RE Bear.

[Dodgy69]

Another variant of the 650 twin. Nice enough and I'd imagine well capable of most jobs. Does it sway me from the continental, no. I bet the price starts creeping up aswel. For a road going toy, these mid size bike's really are all you need imo.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Who wouldn't want a 47bhp 200kg bike?

[Bustaspoke]

I'll stick with my £5000 OTR SV650.TBH on the roads I ride the old Street Triple's more than enough for me

[demographic]

Only 5 kilos less than a 1983 Yamaha XJ 550 for about the same power.
From memory I think about 190 of those XJ Kilos were in the wheels, the same spiral cast "Mags" as on 350 LCs and likely much of the reason that Astralites were fitted to many a LC racebike.
Thats progress for ya.

I'm not at all against low ish powered middleweight bikes and would rather see more day to day usefull and low cost bikes but its a fair old lump considering a pretty uninspiring (I had one, its still knocking about Carlisle on the odd occasion) 1983 inline four was about the same figures.
Nice paint job though.

[KungFooBob]

A 1983 il4 didn't have to meet Euro5 standards tho'

[Bustaspoke]

Only 5 kilos less than a 1983 Yamaha XJ 550 for about the same power.

My first new bike,way back in 1981 was a XJ550,I had a lot of fun on that bike riding the back roads around here & toured on it to the south of France,good times

[Bustaspoke]

A 1983 il4 didn't have to meet Euro5 standards tho'

What's the weight penalty for a couple of cats & a ABS pump plus swapping out carbs for a FI system,anyone know?

[Bustaspoke]

Another variant of the 650 twin. Nice enough and I'd imagine well capable of most jobs.

That paint scheme looks good but reminds me of a Husquvarna.
I rode my mate's Interceptor for a few hours before I bought a cheap SV650 as a second bike.I enjoyed it & had idea's of turning one into a Scrambler,if his was a different colour I'd have probably bought it.Like you say it's probably capable of doing most jobs,one thing that surprised me was how heavy it was for a 650 twin.
I'm surprised they never brought out a Scrambler version of the Interceptor when they first launched the bike,sadly now I think the price will be going up..

[KungFooBob]

I think the cat alone is 4-5kg. The ABS needs sensors, reluctors, a valve block with pump, extra piping.

EFI probably isn't heavier than carbs, however there are a few sensors, O2, TPS, ECU's are usually bigger than CDI's... the throttle bodies will be lighter/smaller than carbs tho'

Most stuff will have some kind of air injection/PAIR valve set up too

[Mr. Dazzle]

How much did the 80s bikes cost new?

[Dodgy69]

There all heavy these days. Not a problem, you just take a bit more care on the driveway. . But for pleasant riding, it'd do. Maybe you'd want something else for touring, but there's definitely something about using a bike's full potential unlike the 150 bhp jobbies.
Just enough character aswel.

[KungFooBob]

My Gold Star is just over 200kg, but...

It's dry sump. Where the sump pan would normally be under the engine is the cat, the ABS pump, the coolant header tank and the reg/rec. The weight is mostly low down so you don't notice it at all when riding. It's a lump to push around the garage tho'

[Bustaspoke]

How much did the 80s bikes cost new?

I think my new XJ550 was around £1675,a 350LC was less!

[KungFooBob]

How much did the 80s bikes cost new?

Bit blurry, but it looks like a 83 XJ550 was £1795.

[Mr. Dazzle]

So £5600 in today's money roughly, for a bike with a lot less 'stuff' on it.

How much would an EFI or ABS unit have cost in 1983 I wonder They did exist but they were a bit more special.

[Dodgy69]

Pushing heavy bikes about or turning on the drive is mainly about good balance I've found. OK, not up hills, but putting the GS on the main stand is easier than the RE.

[Bustaspoke]

So £5600 in today's money roughly, for a bike with a lot less 'stuff' on it.

How much would an EFI or ABS unit have cost in 1983 I wonder They did exist but they were a bit more special.

The first FI bikes that I remember were Kawasaki's,in the early 80's they had FI versions of the Z1000,GPZ1100 & Z1300.
I've no idea who brought out the first ABS systems,or when..

[Mr. Dazzle]

The main stand thing is mostly down to good design IME.

The Bonneville takes a right old heave to get it on the centre stand, the CBR600 is almost a one finger affair.

I've no idea who brought out the first ABS systems,or when..

I've always heard it was Concorde.

Bikes took a while longer

[KungFooBob]

For bikes, it's got to be BMW, they've had ABS for decades.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

XJ550s weren't great, though the two people I knew who had them thought they were.