As with a few of my mid-aged friends, we seem to often think some of our toys were better in our youth. In my 20's, I had several Kawasaki GPZ990's, loved them, toured Europe, New Zealand, lots of 2-up with my girlfriend (and now Mrs A). I loved them. I do have a liking of slightly retro stuff (hence riding my Dekerf 26er from 1990's mostly!).
Now riding a 2002 Speed Triple 955i which is brilliant. Do a fair number of 400miles in 1 day trips, touring, day blasts.
However, I have an urge to get another GPZ9 despite their ridiculous prices. In my mind, they're better than my Speedy. However, my head says it'll be less comfy, poorer brakes/suspension/handling etc.
Anyone else gone back to an old favourite and loved or regretted it?
Is nostalgia blinded by rose tinted specs?
at least that was a good bike in its day - but yes - antiquated suspension might feel pretty ropey
They just have more character. I've never had a 'current' bike...Ever. Always about 20-30 years behind.
Had a 1974 z900 for a few years (in early 2ks), a katana 550 before that. Recently gave up my 1982 Gsx400f which was awesome but I could never get it to run right.
My 'new' bike now is a 2000 gsx750 Inazuma. It's the newest bike I've ever had. It does run smooth and all that, but I still feel it lacks soul. Too new... 😅
I think what you notice most is suspension and brakes. Suspension is easy to change, brakes less so..
I say go for it, look after it, and you may well sell it for more later on. 👍
Yeah nostalgia is always rose tinted.
But if you buy one to use it like a classic bike, it will be fine, just don’t take the owners word that anything is ‘solid’
I bought a gt380 suzuki, owner told me everything was solid, i test rode it, felt fine, paid up, rode it home (at a steady 80) up the A1, couple of days later i was autoglymming the chrome bits when a bolt came away in my hand, well and truly stripped, not even a hint of the thread left. **** knows how the rear shocks stayed on!!!
Both sides too, the owner obviously knew.
So, take nothing for granted condition wise.
I recently d the first spin in a decade on my 1960 bsa. I really enjoyed it. Its much uprated from its original spec and was a good handling bike in its day but by 'ek - its a long way from a modern bike. My point is they still can be fun even if not up to modern standards just accept them as they are.
A gpz 900 could easily have uprated suspension and brakes - a mate of man ran a z1000 with zzr1100 running gear
Alternatively just keep your current bike until it becomes a ‘classic’ like my R1 is now becoming!!
A 2002 Speed Triple is a classic!
Yep, figure my ST955 might become 'classic'!
All prompted by coming across this photo, 1997, 100 Mile Beach, NZ ... good times.
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I sold an immaculate 2003 ST for £3000 back in 2008. A good one (955i) is considerably more than that now!
Slightly different type of bike but......
I always wanted an oil in frame 1972 Bonneville when I was a kid and finally got when when I reached my 40's. I loved it but you do have to accept that things have moved on massively.
I updated the suspension so that was ok (for a classic) but no matter what I did I never did get on top of the brakes and rode accordingly.
Reliability was interesting (never go on a ride without your cab fare home) and I was always having to fix something but I enjoy that sort of thing so it wasn't a huge problem. Having said that only once did it fail to complete a journey.
Would I do it again? No i'd go straight out and buy a brand new Royal Enfield Interceptor - looks the same and I could just put it away and know it will be ready for my next ride.
I bought one of the bikes I'd wanted when I was a teenager (and all I could afford was a CB125TB) which was a Honda XBR500, which I've had for quite a few years now. This is it:
The other bike that I really lusted after as a kid was the Honda NS400R, ideally in Rothmans colours. I've been close to getting one of those a few times and still might.
Any 'old' bike will be slower/less comfy/less forgiving and not quite as good as you remember it but thats not the point, is it?
I loved my '95 RF900 which I bought for next to nothing 6 years ago as it was not, and probably never will be, 'desirable' but it was a lot of fun wafting along with enough grunt to be fun if the mood took 🤭
Its bizarre the prices some bikes I wouldn't have been seen dead on 'in the day' are going for now and I wish I'd held into my fizzy so it's probably a good investment. I could weep when I think what my Dad sold an Ariel Square4 for in the 60's.
My brother has a ZX10R, has had it a good few years. He also has an older 9R that has been modified into a more street fighter type of bike.
He doesn’t spend much time on them though as he purchased an old Norton last year and spends his time and money fixing it. I think the only riding he now does is returning from the garage after having driven it in. I’d guess a 15 or 20 year old Kawasaki will be a lot more reliable than a 60 year old Norton, so you’ll probably have more luck than him.
Just dont expect it to be cheap and try not to hit bumps going round corners at 90mph plus (on the autobahn obviously).
A friend of mine collects old bikes, currently I think he has a Honda FT500 single, Yam Tenere XTZ660, '78 BMW R100RS (in gold!), Kawasaki KMX200 and a Suzuki TS100!
Also have a friend with an immaculate '99 R1.
There's a lot of nostalgia for the bikes of our youth. The prices of air cooled 2 strokes are crazy, but I rarely see any on the road. I sold an RD400C for £300 in the late 90s. Like Kayak, I've always had older bikes so maybe don't know what I'm missing. I currently have a '96 R1100GS and an '02 Guzzi V11 Le Mans Tenni. Chances are if you liked the Gpz then, you still will now.
My neighbour has recently bought an N reg Kawasaki H1 500 triple, as he had one as a 20 year old (!) In the seventies. It was sold to him as a completely rebuilt/restored example. When he got it home he found that a Clevis pin clip had been left out of the rear brake linkage,another had a piece of copper wire pushed through it, the carbs were full of sand/grit from being sand blasted, it wouldn’t idle etc. etc. To say he was disappointed would be an understatement. Luckily for him he knows what he is doing and after many hours now has it running close to what he thinks is about right. He got a substantial partial refund from the vendor. I must ask him if he has actually started to enjoy riding it yet.
Not so sure, when I binned my GSX600 I decided I could ride my beloved 350LC, it was awful, wouldn't go outside of the brief powerband, wouldn't stop and wouldn't turn, but it did still look amazing.