If your looking for liter bikes in the UJM style, I’d go with a good early 80’s kawa or Suzuki GS1100. Those bikes were near bullet proof, and there is still a few around.
Searching for a classic/vintage bike. Help me pick one
- Thread starter Kozman011
- Start date
I certainly wouldn't want a UJM, talk about boring ! You want to be able to get parts, and that's, not UJM for a start. Real classic bikes these days you can buy all the parts you need. You can buy any part you need for a Commando, down to nuts and bolts, any performance upgrade etc, and cheap. Same for Guzzi, lots of good price parts out there for older models. BMW Airheads are the best for parts, new and aftermarket - Bob's BMW built a brand new R90S out of parts from BMW, they still support the bikes they built in the '70's. I have an Airhead, not what I thought I'd end up having as maybe my last bike, but still happy with it after 12 years. I talked my brother into getting an Airhead, he hated his R100, now has a Yamaha XS850 triple and loves it.
So personal taste comes into it, the bike everyone raves about you might not like at all, bikes shunned by others might just be you ideal machine.
So personal taste comes into it, the bike everyone raves about you might not like at all, bikes shunned by others might just be you ideal machine.
I'm a Harley Davidson guy hands down. But back in 1982 I purchased a 1971 R75 BMW with a Windjammer fairing and rode the day lights out of it for a few years! It was a dog performance wise, but super reliable and wouldn't hesitate to purchase another retro boxer engine. I have no idea though on parts availability which I'd research first.
I have no qualms about looking at an old Beemer or Guzzi. I have never owned a Guzzi, but it's on my bucket list before I die. The Suzuki "water buffalos" have always been on my radar, a 74/75.
Kozman, I see your in Central Ohio. You should go to the AMA Vintage Days at Mid Ohio in 2021.
I'd skip an old bike and take a hard look at a new Honda NC750X DCT. Perfect commuter or town bike as it swallow a gallon of milk
plus other things in the storage trunk where you think the gas tank would be.
One other thing: No one wants a car, truck, ATV or a side by side with a manual transmission anymore.
Pegging a shifter up & down on a motorcycle sucks worse than driving a stick in a car, yet no one wants to buy a new car with a stick.
I'd skip an old bike and take a hard look at a new Honda NC750X DCT. Perfect commuter or town bike as it swallow a gallon of milk
plus other things in the storage trunk where you think the gas tank would be.
One other thing: No one wants a car, truck, ATV or a side by side with a manual transmission anymore.
Pegging a shifter up & down on a motorcycle sucks worse than driving a stick in a car, yet no one wants to buy a new car with a stick.
The NC750X is a tremendous motorcycle. That would be my choice as a second bike, however I would choose he manual. My feeling is motorcycles are much easier shifting than a manual tranny in a car for someone who has to learn. Much better power to weight ratio makes engaging the friction point and pulling away from a stop very simple versus a car that takes a more deft touch on the clutch and accelerator.
Manufacturers don’t make transmissions with stick shifts anymore, so people can’t buy them. It’s a vicious cycle because our society wants less work to get the same job done, i.e. shifting versus the car do it for you, and the market responds. And let’s not kid ourselves, the amount of traffic in areas where most cars exist is insane compared to 35 years ago when I was tooling around in my 1983 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe with a 5 speed manual. Those were the days! In reality, automatic transmissions have come so far in smoothness and efficiency that it really comes down to there’s not a practical difference other than to want the act of shifting yourself and do you want to do that in stop and go traffic for hours on end in many cases. Folks don’t.
Manufacturers don’t make transmissions with stick shifts anymore, so people can’t buy them. It’s a vicious cycle because our society wants less work to get the same job done, i.e. shifting versus the car do it for you, and the market responds. And let’s not kid ourselves, the amount of traffic in areas where most cars exist is insane compared to 35 years ago when I was tooling around in my 1983 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe with a 5 speed manual. Those were the days! In reality, automatic transmissions have come so far in smoothness and efficiency that it really comes down to there’s not a practical difference other than to want the act of shifting yourself and do you want to do that in stop and go traffic for hours on end in many cases. Folks don’t.
Didn’t know that, however that’s a very good point.
Thanks for the tip on Mid-Ohio. I just can't see me riding an automatic bike. Not saying I wouldn't buy one, but I do like shifting! Show me a sweet 1976 Hondamatic 750 and I might be on board with the automatic
My best friend (when I was a teenager 1976 and riding) owned a Suzuki GT 750 water cooled buffalo. Can't remember year but it was blue which I think it was a 1974? Beautiful, fast and unique with the 3 cylinders and being 2-stroke. He visited me one day and our neighbor had a guest visiting riding a stock 1970 Honda CB 750 Four. My buddy starting popping off how fast his bike was etc etc. challenged him to a race. The rider on the Honda (experienced rider and about 30) said, "Ok". Long story short they were pretty close up to 100 mph then the Honda pulled away uncontested. I could barely keep them in my view on my 1971 Honda CB 100. Ha! My best friend almost unfriended me if I ever brought it up again.... About a year later my buddy sold the GT 750 Suzuki and bought a Kawasaki KZ 900 (can't remember year) which was another beautiful brute....
I've had both a CB750 and a GT750...the Honda was a top condition bike, with a red tank and gold stripe, the classic sohc CB750. The Water Bucket was the early 4 leading shoe drum brake and not in very good condition. Both were unsuited to the small island I lived on, on the longest stretch of straight road we had, neither could reach 100mph, so wasted in the location. To choose between both bikes now in top condition...regardless of cost, of course the CB750 is worth 4 x the GT750 - I'd take the GT750. Just because of character...the CB750 started the boring UJM trend, oh it's fast alright, but it doesn't make you smile. The Water Bucket has bucket loads of character, you smile just looking at it, and is weirdly satisfying.
Thank you for all the back stories and recommendations. Keep them coming if you don't mind!
I think a Suzuki RE5 would be interesting.
I'd like to find a factory new Suzuki GS1150E.
I'd like to find a factory new Suzuki GS1150E.
I remember looking at the RE5 at Selby Motors in Redwood City California when they first came out. Did Suzuki ever sell any?
I saw them at the dealerships and later in museums, but don't think I ever saw one on the road. A Norton Commander would be a better rotary to buy.
The older BMW airheads are nice and fairly simple but much trivia knowledge needed to repair and service correctly without screwing something up. I rode and wrenched a '72 r75/5 for a dozen years. Went overboard on going through everything but cosmetics. I took it from 50k miles to about 95k before regrettably selling it. Also a dry clutch bike. With experience you can do a valve adjustment on both sides in about 30 min. Just about any BMW dealer, even 15 years ago won't know what to do with it and will likely mess it up. I did almost all myself. Independent airhead shops existed here and there, but they are disappearing. It was satisfying to have no hydraulics or electronics.
I'd also recommend an late 70's, early 80's Suzuki 8 valve bike, like the GS1000G or GS850G. Nice examples can still be found at fairly reasonable prices. Many find them attractive in a classic way and they're known to be reliable when charging systems are upgraded. The '82 shaft drive Suzuki's has soft wheel cup splines which wore quickly and need to be changed if not already done. Of course, you dealing carbs on all these classics.
I'd also recommend an late 70's, early 80's Suzuki 8 valve bike, like the GS1000G or GS850G. Nice examples can still be found at fairly reasonable prices. Many find them attractive in a classic way and they're known to be reliable when charging systems are upgraded. The '82 shaft drive Suzuki's has soft wheel cup splines which wore quickly and need to be changed if not already done. Of course, you dealing carbs on all these classics.
Cool old bike.
1988 Norton Classic Rotary - webBikeWorld
1988 Norton Classic Rotary 1988 NORTON CLASSIC ROTARY BACKGROUND Norton’s air-cooled, twin-rotor Wankel motorcycle was a one-year-only run, with just 100 of them built in 1987 as 1987 and 1988 models. This makes it one of the world’s rarest production Nortons, and one of the rarest classic...
www.classic-british-motorcycles.com
I saw a few of the Suzuki RE5 when I worked at a Suzuki shop, but never got a chance to ride one.
Not my style, but man, that is a sharp bike!!
