90's bikes are the best!

[Mr. Dazzle]

What's the most modern/big/new bike you've tried ?

Yeah that's a fair point, the newest is my Dads 2007 'blade.

Its a circular situation Not that interested is new bikes
so don't try them, don't try them so no interested!

That said, I can see myself on an R Nine T. Or the Guzzi adventure thing.

[Potter]

In some departments you'd have loved the 690 Duke, it was both superb on the brakes along with being awesome to trail brake into a corner and how it was fine being leant over and still on them.

I'm sure I would, sometimes I regret selling the XT660, it was a brilliant thing, just lacking in soul.

[Potter]

Yeah that's a fair point, the newest is my Dads 2007 'blade.

Its a circular situation Not that interested is new bikes
so don't try them, don't try them so no interested!

That said, I can see myself on an R Nine T. Or the Guzzi adventure thing.

I reckon if you jumped on a Panigale V4S you'd be amazed by the power and the way it moves - for about an hour or so.
Then you'd go back to wanting the bikes from your youth.

[weeksy]

What's the most modern/big/new bike you've tried ?

Yeah that's a fair point, the newest is my Dads 2007 'blade.

Its a circular situation Not that interested is new bikes
so don't try them, don't try them so no interested!

That said, I can see myself on an R Nine T. Or the Guzzi adventure thing.

It'd be interesting for me to see your thoughts on say my bike or Nidges Triumph, just out of interest. I picked them because obviously they're more of the genre you like rather than them being the best bikes ever.

[Mr. Dazzle]

I like all genres to be honest, except what the 9 year old me would call "dirt bikes"

I think my profession is a large part of my lack of interest. I've seen "behind the curtain" alot now so I'm not necessarily impressed by the latest fantastic machines. I know how the magic works. Therefore I'm just left with the feeling of "well that'd be pretty pointless for me to own, I'd never use it properly".

[Potter]

IIRC Nidge said his favourite bike is his 1970's Triumph.

Once you've been bitten by something with soul everything else just feels functional.

[Mr. Dazzle]

That's definitely true...my (wife's ) 69 Bonneville pisses all over anything for feel good. I defy anyone to ride it without grinning.

Bloody terrible bike though.

[weeksy]

Once you've been bitten by something with soul everything else just feels functional.

Aye, i get that i really do.

Hence my love of the 990 Superduke and the 690 Dukes.

The 990SD still sits way up near the top of most evocative bikes i've ever ridden. I could effortlessly own one again.

[KungFooBob]

I think character is more about engine configuration and volume.

The old Brit twins and singles, you can actually feel that something is happening below you because they're so unrefined compared to a modern IL4, they're also generally on a loud open pipe which all adds to a bit of motorcycling theatre, especially if you have to concentrate to ride one, think about braking (because they don't) and plan your corner before you get to it, etc...

[Potter]

Once you've been bitten by something with soul everything else just feels functional.

Aye, i get that i really do.

Hence my love of the 990 Superduke and the 690 Dukes.

The 990SD still sits way up near the top of most evocative bikes i've ever ridden. I could effortlessly own one again.

I found my Dragster evocative, I flew it in, opened the crate, it was gorgeous, I bet anyone alive would find it thrilling, etc.
But I never connected with it enough to keep it.

Maybe if you got one of those old Italian bikes that you like and poured some love into it then you'd find a new kind of emotion in bike ownership.

Everyone is different, but I reckon there is a classic owner hiding inside you

[Yorick]

I must be a heathen as I don't want any bikes from my youth. If I rode any of them it would kill the memories. They belong in the past, IMHO.

[Mr. Dazzle]

I think character is more about engine configuration and volume.

The old Brit twins and singles, you can actually feel that something is happening below you because they're so unrefined compared to a modern IL4, they're also generally on a loud open pipe which all adds to a bit of motorcycling theatre, especially if you have to concentrate to ride one, think about braking (because they don't) and plan your corner before you get to it, etc...

Theres a knack to a lot of things on them. Just starting them up takes a certain know how. Simiarily you can't just slam the throttle open/shut cause they're not CV etc.

It feels like you have to get to know the bike and build a relationship with it. You don't of course, its just metal and plastic, but to the caveman part of your brain it seems like the bike has a personality.

[Yorick]

Once you've been bitten by something with soul everything else just feels functional.

Aye, i get that i really do.

Hence my love of the 990 Superduke and the 690 Dukes.

The 990SD still sits way up near the top of most evocative bikes i've ever ridden. I could effortlessly own one again.

I found my Dragster evocative, I flew it in, opened the crate, it was gorgeous, I bet anyone alive would find it thrilling, etc.
But I never connected with it enough to keep it.

Maybe if you got one of those old Italian bikes that you like and poured some love into it then you'd find a new kind of emotion in bike ownership.

Everyone is different, but I reckon there is a classic owner hiding inside you

I still fancy one of them. Hmm.

[Nidge]

IIRC Nidge said his favourite bike is his 1970's Triumph.

Once you've been bitten by something with soul everything else just feels functional.

It's exactly that. Objectively modern bikes are of course better but it's the qualitative rather than quantitative aspects that matter to me i.e. how does riding the bike make me feel. If you reduce everything down to objective measurement everything is a bit rubbish; a Panigale cant corner as well as an F1 car, A BMW GS wont tackle extreme conditions as well as a Land Rover, a Pan European cant take as many suitcases as Mondeo etc etc so clearly what attracts us to bikes is that something extra they give us whether it's thrills or nostalgia, freedom or fulfilling a fantasy, it's a different visceral experience for each of us but I'm pretty sure it's not simply down to a set of quantifiable metrics

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I can totally get the 90s thing, mostly because of Carbs... For example the 1998/1999 Yamaha R1, it was just a glorious machine to ride, really impressive. I actually enjoyed it more as a bike than the 2005 R1. But, i can see how 'new' bikes are better in some ways... but really in 90% of instance, it's the riders holding the bike back, not the technology within the bike that's holding the rider back, so rarely matters.

I had a 98 R1 in 2000, traded a YZF750R in for it, the R1 really was a massive leap forward, and probably the most fun bike I've ever ridden, but that fun happened at mental speeds, it's the only bike I've ever deliberately rear wheel steered on tarmac (3rd gear, old Snetterton layout, coming onto the back straight) and the only bike I've wheelied at over 100mph (with the assistance of a hill), it was like riding a big motorcross bike, if the front end started to get lively you accelerated to calm it down, everyone should have a go on one.

[weeksy]

Everyone is different, but I reckon there is a classic owner hiding inside you

Not until i have the time and money to do it right.

This is where i kinda fall down, because i'd really want it perfect...But if i make it perfect, would that spoil what it is, along with spoiling the riding as i'd never take it out.

[Rockburner]

I don't feel a huge difference between modern bikes and 90's bikes, there is obviously some but it's not huge.

I feel a massive difference between pre-WW2 bikes and 80/90s bikes - so if I get off my 1936 bike and jump onto my TDR250 the difference is incredible, it feels like I'm on a magi carpet and everything is so smooth - but if I jump off my 1988 TDR and onto a 2020 BMW GS then there isn't much difference other than size and power.

That's a bit weird mate

Not really, there is only so far you can go with conventional suspension, my 1936 bike is hard tail with only a damper on the front girder forks.
The TDR and anything new is more or less the same.

Out of all the bikes you've ridden there were obviously differences but I don't think anything was a complete step change, like going from girder forks to conventional forks.

No, i absolutley agree with that bit, none of them have been as revolutionary as that and the benefits are clearly more incremental than a massive step in technology, but still, they're very very different to me.

I think that's what you might call the "contraction of the range of experience". If your experience 'pint-jug' has bikes from (say) 1985 - 2020, then the difference between them, in relation to the entirety of your biking experience, is quite large. But if your experiences are from (say) 1930 - 2020, then the relative difference from '85 to 2020 is much smaller compared to the entirety of your experiences.

Much the same as all life experiences really, if you've only ever lived in the South East of the UK (say), then travelling to Scotland is a massive undertaking, but if you've travelled all over Europe and visited the Far East, then a trip to Edinburgh is a mere folly.

[Potter]

Not until i have the time and money to do it right.

IME the money, time and ability to do it are rarely in harmony.

You just have to do what you can when you can.
Most people that have anything classic have always got jobs pending or on the go.

[weeksy]

Not until i have the time and money to do it right.

IME the money, time and ability to do it are rarely in harmony.

You just have to do what you can when you can.
Most people that have anything classic have always got jobs pending or on the go.

I don't do 'pending' or 'on the go' i either own a bike that's working and right or i don't own it... The world is that simple for me. Hence it being complicated in the classic ownership context.

[Rockburner]

Not until i have the time and money to do it right.

IME the money, time and ability to do it are rarely in harmony.

You just have to do what you can when you can.
Most people that have anything classic have always got jobs pending or on the go.

I don't do 'pending' or 'on the go' i either own a bike that's working and right or i don't own it... The world is that simple for me. Hence it being complicated in the classic ownership context.

I dunno - if you swap 'cleaning it' with 'maintaining it', then you're 90% there. There's not a huge amount of a classic bike to keep clean (compared with a modern faired bike)