wise they didn't change much through to the end, so you haven't really ridden a "new" bike as such. My 2000 ZX9R Kawa is lightyears ahead of my old XJ900 on pretty well every aspect (except it's not quite as "comfy" for my 6'4" build).

Seriously, if you haven't ridden a Y2K+ sportsbike, you have no idea how far motorcycles have advanced in the past few years.

I'm not trying to be an ass here - but new bikes are just no comparison to 80's or 90's bikes. Go and ride an FZ1 or a Z1000 (because they have a more upright seating position) and you'll see what I mean.

 

If improved handling is achieved at the cost of turning the rider into a latter day Quasimodo, then I don't think it's a great step forward! (Nor am I impressed by bikes that elevate the passenger about a foot and a half above the rider! Have you ever looked at the pillion pegs on an MT-01?)

 

That's why I mentioned the FZ1 or Z1000 - they are nakedbikes with a much more rational seating position.

But if you want to carry a pillion, you don't want a sportsbike anyway.