Brat Bikes - The marmite of the biking world?

[Ste]

Other bikes for sale by Steel City Classics: https://steelcityclassics.co.uk/classic-bikes

[kgm]

It's the way it drives prices up that annoys me. I wanted to pick up a second CX500 the to use as a winter bike/parts donor but they're all a fortune now, even for a total shed.

[dynax]

[ThatDippyTwat]

It's a fad. It'll pass, but not before fucktons of otherwise viable bike are fucked. Hacking the frame up has distinct legal issues.

At least with 'fighters, it was usually a crashed bike that got repurposed rather than broken for spares, and it was rare you would see shit attempts on rare/classic/desirable bikes.
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'98 VFR800 (touring) - '12 VFR800 Crosrunner (Commuting) - '01 KDX220 (Big Green Antisocial Machine)

[Kawasaki Jimbo]

Wouldn't the aforementioned scaffold bar be better used as a seat hoop? £15 on eBay.

https://www.picclickimg.com/d/l400/pict/192023771646_/Cafe-Racer-Rear-Frame-Hoop-Brat-Style-Seat.jpg

Rare and lovely, 90's grey import Yamaha XJR400s (my first bike) seem popular for cafe racering. It's tragic.

Agree this fad is why I can't find a reasonably priced, interesting bike to restore.

[stinkwheel]

People should do this kind of customising with enfields. They are like fucking lego. The subframe unbolts. There's a huge catalogue of bolt-on custom parts designed specifically to fit them. You can take a base model and turn it into anything from a full-on dustbin faired cafe racer through a grass-tracker to an actually useable trials bike without irreversibly changing anything.

You want a pod filter and loud exhaust? the catalogue will tell you which jets, needle and slide to fit so it works.

You can even get a hardtail conversion and your choice of at least half a dozen brown saddles.

Keep everything you took off in a box and give it to the next owner when you sell it.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[dynax]

There are plenty of custom kits around now too where you can buy a frame and build your bike up
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Mike.
Bikes: Xena, Bridget,Florence
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmihUc0xXxYbR4_0l-F1FzA/videos?view_as=subscriber

[spottedtango]

The mods need to be done properly.

Street trackers are probably my fave. This one just needs a small mudguard on the front

https://bikebrewers.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Triumph-Street-Tracker-600x400.jpg

Booyaa. I wouldnt hear the haters over the exhaust anyway.

I also want a shot on one of Keanus ARCH motorcycles. Some of them look fun

[Bhud]

There was a guy in America who turned a lot of XJ600s (the Diversion ones) into "brat trackers", hoping to turn his knowledge of bikes into cash. Knobbly tyres, flat seat, etc. He knew what he was doing, and he knew those bikes inside and out. The results were all professional-looking, with paint jobs to match. If anyone really wanted a "brat" bike, and one with a capable and reliable engine that will hold 100mph+ all day long, the Diversion 600 seems to be a great platform. Makes sense on paper, right? Well, strangely, he had a lot of trouble selling those bikes. The guy had an engineering background, and he put a huge amount of work into them. To this day, I think he's still got 3 or 4, and they just won't sell. The guy organised meetups and events, and even a website and forum. Still, it wasn't a viable business venture. I bet if he'd started with BMW R-somethings from the 1970s, he could just name his price. Strange, that. Also, a bit unfortunate. Period modifications for the airheads, including the cafe fairings around back then, looked great. In fact most BMWs, even the K-series in the 80s, were handsome bikes. Very soon, there won't be any good ones left. The few intact ones have a lot of miles on them.

[Nobby the Bastard]

That's because the divvy 600 is the most modern equivalent to the superdream. Everyone hates them.
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trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Sprint ST 1050

[Polarbear]

[Easy-X]

[Bhud]

The Diversion isn't a fun bike unless you ride like an absolute maniac, in which case almost anything is fun. But riding one for a while puts things in perspective.

I just wonder what it was that changed the perception of old BMWs, from boring old man bikes to something so cool that people will pay tens of thousands for a butchered "brat". Who or what is influencing perceptions? It couldn't be an affable, if confused, Japanese guy with an obscure garage where he's hung a "don't tread on me" flag. There are so many classic bikes (each with something unique or special) that I, personally, find cool, and I hate to imagine someone "discovering" them at some point in the future. I keep a list of them, and if one of them pops up for sale close by me, I'll be fatalistic about it and put in a good offer. 1970s BMW airheads were on that list, but they are not worth anything near what people are asking for them now. Someone who lives close by where I live has kept an R80 in his front garden for more than 20 years. Unmodified. How cool is that? Not for sale, obviously. And, as you might imagine, it's a project and a half. It's a shame there's an artifically inflated market for them, thanks to actual brats. But the market is the market. All I know is, if someone asks on this forum or Reddit for a suggestion on what 70s/80s/90s bike suits their needs best, I'm not mentioning anything on my list. I'll only say "Diversion 600".

[wr6133]

[A100man]

[A100man]

'For sale is my new build Honda CB750. A professional complete one off build featured in Built Magazine* issue 29'

*The Journal for lacklustre, millenia, tattoo obsessed, snowflake, fuckwits..

Can I respectfully suggest we meet in Peterborough with a van full of scaffold bars for a full on assault of Bauer Media (Built Mag).

Tellingly they only manage quarterly editions unlike Practical Sportbike who are a monthly...
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Now: A100, GT250A, XJ598, FZ750

Then: Fizz, RS200, KL250, XJ550, Laverda Alpina, XJ600, FZS600

[Kris]

People that hate brat bikes because they worry about the owners 'bodges' and ineptitude? ...

Have you read some of the posts about standard bikes on here?

People fitting secondhand brake lines with holes in the braiding, arguing about replacing fucked brake pistons because of the expense (!), welding sprockets on, people buying cheap Chinesium pattern parts on safety critical items to save money..

I say let them have all the old shit. Until they start chopping up mint ZXRs and early Blades I'm all for it
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www.prisonplanet.com

[redeem ouzzer]

[MarJay]

[Riejufixing]

[A100man]

[Riejufixing]

[A100man]