do the young ones like older sport bikes

[rudy]

the definitive generation gap is between my 19 year old kid and me. he has the '08 gixxer 1000 and i the '78 gs1000. it's a constant battle made worse by the fact that at his age he knows everything and i am a senile old fool. we taunt each other constantly on and off the road. usually the insults are in good humor. his >100 mph wheelies scare the crap out of me though. i think deep down he respects me and my old bike but just can't admit it at this point of his life. i had some serious ammunition when his brand new gixxer was in the shop for almost a month with an electrical problem and he needed to borrow one of my gs's to go to work.

Kind of the same for me, but opposite. I (25yo) have and love the old bikes. My dad (53yo) goes for newer ones. He's a fan of the stuff from the late 80's to mid 90's sport bikes. The only reason I have an 84 FJ is because he GAVE it to me. Being who I am, I couldn't turn it down, and since it was he gave it to me, I feel almost obligated to fix it and get it back on the road. Honestly a little too much plastic for me, but it has potential. Still low-tech enough.

[not a biker]

even though i am a auto mechanic, i am lazy. a friend told me it took him a good part of a day to change the spark plugs on his 07 kawa ZX14. no thanks

[briyenkieth]

Ok so I'm 33 now, my gs is a '78, I was three when it was built. I've owned a handful of bikes now and the vintage stuff definitly has more character. Don't know maybe it's the patina or the way parts were cast then (designed knowing it's exposed to the eye). Hard to explain I guess but I do love modern power and brakes. My kz could never brake like my buell nor could it keep pace with the ducati. Niether of em looked as good as it did at the curb. That chrome tank was goergous, best money I spent on it.

[skidMarkNZ]

Excuse me there mister **tugs ya pant leg**

I'm 21 and own 3 classic bikes...

[feelergaugephil]

Im 42 and into old stuff, yes the younger generation like the plastic stuff, I took my 81 GS1000 to Harley night, and I must say, I got way more comments on it than going to the local bike night, mainly older guys that appreciated my restoration work.

But gota say, I too ride a plastic!

[jed.only]

wow. i just read this entire thread and it really makes me feel, well, special. im 27, and i just dig the stuff from the generations back. ive always been into cars, and always been into bikes (from the sideline of course), but im just now getting into working on classic japanese bikes. im an ex-ASE certified master technician and was spinning wrenches on racecars since the early years. mom always had a 1/4mile car and dad raced flattrack VWs. i raced dirttrack for a while, but it just wasnt my thing. i didnt like drag racing, i didnt like road racing, i just liked working on cars.

ill tell you, and you might laugh, but what got me started with bikes was a 47cc pocketbike i was given in trade for some rouge car parts i had in my garage. didnt run, didnt know why, and it was in haggard condition. a week taking it apart and learning how simple a 2stroke was (never worked on one) and $30 in parts and i was buzzing around the neighborhood, and it was FUN.

later that year, my wife's family gave me a 79GS that was my wife's brother's bike (he had moved up north for school) that had been sitting in their barn for a number of years. it was in bad shape. im in the process of reading up on everything i can, and taking stuff apart to learn how it works (and its so so simple).

i have driven it, around a square mile, and it was awesome. that's it. the only other bike ive ridden besides my GS and that pocketbike was a 929, and that bike was flipping ridiculous. putted around on it for a while, got ballsy and twisted it off, front came up, i eased it back down, parked it, and threw my buddy the keys. no mas.

there is a classic japanese bike shop/salvage here in town that ive grown to love. over the last few months, ive really built a rapport with those guys. talking old bikes, asking questions, looking at old bikes in parts, and scouring the floor to ceiling shelves of parts from dinosaurs long since their last mile. i love it. and nobody around me feels the love. but im okay with that.

[EricGS850G]

I'm 23 years old and i am not like other guy's my age i love my 1980 Suzuki GS850G and everyone i tell i have one there like oh my god that thing is so old. i tell them i know but it runs great and rides smooth. it is such a easy thing to work on i am so proud to say i am a old bike enthusiast.

[bucketsofgs1000]

Maybe there are more young guys riding old bikes than we thought...

I'm 26 and have ridden bikes older than me since I was 16. I get strange and confused looks from the other youngens on their sport bikes because my bike looks old but has CNC machined aluminum parts and more carbon fiber than their bikes. I think they can't tell its as old as it is.

-Zack

[Odysseas]

I'm 23 years old and i am not like other guy's my age i love my 1980 Suzuki GS850G and everyone i tell i have one there like oh my god that thing is so old. i tell them i know but it runs great and rides smooth. it is such a easy thing to work on i am so proud to say i am a old bike enthusiast.

Now, Eric, I appreciate your positive words of enthusiasm. However, I just read your post titled "Hell" posted today and there seems to be a bit of a contradiction here.

[jed.only]

Now, Eric, I appreciate your positive words of enthusiasm. However, I just read your post titled "Hell" posted today and there seems to be a bit of a contradiction here.

haha. i just read it, too.

[yasser]

You have to scoff at the old stuff if you are trying to justify the payments that you are making on your new bike. I scoff at the new stuff to justify the time and parts to keep the VJMs rolling.

[lordcannon88]

personally i love the style of the old bikes. i dont like the vtwin thing because 1. they are slow, and 2 they dont handle. in my book all modern metric cruisers are just trying to copy harley. I dont like crotch rockets either. the whole molesting the gas tank thing just doesnt work for me. i do like the speed of them. I figure one day I whenever I get money ill pick up a lateish model standard with the crotch rocket counterpart motor and mod it a bit and get a comfertable position out of it. then ill have older style seating position and comfort and the reduced maintinance and improved reliability of newer technology. but that requires money first. lol

[not a biker]

personally i love the style of the old bikes. i dont like the vtwin thing because 1. they are slow, and 2 they dont handle. in my book all modern metric cruisers are just trying to copy harley. I dont like crotch rockets either. the whole molesting the gas tank thing just doesnt work for me. i do like the speed of them. I figure one day I whenever I get money ill pick up a lateish model standard with the crotch rocket counterpart motor and mod it a bit and get a comfertable position out of it. then ill have older style seating position and comfort and the reduced maintinance and improved reliability of newer technology. but that requires money first. lol

the suzuki B KING is just that bike. standard riding position with a full on busha engine.

[Smokinapankake]

the suzuki B KING is just that bike. standard riding position with a full on busha engine.

And about the ugliest thing on 2 wheels, IMHO

[not a biker]

B KING
GET RID OF THOSE UGLY BUCK ROGERS MUFFLERS AND IT LOOKS LIKE EVERY OTHER CROTCH ROCKET EVER MADE.