What’s a keeper?

[pepperami]

Just a thought nothing else.

I was thinking about last year when I was out and about on the bike.

I pull into the petrol station and some friends of friends of someone I knew were there.
They had an AJS and Matchless 350 singles, both were mechanically sound but with plenty of patina.
We chatted about bikes in general and I asked them about why they choose to ride old British 350 singles.

They told me that those bikes were ‘keepers’.
They told me how they are relatively easy to work on and not highly stressed compared to modern bikes.
They told me how with just a modicum of care how thier bikes just keep plodding along mile after mile.
They told me how they had built a good knowledge of where to get Spares and had a little stockpile of thier own.
They reckoned they could keep thier bikes going for another 20 to 30 years unless a crank or frame broke very badly.

This has got me thinking about what I consider to be a keeper?
I’ve had my Hyosung GT250r since 2011 but I don’t consider it a keeper.
The fairing takes ages to remove and the modern electronics are way beyond me .
The Kawasaki with its four carbs , fairing, and complicated modern electronics means that I don’t consider that a keeper either.
Although at a push I can do carbs to a fashion (get it going) at least to get it to a dealership .
That leaves the Honley RX3.
A good little bike, however the spares situation and the lack of any support anywhere means that it is definitely not a keeper!

So oh mighty BCF, what makes a bike a keeper?

For me it is going to be single cylinder, unfaired, carbed , and common.
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I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[MarJay]

Street Triple R. [edit] 1st Gen, twin round headlight 675cc.

Any two stroke that you bought when it was cheap and would now cost a bomb to re-buy.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[Fisty]

Early TL1000S, only going up in value.
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Quietly and consistently taking the piss.
TL1000R | Hayabusa | ZXR400 | TL1000S | Bandit 400 V
Fatter and faster than Fret

[Easy-X]

I've not been into bikes long enough to offer a valid opinion but when has that ever stopped me...

Sorry to bring things back down to earth but one thing to consider as a quality of "keeper" is theft. One advantage of the old skool lumps is the scrotes won't go near them and they're only really valuable to people into that sort of thing.
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Royal Enfield Continental GT 535, Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[chickenstrip]

I have no idea what you're talking about
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Chickenystripgeezer's Biking Life (Latest update 19/10/18) Belgium, France, Italy, Austria tour 2016 Picos de Europa, Pyrenees and French Alps tour 2017 Scotland Trip 1, now with BONUS FEATURE edit, 5/10/19, on page 2 Scotland Trip 2 Luxembourg, Black Forest, Switzerland, Vosges Trip 2017
THERE'S MILLIONS OF CHICKENSTRIPS OUT THERE!

[pepperami]

[chickenstrip]

[pepperami]

[chickenstrip]

[pepperami]

[Kawasaki Jimbo]

I've had the '99 ZX6R for 18 years and the '03 R1 for 14 years, so there you go. I'd have other bikes if I had the space and the money but I still wouldn't lose those two.

[Polarbear]

The one bike I have had that I can say I wish I still had was the Kawasaki 650 C3. In this colour.

https://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/Gallery/Kawasaki%20Z%20650%20Custom.jpg


I don't really know why though. I have had faster, more comfortable and more exciting bikes. I would probably have preferred the 900 or 1000 versions but I never owned them so can't say.

It's just that whenever someone says which bike did you like best, that springs in my mind.

Does that make it a keeper though? It didn't at the time cause I flogged it and bought my first Goldwing.
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

Gotta have proper belly laughs together.
Swallows....or at the very least spits into a tissue.
Returning from a two week holiday without feeling the need to hide in the shed.
Likes quality but also likes a bargain. i.e Thrifty without being tight or extravagant.
Wakes up looking instantly shaggable ( I can't help being beautiful).
Good personal hygiene.
Able to handle (put up with) my disgraceful music making when they love Bon bleedin' Jovi and Be-bloody oncey.
Not have the huffin' n puffin' and sulkin' when either one of us is in the wrong.
Doesn't expect me to like her friends and doesn't kick off when Mad Mav stays over.
Likes to have a dance.
Can be heard singing in the other room.
Won't take it up the wrong 'un but gives the impression they might do just to shock me.


[edit]

The Ducati ST2.
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Diabolical homemade music Bandcamp and Soundcloud
Singer songwriter, Artist and allround good bloke Listen to Andrew Susan Johnston here
The Harry Turner Project

[chickenstrip]

[MarJay]

[chickenstrip]

That's a really good summary MarJay
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Chickenystripgeezer's Biking Life (Latest update 19/10/18) Belgium, France, Italy, Austria tour 2016 Picos de Europa, Pyrenees and French Alps tour 2017 Scotland Trip 1, now with BONUS FEATURE edit, 5/10/19, on page 2 Scotland Trip 2 Luxembourg, Black Forest, Switzerland, Vosges Trip 2017
THERE'S MILLIONS OF CHICKENSTRIPS OUT THERE!

[pepperami]

[pepperami]

Interesting stuff Mr Marjay
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I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[GSTEEL32]

Ducati 900 ss ie

When my back and legs go, so I cant ride a sports bike anymore, I'll be selling up and buy another one of these.

They are suuuch a good total package....

[redeem ouzzer]

All of mine are keepers. I’m done now. I’d buy other stuff if I had the space but I have zero intention of moving anything on the roster.

GSXR1100. Always wanted one. Big, practical, oil cooled and very very masculine. Ideal every day bike and tourer. Also just had 3k spent on the engine and I can’t ride the bugger.

GSXR400RKSP. Closest I’ll get to a 750RK, much closer to a proper F3 bike than most of the other 400’s. Have a houseful of spares and access to frames if the worst happened.

YR5. Despite it trying it’s very best to get thrown off a cliff last year with a wiring loom / CDI fire and two blow ups, one of which took out the crank. It’s basically the 2t experience cranked up to 11. Light, impractical and accelerates like a stabbed rat. Couldn’t afford to do it again.

GT200. Restored using bits acquired while they were still cheap. It’s my third and I will always have a soft spot for them as my first bike after my test. Going from an A100 to something with 12v electrics, 3 phase charging, electric start, pass button and a rev counter was a revolution, like getting all the big bike stuff but still super cheap.
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Be a REAL MAN!

[recman]

[ThatDippyTwat]

I probably won't ever sell the VFR.
The V4 growl is addictive, and to be fair, it's the main reason I bought it. Always pictured it as an old mans bike. Only ever heard them stock, never saw one thrashed. I don't have to "think" to ride it, it's comfy. Keeps up surprisingly well for a lardy, almost quarter century old sports tourer.
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'98 VFR800 (touring) - '12 VFR800 Crosrunner (Commuting) - '01 KDX220 (Big Green Antisocial Machine)

[Jenks]

My 1978 mz ts250/1

Cost me 100 pounds 14 years ago
And it's still going.
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1978 MZ TS 250 1 Supa 5
1992 yamaha fzr1000 exup
1998 aprilia af1 sintesi

[-]

Anything not going down in value, or worth so much more to you than what it would sell for.

I've thinned my herd down from 7 bikes to 4 and have 2 X TZR250's left, a TDR20 and a YZF750R.
The YZF has only done 18,000 miles but has been down the road on the RHS and unfortunately has the very complex, rare and expensive Dream Machines "Cadbury's Boost" colour scheme, so replacing or repairing this panel would be more than the bike's worth.

The TDR will never be sold as it's getting hard to find a decent one for under £5K now. If any go, it will be the red/white, matching numbers, TZR and I'll keep the Blue/Yellow one for myself and stick my spare Graham File engine in it. There's so few 2MA/1KT's left now due to most being raced, that it's hard to gauge value at the moment, but it won't be going down. I'd expect at least £2500 for an MOT'd runner in tidy order, up to £4000 for a clean example.
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TZR250 2MA road, TZR250 1KT road, TZR250 2MA race, TDR250, YZF-750R Boost colours.
Jaguar S Type 3.0 V6 Sport R, VW Transporter T5 GP LWB Shuttle 140ps DSG.

[chickenstrip]

A keeper doesn't have to be a standard bike either, in fact sometimes a bike only becomes a keeper when you have modified it to your satisfaction. This is where I'm at with my FZS1000.

I'm on my 5th, the last 4 all being moved on before I actually wanted to, but until the last one, they were all easily replaceable. But this one wouldn't be - although not impossible by any means. Just that I'm not inclined to get heavily involved in spanner twirling, and drilling holes in carburettors is definitely something I'd prefer to leave to someone who knows what they are doing. I also only know of one source for certain parts to do with the front fork mod, although others have achieved similar results, and the ride height adjusters I have aren't absolutely necessary. But also, although I know that the forks have had the K-Tech treatment, I don't know exactly what mod has been done in that regard, having been sourced as they are from eBay. But I can't imagine anything better performing.

So I could go through all that again with a replacement bike, but so much aggro and expense that I wouldn't be inclined to, and it would be even more aggro a second time around. And the bike isn't even worth all that much for resale.
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Chickenystripgeezer's Biking Life (Latest update 19/10/18) Belgium, France, Italy, Austria tour 2016 Picos de Europa, Pyrenees and French Alps tour 2017 Scotland Trip 1, now with BONUS FEATURE edit, 5/10/19, on page 2 Scotland Trip 2 Luxembourg, Black Forest, Switzerland, Vosges Trip 2017
THERE'S MILLIONS OF CHICKENSTRIPS OUT THERE!