Older Bikes

[Wednesday Biker]

I've only usually had newish bikes before.My oldest bike was 9 years old.
But I've seen a few older bikes at this local bike place and they seem in good nick and I know they are good honest mechanics and its not a rip off place.
I like the retro look of some of them and they suit my budget at the moment.
They have bikes like the VFR750, ZX9R AND ZZR600 which take my fancy.All about mid to late 90's and the mileage is reasonable.

I'm just wary about older bikes.Like can you get parts easily and are they as reliable as newer bikes of the same mileage.
I know someone with a w reg bandit 1200 and that seems bullet proof but not sure about the sportier ones.

Has anyone had experience of older bikes and would you recommend them.

[Diggs]

My youngest bike is 1996. Old bikes are great if you don't have to rely on them and like getting your hands dirty from time to time. They are also great because they are harder to ride quickly than modern bikes so you get more of a buzz keeping up with other people.

Spares are no different to newer bikes imo- they are all bloody expensive!
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Now - Speed Triple, old ratty GS550, GSXR750M
Gone (in order of ownership) - Raleigh Runabout, AP50, KH125, GP125, KH250, CBX550, Z400, CB750FII, 250LC, GS550, ZXR750H1, Guzzi Targa, GSX750F, KH250 x2, Bimota SB6R and counting...

[map]

I have old bikes. They were cheap to buy. They do need looking after as in the regular oil, service, etc. as you would on a brand new machine. The youngest is 1994, so 20 years old. Oldest is 1989.

Parts are okay. Although I guess that depends on how rare the bike is. All have stuff like brake lines replaced/upgraded.

Insurance is a dream low value. I have a multi bike one.
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...and the whirlwind is in the thorn trees, it's hard for thee to kick against the pricks...
Gibbs, what did Duckie look like when he was younger?

[nowhere.elysium]

1983 650 (daily ride), and a 1987 400 that'll be on the road soon enough. The 2010 650 is waiting for my wife to pass her test and inherit it.

Don't make my mistake and go for rare/unusual bikes, unless you're patient when it comes to parts finding. Other than that, I vastly prefer riding and working on older bikes.
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'10 SV650SF, '83 GS650GT (it lives!), Questionable DIY dash project, 3D Printer project, Lasercutter project

[Wednesday Biker]

I mainly had 2 strokes way back but I was forever pushing them, bump starting them and mopping up petrol leaks quite often.
Had pistons go on my DT and X7.
I know they were older than what I'm looking at and 2 strokes but it just makes me wary as I'm used to shiny bikes with fi.
I'm not a great tinkerer but I can do routine stuff.But engine wise it would have to be off to the local garage.
But I've seen these bikes with 80k+ on them so I imagine they are more reliable than I'm giving them credit for and the ones I'm looking at have 20-30k on them.
The thought of not having to get finance again is really appealing but I'm thinking sometimes these bikes can have problems that have been rectified on recent models.
Bikes just seem so reliable these days.

[MCN.]

My 40 year old 2T is more reliable than my GSXR1100.

Discuss.

[chickenstrip]

[chickenstrip]

[Rogerborg]

Condition is everything. /fread?
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[Shaft]

My current fleet is between 27 and 31 years old and the most recent bike I've ever owned was my 91 Pan Euro, which was 7 years old then, so you might say I like old bikes

I'm going to slightly disagree with NE, in that I think there are certain advantages to owning rarer bikes.

For one thing, you're even less likely to encounter another one (eg at the last May Day meet, there were hundreds of bikes of all types, mine was the only Katana I saw, there were more 500LCs) and yes, parts can be difficult and frustrating to source, but there's a degree of thrill of the chase, which you don't get when you can just click the 'order' button.

Plus, when you can't easily buy parts, it hones your refurb and fabrication skills, which is never a bad thing, regardless of how experienced you might be.
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Things get better with age; I'm close to being magnificent........
20 RE Interceptor, 83 Z1100A3, 83 GS650 Katana
WooHoo, I'm a Man Point Millionaire! https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=234035

[MCN.]

[Pete.]

[mailee]

I prefer older bikes due to the simplicity of them. I have never liked the idea of electronics on machines (cars/bikes/boats) as there is just more to go wrong and when they do you need to be a computer whizz to sort them out. Give me good old reliable simplicity any day.

[Tamsin]

The less electronics the better IMO, regardless of what type of
vehicle it is...

[Itchy]

[weasley]

My 1997 Thundercat has so far racked up the following problems in its entire life:

- failed spark plug cap. Replaced with 2nd hand unit for £15 (with two others thrown in for spare).

Other than than, it uses consumables at a low rate too. It is still on the original downpipes (BEWARE!!! THE DOWNPIPES ROT LIKE MAD ON THESE....not). The original clutch. The original fork seals. The original caliper seals. Even the sidelight bulb is still the original.

If I were to sell this (which I am not) I would expect to get around £1k for it. It is a lot of bike for the money and also happens to be fast, comfortable, reasonable handling and cheap to insure.

I am not saying I don't covet new bikes (because omigod I do) but I am almost evangelical about this bike.
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Yamaha XJ600 | Yamaha YZF600R Thundercat | KTM 990 SMT | BMW F900XR TE

[nowhere.elysium]

[Pete.]

[WD Forte]

Owning an old CX used to be great
You couldn't give them away a few years ago and SH parts were plentiful
and cheap so you could run them for pennies.
Some new stuff and service items are still easy to get mind you.
I amassed enough spares and junk to build my current bike and luckily have enough essential spares to keep it going indefinitely.
Nowadays the C word has pumped the prices up so the shittiest old stuff
goes for silly prices
Classic my arse. its a working dog!
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bikers smell of wee

[johnnyarctic]

I've got a 95 VFR750, had to do the R/R and stator as they went and stopped charging the battery. apart from those common problems its been great for me, albeit I've only done 3 of the 53k on the clock
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Current Ride: VFR750

[chickenstrip]

[Wednesday Biker]

I'm convinced.
I'm going to give an older bike a shot

[stevo as b4]

The thing about certain models being burdened with reliability problems is a bit misleading though! yes certain bikes had design faults and some had issues found in service at mileages not really tested to by the manufacturer. We know about a lot of these problems, issues, and the causes now. And with the right parts and work design faults on old machinery can be developed out in the aftermarket.

You can these days build a reliable RGV 250 engine or KR1S engine etc. So can you make a VF750 reliable or even build a damp liner K-series engine that won't shit itself and eat the head gasket every five mins!

[Pete.]

[Ariel Badger]

My bike is relatively new being built in 1936 but I would encourage anyone to try an older bike at least once.
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Bikers make great organ donors, get 115 on your licence today.