revtothelimit - motorbike forum

I had these two out today and was musing on the visual and riding differences.

Bikes have come a long way in my 48 years of riding.

Are we generally happy with the progress?

Have we lost anything of the original experience?

My own impression is of a less involving ownership,but those factors may also entail issues we were glad to see the back of.

I'm of the opinion,riding old bikes has given me a renewed sense of enjoyment from more modern tackle. Maybe like banging yer bap off a wall. It's lovely when it stops.

You've done something most of us have considered.

But, thankfully, remained at the 'pipedream' stage

You've done something most of us have considered.

But, thankfully, remained at the 'pipedream' stage

I find that riding an oldie after a modern bike can be quite a wake up call regarding
Brakes
Suspension
Grip
Anonymity
Ground clearance
Liberties taken
I remember 'borrowing' an ariel leader on a ride out and showering the following riders (and owner) with sparks from the centre stand that decked out at quite moderate angles.

Nice 500 btw

You need to back off the front preload too on the ugly one!

Was the steering damper standard or something you added?

Which one do you enjoy riding the most. ?

I think modern motorcycles are massively better than old ones to ride, but they don't look as nice as old bikes, but I'm 58 so I think the bikes I liked when I was young (1980s and 90s) are the best looking.

The bikes of my yoof were pretty awful and I have no desire to ever ride one again. Apart from, maybe, a Panther 650 for an afternoon. The 80s were OK though.

My favourite of all time was a 2003 bike with a much older pedigree. A flat twin 1150. I liked the later IL4 K1200 for the sheer oomph of it all but for riding pleasure overall preferred the R1150 (it probably had less performance outside of my capability than the 150+mph K12 ). The difficulty comes in explaining why - without falling back on 'engagement' or 'character'. I had a bike with the updated 1200 flat twin engine. The engine was undoubtedly better than the 1150 but I didn't like it as much.

There's only one bike that I've seriously considered having as a 'blast from the past' and that's the Suzuki 750GT. I know some say it handled like there was a hinge in the centre of the frame but - water cooled 750 2T triple? Well, yes please.

(I did quite fancy a Valkyrie but only because it had that daft flat 6 engine - but not in a big tourer. I suspect I would have loved it....for a week, then wished it was a Wing ).

Le_Fromage_Grande wrote: Thu Sep 04, 2025 6:01 pm I think modern motorcycles are massively better than old ones to ride, but they don't look as nice as old bikes, but I'm 58 so I think the bikes I liked when I was young (1980s and 90s) are the best looking.

I'd say that's pretty much my view as well. The most visually pleasing bikes were made from the mid 1980s to the early 2000s, in my view. Whenever I ride the LC I'm rapidly reminded of how much bikes have improved in just about every department. The main niggles are fairly insignificant things like the absence of a starter, and having to remember to lift up the RH footrest before using the kickstart.

And then remember to put the footpeg back down again so you don't look like a dog scratching its arse as you ride away...

Modern bikes for the most part flatter your abilities. Older bikes don't, or do so far less.

One facet of bike development that hasn't really improved is bike weight. I suppose it's evolved in that we have loads more gizmos than in yesteryear, all of which add weight and complexity. My ideal bike would weigh around 160kg wet, and make 100 bhp. That would be just about perfect. (As long as it had an electric starter...)

Dodgy69 wrote: Thu Sep 04, 2025 5:58 pm Which one do you enjoy riding the most. ?

It's all very much spur of the moment. I enjoy them all as the notion strikes. I do appear to spend a disproportionate time on the oldies,though....

..... wrote: Thu Sep 04, 2025 5:50 pm You need to back off the front preload too on the ugly one!

Heh. The little doofer is usually a lot closer to the bottom under normal use. Maybe I'm getting old(er) and slow(er)

wheelnut wrote: Thu Sep 04, 2025 5:52 pm Was the steering damper standard or something you added?

Stock on the H1. It has two. A friction damper through the headstock and the hydraulic one on the side. Neither are much use.

Well in 48 years I've gone from being born and shitting myself to middle aged top box owner. Not sure if that's an improvement

Supermofo wrote: Thu Sep 04, 2025 7:49 pm Well in 48 years I've gone from being born and shitting myself to middle aged top box owner. Not sure if that's an improvement

You've got old and shitting yourself to look forward to yet.

Dodgy69 wrote: Thu Sep 04, 2025 8:50 pm

Supermofo wrote: Thu Sep 04, 2025 7:49 pm Well in 48 years I've gone from being born and shitting myself to middle aged top box owner. Not sure if that's an improvement

You've got old and shitting yourself to look forward to yet.

That's what I tell my kids I had em for, so they can change my nappy when I'm old

Skub wrote: Thu Sep 04, 2025 5:25 pm


I had these two out today and was musing on the visual and riding differences.

Bikes have come a long way in my 48 years of riding.

Are we generally happy with the progress?

Have we lost anything of the original experience?

My own impression is of a less involving ownership,but those factors may also entail issues we were glad to see the back of.

I'm of the opinion,riding old bikes has given me a renewed sense of enjoyment from more modern tackle. Maybe like banging yer bap off a wall. It's lovely when it stops.

I love one of them

It's not the orange one

They ain't tripping over each other, which is a win.

mangocrazy wrote: Thu Sep 04, 2025 7:37 pm
....and having to remember to lift up the RH footrest before using the kickstart.

And checking that the kickstart hasn't gone up the leg of your flares.

..... wrote: Thu Sep 04, 2025 5:50 pm I find that riding an oldie after a modern bike can be quite a wake up call regarding
Brakes
Suspension
Grip
Anonymity
Ground clearance
Liberties taken
I remember 'borrowing' an ariel leader on a ride out and showering the following riders (and owner) with sparks from the centre stand that decked out at quite moderate angles.

Nice 500 btw

You need to back off the front preload too on the ugly one!

That made me stop and think for a moment, and I realised that I "started" my riding on old bikes and for the first few years I was (extraordinarily) lucky to have the opportunity to experience a broad range of bikes, as I was progressing with my learning how to ride (ie, after passing the tests).

Because my Dad was a keen classic collector and also appreciative of modern stuff I got to ride all sorts: I'd frequently ride at least 4 different bikes over the course of a weekend - with different feel, controls, etc and so I essentially grew up with that appreciation that everything has it's own quirks and charms.

I am really looking forward to getting my own classic back on the road and enjoying something very different again.

Whysub wrote: Fri Sep 05, 2025 9:33 am

mangocrazy wrote: Thu Sep 04, 2025 7:37 pm
....and having to remember to lift up the RH footrest before using the kickstart.

And checking that the kickstart hasn't gone up the leg of your flares.

Did that without flares on my brothers MT5 is Tesco car park in Wembley when I was about 14, they'd be closed on a Sunday so we used to razz around. First time on a geared bike and had spent a good 5 mins happily nipping up and down, swung back to the group, went to put my foot down and bam

mangocrazy wrote: Thu Sep 04, 2025 7:37 pm

Le_Fromage_Grande wrote: Thu Sep 04, 2025 6:01 pm I think modern motorcycles are massively better than old ones to ride, but they don't look as nice as old bikes, but I'm 58 so I think the bikes I liked when I was young (1980s and 90s) are the best looking.

I'd say that's pretty much my view as well. The most visually pleasing bikes were made from the mid 1980s to the early 2000s, in my view. Whenever I ride the LC I'm rapidly reminded of how much bikes have improved in just about every department. The main niggles are fairly insignificant things like the absence of a starter, and having to remember to lift up the RH footrest before using the kickstart.

And then remember to put the footpeg back down again so you don't look like a dog scratching its arse as you ride away...

Modern bikes for the most part flatter your abilities. Older bikes don't, or do so far less.

One facet of bike development that hasn't really improved is bike weight. I suppose it's evolved in that we have loads more gizmos than in yesteryear, all of which add weight and complexity. My ideal bike would weigh around 160kg wet, and make 100 bhp. That would be just about perfect. (As long as it had an electric starter...)

I was thinking about this this morning as I was riding my CB1000R in a 30 limit, I think modern big engined bikes ride lighter and a lot better than big engined bikes from the 80s, but modern small engined bikes aren't as good as small engined bikes from the 80s because now they're budget heavy slow four strokes.

Though the only modern small engined bike I've ridden was a 4 cylinder 2024 ZXR400 which was distinctly not budget and actually very nice to ride.