Help me find the perfect sub £1000 retro motorbike – pics please

i don’t have much knowledge of the old school models, nor their ability. I’m looking for something from the 70’s/80’s and between 400cc and 800cc.

Sit up and beg styling (open face helmet and jeans style), nice and square looking, capable of 2 up cruising, happy at 70mph min. occasional commuting on mix of A/B roads with a bit of motorway. Must be easy to work on and have a reasonable parts supply.
Essentially, I want something in the garage that puts a smile on my face and also comes in handy from time to time. The Mrs is sold on the idea as we live near Brighton and want to nip in and out of town more often but find taking the car a real PITA. We’d also like to head out on the occasional road trip, perhaps a crossing to France etc.

Ideally I’d like the bike to be fairly large in stature, as I’m fairly large in stature. But bonus points awarded for sheer old school cool looks, and patina.

I’m mulling over bikes in the style of Kawasaki GT550/750 and Yamaha SR400 (pricier) but I’m sure there are sweeter options out there.
I have no issue with a bit of light resto.

Pics appreciated!

Honda 400/4

http://www.smiffy.com/gary/images/IMG_5266a.jpg

Cute. Still available around £1k?

Bikes have come on awfully long way since the 80’s.
They really were a bit crap back then.

Old Guzzi’s are nice if you like tractors.
Old Harleys are horrible, even if you like tractors.
Avoid bevel drive Ducatis and anything British.

Modern retros are great. Old bikes were pretty crap until the mid 80’s, tbh.

A Suzuki GS850 might suit, but they’re ugly and a bit bland.

650 Katana would be good, tough motor, shaft.
Spares might be hard to find.
GPZ900 or FZ750 would be nice, but might be a bit modern for your taste?

Katana

I would say 70s Honda are simple and pretty bulletproof.

Apart from the cam chains, obviously. 🙂
Wonder if Tony Gallea’s still about?

I’m sure they’ve all been replaced now and have decent tensioners.
A CB750 might be doable on a budget?

I’m going to go for a Suzuki gs, never had one but some bloke near me ride one and it looks quite nice, or. Kawasaki z z I’ve a gt 550 kwaker not really cool in any way but in a certain light looks ok. A gpz900 is one of my dream bikes. Old guzzis spew oil in my experience. Or just get a W650

Air cooled would be nice. Belt or shaft drive appeals. But as long as it’s a strong engine and looks the part I’m not looking for ballistic pace

I like my ‘old school’ motorcycles & can think of a few I’d recommend.
The problem is non of them are sub £1000…
Have a look for Honda CB750/900,kawasaki Z1000/GPZ750/1100,Suzuki GS750/1000.
From the 80’s you’ve got Honda VFR750,kawasaki ZZR600/ZZR1100
IF you can find one in good order for that kind of money.
I know it’s a lot larger than 800cc but in your position I’d pay SLIGHTLY more & get a Yamaha XJR1300,have a look on Ebay.They’re a steal at the moment
^^Up there it says’they’re a steal at the moment’ but this website’s playing up again..

I did used to fancy a ZZR but I think I’m more keen on a naked look now, and air cooled. I’m hoping I can source a runner that I can tinker with.

Early GS750s look nice

Yamaha Virago?

Whimper

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322171808082

A 400/4 for a grand will be a money pit and not really suited to 2 up. If you can bear how it looks there’s always the diversion….

Or bandit 600

Here’s my 80’s aircooled XT600.You won’t get a decent one for less than a grand..

My Dad had a GS850G with a Neta pipe, it sounded lovely. Once I was old enough he let me ride it. It was shaft drive and would be perfect for what you want.

XJ550- I’ve had a couple of these and they’re a hoot. We made a street tracker out of one (here it is part way through)-

and a cafe racery thing out of the other 😀 For shaft-drive, what about an XJ650? They’re still sub-£1000 if you look outside of ebay.

Or for total brain-out, license-threatening value for money what about an FZR1000 Genesis? They’re neither air cooled or shaft drive but they are bloody fast. We had one called The Yamasaurus 😆

Apologies for my previous post I was quite spannered when I wrote it so it is a bit poor. I have a gt550 nice bikes reliable comfy for a six footer, not the fastest or prettiest, but an ok bit of kit and can still be got cheap. The problem with a lot of seventies eighties bikes is they now go for silly money especially with the current custom trend which has moved from coppers to bobbers street racers (people customising Honda cx500s!) etc and people reliving the bikes of their youth. A bandit would be a good shout, we had both for work and the big one was nicer than the six hundred.
The small ads in classic motorcycle mechanic magazine will give you a good idea of what’s about and for how much. If you could loose the naked criteria I would suggest an fj1200, great bikes still go for reasonable money and I think they are quite stylish

What forums would you recommend for ads? MCN is a bit thin on the ground. Others seem to have mainly very old British classics.

I kinda like the GT550s. Boxy and very 80s looking, fugly in a good way?

XJ550- I’ve had a couple of these and they’re a hoot

The only bike I’ve owned from new,the bike that started my love affair with Yamaha’s.Also the only bike apart from my XT600 that I never managed to throw down the road,actually I take that back,the XT’s been down the road,but it was snowing…
The trouble with any bike of this age is that you’re more than likely going to have to remedy previous owners bodges & it can quickly turn into a money pit.

As long as it’s easy enough to strip down and fix I have no problem with some tinkering. In fact, I’d quite like to do a full strip down and rebuild at some point. But initial roadworthyness would be a bonus.

XJ550s look really nice. Not that many around though it would seem

How about an 80s Kawasaki? I had a GPZ600r which was magic, and the GPZ550 is classic 80s fugliness. Both readily available for under a grand. There’s a GPZ600r on eBay at the moment for a couple of hundred, needs carbs tuning and a brake bleed, but for the price could be a right bargain.

As long as it’s easy enough to strip down and fix I have no problem with some tinkering.

As someone who’s rebuilt my own bikes I’d say do some pricing up before you buy a bike so you have a basic idea of what you’re getting into.It can get expensive really quickly!…

I remember my older brother had a Yamaha XS500 in the mid-70’s, he used to pay me a couple of quid to clean and autosol solvol it each week, there was a lot of chrome.

Absolutely no idea how it rode though.

Never been a true motorbike fan myself, however I did used to like the old GPZ’s and a soft spot for the Guzzi Le Mans.

This is near Epsom.

I bought this 80’s Honda XLV750R trail bike for £900, air/oil cooled V twin shaft drive, Honda reliability, comfy & nice to ride. Pretty rare though and prices seem to be creeping up over budget now.
Honda do more modern versions of retro classics like the 400 CL’s and CB’s, much improved lights/brakes/running gear etc compared to 70/80’s. There’s a place in Reading and another in Brighton advertising these imports, never been to them but have really nice looking modern retro bikes advertised.

OBM can be useful[/url]

As Busta says,if you have not done this kinda thing before it can soon get spendy,then you wish you had spent a bit more at the start so you could be out riding more.

What about a BMW R65LS or similar?

The problem with the thread title is the sub £1000 requirement.
There must be some bargains out there but it’s finding them & as soon as you start working on ‘projects’ things get expensive even when you know what your doing.
Just to put things in perspective,that XT600 up there stands me at over £3000,yet I only paid £675 for it..
My FZ750 needed the shims doing the other year,I think it cost me over £70 just for the shims,20 valve head & I could only swap a few of them.I shudder to think what the labour would have cost for a shop to do the work 😯

As long as it’s easy enough to strip down and fix I have no problem with some tinkering. In fact, I’d quite like to do a full strip down and rebuild at some point. But initial roadworthyness would be a bonus.

I used to run a GPz550 as a courier bike, to be honest, shimming the valves on the air-cooled 550 Kawasaki motors was a bit of a pain in the backside – you have to remove and reinstall the cams to do it and juggle shims etc. The GT was a bit uninspiring, if effective.

I used to test bikes for a motorcycle mag back then, but nothing much really jumps out at me fitting your remit, though I always had a soft spot for the Yamaha TDM 850 as an all-rounder. It’s quite a big bike as well. Main downside, from memory, is that the gearbox was pretty crashy just like the Super Tenere.

If you want shaft drive, there’s always the V-Max 😉

Old BMW Boxers – the GS ones in particular – are oddly amusing as well.

Any good reasons not to buy a CB750?

Someone above mentioned an importer in Brighton, I’ve been meaning to check them out for a while. They have a few CB400 NC36’s in stock straight off the boat. Now that’s a smart looking bike, good blend of old and new tech. Alas, way out of my price range

Another vote for a Honda, been using this one lately, FX650 single, bought for £800. Not in the 70/80’s category though, it’s 2001, kind of retro looking I guess. Been reliable and goes well so far.

The thing with older Yams (and Suzukis I think) is that loads of later 80s and 90s parts fit them, almost like Lego!

The more I read the more off putting it becomes. It would appear that most 70s bikes spend more time being fixed than ridden – and that’s according to competent mechanics!

Aren’t there any genuine super reliable retro classics that a spanner monkey is able to maintain?

70s bikes were shit 40 years ago. They haven’t improved with age. Things didn’t really improve until the mid-90s, but even then you’re looking at 20 year old bike.

I bought this 80’s Honda XLV750R trail bike for £900, air/oil cooled V twin shaft drive, Honda reliability,

You must have the only one that hasn’t eaten it’s gearbox and camshafts!

XJ 650 or possibly a Z650 but one for under a grand will be horrible.

You’re buying a bike that’s between 36 & 46 years old.
This means you’re buying a bike that’s probably had multiple owners & been subject to various amounts of abuse & neglect over the years/decades.Of course you might drop on a cherished bike that’s been pampered & looked after,never seen rain etc.but I doubt you’d get that for a grand!
It’s a bit of a minefield,good luck,

Z650 but one for under a grand will be horrible.

This!! Many years ago I bought a Z650 in a hurry turned into the biggest POS I ever owned,pretty much down to previous owners abuse
caveat emptor!

The more I read the more off putting it becomes. It would appear that most 70s bikes spend more time being fixed than ridden – and that’s according to competent mechanics!

Aren’t there any genuine super reliable retro classics that a spanner monkey is able to maintain?

The thing is, right, is most bikes that age have been under the ‘care’ of at least one person who shouldn’t be allowed near tools. I can personally guarantee a wood screw or self-tapper holding a piece of bodywork on and a bullet/spade connector or two as well. Once they’re put right and are maintained right there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be as reliable as anything else. Balls to anything with points though 😆

edit- whatever you go to look at make sure that you’re starting it from stone cold and get a test ride to get it properly warmed through, then try to restart it hot.