Your bikes of the 1970s and 1980s.

[762baynet]

Blue would be gooder

Blue wuz for hermers

 

[lastwalt]

@lastwalt thanks for the like.

The wife took the lad to the DPS to have the bike annotation entered. After half an hour of the system refusing to accept the entry the woman called head office in Austin.

The State DPS system (equivalent to DVLA) was incapable of accepting that a minor under 18 had a bike chitty. He was issued with a letter he could show if he was stopped by plod. Meanwhile they had to update their system which took 6 weeks. He was eventually notified to go in and get his licence updated and also had an annotation put on his DPS licence record to inform plod of his status if they stopped him.

17 year old me would have been very, very jealous of him. I was clattering around on my fragile old C15 at that age.

 

[Cent 05ZR70]

Or ‘Ondal, as they say here in Bristol

I used to take are Monical out on mine, 'til I got a Cortinal..

 

[Awol]

Some of those 1960's 50cc Italian tiddlers I was on about, as I recall the Malaguti "sixteener" was one of the few that kept the tiny Italian road racer look DNA, most were sold in a trail bike style in the UK, or even the bonkers Fantic Chopper!


View attachment 633164View attachment 633165View attachment 633166View attachment 633167View attachment 633168trail

Fast, but very fragile.

 

[JackSofty]

I had one of these giant killers:

Somehow, it doesn't look as 'meaty' as I remember. If I could have spent less money on beer, I would have 'upgraded' it with the 80cc kit but, well, I liked beer.
It was as much fun, if not more, as wringing the neck of my mate's CX500 (timing, thankfully sorted) on the hills between my village & Beverley.

 

[JackSofty]

I was but a mere child in the 70's and went straight to a car, but I had one just like this....

View attachment 632952

The first day that I had my Raleigh Chopper, whizzing down the street, waved to mrs. C, I went straight into a car too. Blummen' painful it was too.

 

[Konstabel_Els]

My T160 that took me around the battlefields of WW1 and much of northern Europe.

 

[JackSofty]

My last bike, ok in the '90s, was a late '80s Kwakker AR125. After some years on elderly, British iron, revisiting the screaming reed valves from my youthful excesses on borrowed Elsies was quite invigorating.

 

[Bordon/hants]

Filtering..........When did that change? I have an observation to put forward after a 12 year break from riding;

One thing I have noticed is how bike riders seem these days to sit in queues of cars when going slowly, or wait patiently miles back from the lights like they are in cars and not on bikes.

I am not talking about courier style blatting through traffic, but careful filtering.

I have had some real strange looks on the little 125 passing big bikes................when they are posing on their Hayabusas or whatever and stuff all dressed up like moto GP heros blipping the throttle but waiting 200 yards from the lights behind old grannies and mums in SUV's.

Don't know when this trend started, maybe a lot of todays riders had cars when young and got into bikes after years of driving cars, so think differently from bikers.

ATB, Ed

 

[Old Stab]

This is what I had in the 80's

 

[Chef]

Filtering..........When did that change? I have an observation to put forward after a 12 year break from riding;

One thing I have noticed is how bike riders seem these days to sit in queues of cars when going slowly, or wait patiently miles back from the lights like they are in cars and not on bikes.

I am not talking about courier style blatting through traffic, but careful filtering.

I have had some real strange looks on the little 125 passing big bikes................when they are posing on their Hayabusas or whatever and stuff all dressed up like moto GP heros blipping the throttle but waiting 200 yards from the lights behind old grannies and mums in SUV's.

Don't know when this trend started, maybe a lot of todays riders had cars when young and got into bikes after years of driving cars, so think differently from bikers.

ATB, Ed

Good it's not just me then.

The Deliveroo type pilots still racket around like gangbusters and have added chatting on bar mounted mobiles to the usual DR skill of smoking tabs while going about their tasks.

So the flame is kept burning

 

[Richard Headicus]

Filtering..........When did that change? I have an observation to put forward after a 12 year break from riding;

One thing I have noticed is how bike riders seem these days to sit in queues of cars when going slowly, or wait patiently miles back from the lights like they are in cars and not on bikes.

I am not talking about courier style blatting through traffic, but careful filtering.

I have had some real strange looks on the little 125 passing big bikes................when they are posing on their Hayabusas or whatever and stuff all dressed up like moto GP heros blipping the throttle but waiting 200 yards from the lights behind old grannies and mums in SUV's.

Don't know when this trend started, maybe a lot of todays riders had cars when young and got into bikes after years of driving cars, so think differently from bikers.

ATB, Ed

I too have noticed that, and I drove cars before I started riding. Not rode for a few years now, but did wonder why bikes kept back rather than get to the front of the queue. Possibly because they, like car newbies, are taught a box ticking exercise rather than how to drive/ride.

 

[giatttt]

Filtering..........When did that change? I have an observation to put forward after a 12 year break from riding;

One thing I have noticed is how bike riders seem these days to sit in queues of cars when going slowly, or wait patiently miles back from the lights like they are in cars and not on bikes.

I am not talking about courier style blatting through traffic, but careful filtering.

I have had some real strange looks on the little 125 passing big bikes................when they are posing on their Hayabusas or whatever and stuff all dressed up like moto GP heros blipping the throttle but waiting 200 yards from the lights behind old grannies and mums in SUV's.

Don't know when this trend started, maybe a lot of todays riders had cars when young and got into bikes after years of driving cars, so think differently from bikers.

ATB, Ed

Thirty years after I regularly rode a bike I found myself doing that on a mate’s Firestorm on North Anderson drive in the queue down to bridge of Dee. I came to my senses activated hyperdrive, touched the brake, and was on the bridge.*

On reflection, my Triumph Daytona was not the monster that I had thought it was In the early 80s.


* Changed my opinion of my abilities and the sense of my then plans to buy a speed triple.

 

[Old Scribes]

Does anyone remember the Honda Dream 50?

As a 16 year old this is what I lusted after more than anything in the world. There was one in my local dealership but even back then it was crazy money.

It was the fastest 50cc bike money could buy, with 6 speed gearbox mated to a twin cam that revved up to 13,500 rpm.

They’re all collectors pieces now with big price tags.

View attachment 633203View attachment 633204

I have seen quite a few of these in daily use in Japan - sadly, none of them for sale.

 

[lastwalt]

Thirty years after I regularly rode a bike I found myself doing that on a mate’s Firestorm on North Anderson drive in the queue down to bridge of Dee. I came to my senses activated hyperdrive, touched the brake, and was on the bridge.*

On reflection, my Triumph Daytona was not the monster that I had thought it was In the early 80s.


* Changed my opinion of my abilities and the sense of my then plans to buy a speed triple.

That would be South Anderson Drive, surely?

Before the Clackmannanshire Bridge was built, I could cut 40 minutes off my commute by filtering the queue through Kincardine, sometimes joined by half a dozen or so Polis from Tulliallan Police College.

 

[Maninthestreet]

I didn‘t learn my lesson with Chinese bikes.

I bought a great looking supermoto from that well known brand “SMC” And used it for a couple of years to commute in London.

As mentioned above it looked cool and I’d get a lot of comments from young lads who thought it was something decent. It was basically a copy of the venerable Honda CB125 engine mated to a copy of a KTM frame, with all the shite Chinese build quality, cheap materials and dodgy electrics you’d expect from something that cost 900 quid new.

All the switches broke because they’d used butter instead of plastic, every metal fixing on it rusted within about a month of getting it home, the anodised forks were made out of different materials and one fork faded to gold while the other stayed black. I dropped it once and the handlebars were so weak they bent like they were made of plastic. I was able to bend them back in shape with my bare hands. It also tried to kill me when the front brake calliper sheared off while I was going round Shepherds Bush roundabout and got jammed in the front wheel.

Oh it was also on a Q plate because the DVLA couldn’t verify it’s origin.

A quality piece of machinery.

View attachment 632984

My first supermoto had Kawasaki on it. She wasn't a shy girl. Allegedly it still lives on in Liverpool at least that is the last place the thieving bastards stopped long enough for someone to take an interest..

Hey it's all good fun...

 

[Goatman]

Filtering..........When did that change? I have an observation to put forward after a 12 year break from riding;

One thing I have noticed is how bike riders seem these days to sit in queues of cars when going slowly, or wait patiently miles back from the lights like they are in cars and not on bikes.

I am not talking about courier style blatting through traffic, but careful filtering.

I have had some real strange looks on the little 125 passing big bikes................when they are posing on their Hayabusas or whatever and stuff all dressed up like moto GP heros blipping the throttle but waiting 200 yards from the lights behind old grannies and mums in SUV's.

Don't know when this trend started, maybe a lot of todays riders had cars when young and got into bikes after years of driving cars, so think differently from bikers.

ATB, Ed

In 2019 I was asked to ride new BMWs from Soton up to an airfield in Northampton and back to put 300 miles on them before they were handed to journos and dealers to try. The idea being that if anything went wrong or fell off it would only be some minimum wage prole with a full bike licence rather than anyone important.

Did a few of these trips, and some of the other riders didn't want to slither between static lines of traffic on the A34. It was SOP's in that there Lahndon where I'd done most of my riding so I was happy.

Had a ball, though I was reminded that bikes are unforgiving if your attention wanders, approaching a roundabout far too fast for comfort

 

[Bordon/hants]

The adverts (and music) were better then too.......who remembers especially the Norton ones with all the top totty of the time that were on the Allspice telly ads as well?

 

[Chef]

The adverts (and music) were better then too.......who remembers especially the Norton ones with all the top totty of the time that were on the Allspice telly ads as well?


View attachment 633322

I recall a letter decrying the sexualisation shown in those sorts of adverts I agreed with them then and still do, I know they were different times and different, though offensive, attitudes prevailed.

Nonetheless trying to sell women using motorcycles as eye candy is demeaning to both the motorcycle and the viewer!

 

[robinrocket111]

My T160 that took me around the battlefields of WW1 and much of northern Europe.
View attachment 633244

Absolutely fcuking gorgeous!! Please tell me you’ve still got it?

I started with an FS1E like many others, went to Kawasaki KH100

Then I grew up and went o to bigger stuff
GS1100
GPZ 1100 injection
A brace of ZX12R's with a ZZR1100 in the middle
A Triumph Daytona 1200se which I really regret parting with

Currently have a ZZR1400 which shares a distinct DNA of the 1100

I am a fan of brute horsepower and I'm not sure the Zed 14 will ever get replaced, it's just pretty and the performance is obscene

The wife has a GSXR 750 which in many ways is a technically better bike but it doesn't grab you by the bollox and squeeze like the Zed does

If you like Brute power, get yourself a test ride on a Rocket111, not the latest one which is more powerful, but the original, no ABS, or Traction control, just pure power brute power!

Had a couple of people on here remarking about the torque reaction of the venerable CX500 Maggot, what are you on about? I’ve had two from new in the past, the clutch and generator go in the opposite direction to the crank. Counteracting the torque reaction. It does react a little, but nowt like a Bemmer Boxer or a Moto Guzzi. I jumped off my old CX onto a MG California, blipped the throttle and thought the thing was going to fall over!