Motorcycles have never been as good as they are today. And where in 1969 the 67 hp of Honda's CB 750 Four were really too much for the secondary chains and rear tires of the time, now you can just buy a 100% reliable engine with two hundred hp on board.
That 200 hp requires a dozen electronic slaves to prevent the engine from jumping forwards or backwards when braking or accelerating, which limits the torque in the first two gears and the top speed in the last two gears. is that the rear wheel does not bounce when downshifting? Those kind of things?
To me it seems a bit like eating two strips of Viagra and then looking in the Wehkamp – or let's call it 'FonQ' – catalog for new coasters for the dining table.
I received another somewhat confusing piece of information some time ago from a friend whose house had been burglarized. Her house, car and motorcycle keys were taken. New door locks were quickly arranged. Her car was a lease car, which was simply exchanged. But a pair of new keys and an ignition lock for her motorcycle cost around €1.400. Because a modern key has been trained and must be read into the on-board software of a modern motorcycle. And that costs. Apparently something like €1.400…
In the past not everything was better ...
When the ignition lock of my 1971 Moto Guzzi gave up the ghost, I was able to connect the wires using only the on-board tools. En route I visited TLM in Nijmegen. There they advised me to buy an imitation Guzzislot. Imitation locks were better. The lock and keys cost me €35 and I bolted my new addition to the showroom to my good twin. Finished!
Driving a classic motorcycle can therefore be defended as 'economically responsible'.
You can always get away with that battle cry in the Netherlands. But there are more ways to explain why you drive classically. People who, for social reasons, do not want to admit that classic driving is simply more fun and much more intense than driving a brand new car can always go crazy about the sustainability factor of driving a classic car. Because what has already been made does not require any irreplaceable raw materials.
Imagine the plastic consumption of all those modern motorcycles alone. Soon all Chinese plastic mines will be empty! So what? Moreover, classic motorcycles in the Netherlands are inexplicably so cheap that 80 percent of the motorcycles offered go abroad. So if you buy a good classic here, you will be doubly well off, because you hardly have to depreciate it.
But above all you experience on a classic motorcycle everything marketers and engineers, the only two groups in the motorcycle world that have been rejuvenated, have taken from us.
On a classic motorcycle you are a motorcyclist. No passenger with limited input. On a classic motorcycle you experience what modern motorcyclists miss, or even can no longer handle.
A modern motorbike riding knowledge and I changed motor once during a trip through the Ardennes. On his motorcycle I felt a significantly better pilot, a mechanical surgeon. When he got off my bike, he was stunned: “Are you just riding that thing? He does not brake and he does not steer! Dangerous! "
My Guzzi is not life threatening. He's good. You just have to get to know him a bit. The modern motorcycle that sat gleaming plastic next to mine was so much better than my old Italian. Almost perfect. But as an inveterate romantic, I have no interest in perfection...
Mine has ABS. And I just have to press a button and it just starts. And even though I have been driving for a few years, I am still happy that this is over. With a worn out knee due to a kicking kick starter and riding a motorcycle that is more than a hundred kilos lighter than my previous one, I can only say that I am happy that I am still riding. Whether I drive to Greece or take a tour around the church doesn't really matter. But I drive. And it doesn't matter to me that it is no longer as old as some of the engines I had before. I drive and then pretending that the old ones are great, I find it a bit black and white. You get some nice stories with it. Just drive and don't whine. If there is something along the way, we fix it and move on.
ABS and start buttons are perfect. But my thinking is indeed not very objective. I am a happy fossil
Despite the fact that they are rougher, vibrate more and require more maintenance than a modern electronic model... classics and old cars simply have charm, call it 'soul'.
And whether you drive to Cadzand-bad from the Achterhoek in three hours in a modern loft, or you do it terraced and tinkered in 10 hours on an old goat; you got where you wanted to be.
Moreover, old motorcycles can count on sympathy from the biggest motorcycle haters
Agree! But Cadzand Bad is no longer fun since it was occupied by Flanders. Now we'll just go to the Ruhr area and such. Nice and close too.
Wonderful piece and very true! In 2013 I was back through Scandinavia with my Aprilia (fairly modern RSV1000R from 2006) and enjoyed the comments from, among others, Norwegians at a campsite: that I dared to ride such a motorcycle there. Well, the world-famous “Italian character” with some tinkering every now and then, for example on the Arctic Circle because the clutch must be bled every approximately 2500 km: (clumsy) construction with cylinder on block, just like a brake cylinder. But hey, that's part of it. Also nice: a Swede somewhere at a campsite who came to look at our bikes (friend with an old Suzuki GSX600F) and told us that “when he grew up he always wanted an Aprilia and now he had this…” while he pointed to a a little further away where his very large camper was with his wife and children around it 🙂 We all had a laugh, humor. In the past ('86) I also traveled all over Scandinavia with my older CB750F2 and I regularly had to dismantle and clean the carburetors at the campsite: in some way the floats regularly got stuck and I suddenly got a very cold leg from the car along the way. gasoline dripping and evaporating on it. With my Suzuki TL1000S later also driving in those parts, I hardly had to do any tinkering.
Actually a nice part of older engines and a lot more affordable. Coincidentally, I visited a motorcycle shop again last weekend, a dealer of Ducati, among others, and saw new prices of €32.000 and higher. What strange times.
Motorcycles on credit are nothing new. Now just wait for the first motorcycle for which a mortgage is taken out. But man, the fun we had!
That's right, that's completely priceless 🙂
Awesome ! Will Paul also come up with a new book?
Yesterday I spent a long time brainstorming with Paul. You make books out of passion. And he is passionate enough. But how much do you earn from books? Aiii.
I agree with that 100%. After having ridden a V1970 since 7 and subsequently riding the entire Guzzi arsenal, including some small models up to my latest, the EV1100, I am always happy to be able to ride the various old V7s again and can/must tinker with it, that is a relief compared to the EV with computer. Even Paul van Hoof's old V7 can delight me as I work on preparing it for new adventures.
Those seniors are as solid and simple as bricks. Heart-conquering!
Totally agree. I started at the age of 18 on a 350 Sarolea 1948, and at the age of 20 I bought my only new one, a BMW R 60/7. Then I bought a second-hand R65 and added a sidecar for the Kids and then a second-hand K 75 for work. Together they drove about 650.000 km. Now at the age of 66, I gave the K to my son, back with the 60/7 (ZGAN after 206000 km) and still with the sidecar with the grandson. No, for me the real modern is certainly not necessary. I was also able to do everything necessary to these 3 BMWs. Long live the classics 👍
Bingo!
Dolf, I too have read this piece and fully support it! Yet….!
I used to go for a weekend drive with my Matchless and spend evenings tinkering again, no money for new parts, so I went to Muts in Soest. I also had a lot of driving and wrenching fun on my then Jawa with team, Bultaco Trial motorcycle and Velorex tricycle!!
Nowadays, on my current Liberator, I feel like a driver who enjoys driving. But still... on my Tupperware Gl1500 with sidecar, I also have a great time on it, as well as on my Kawa Versys 1000. All with a different experience.
Actually, I feel at home on any motorcycle and would like to have all types in my shed! In any case, I got my nickname Muts from it.
I totally agree with your 'but still'
Although my motorcycles will not be considered classic by many, with construction years 1985, 1993 and 1998 respectively, I completely agree with this. My criterion is carburetors and not electronics like ABS.
I completely agree with Rolf. 'Electromeuk'. Beautiful expression. And all the electronics on it can break. And ABS is increasingly taken for granted these days. What do you think about the fact that a motorcyclist has to know his bike so thoroughly that he can automatically brake on the edge without falling over? Poor motorcyclists who, spoiled by ABS as they are, face Waterloo if the ABS fails to respond. That's why I don't think much of ABS. I have had to brake many times for car idiots where the front wheel made very short 'joy beeps' and the rear wheel started to bounce slightly. ABS cannot brake harder either. But people act as if without ABS they can no longer drive or breathe. Rolf, you are right 👍🏼
A friend of mine sold her Yamaha Fazer 600 a while ago for a piece of cake because the ABS was broken and the replacement of that part cost about € 1.000,00.
Other than that, that motorcycle was perfect... If I had known, I would have bought it.
Stefan.
Girlfriends are like motorcycles: If you don't give them enough attention, you miss things
Of all the modern features, I think ABS is quite clever. Even on my Ural it is standard. But that could also be due to the combination of drums and liners. An emergency stop of a minute or two can be very nerve-racking
ABS is possible for me, but I find those 268 other control cousins decadent
I learned earlier about the girlfriend whose key was stolen.
That was before The Great Education Reform!
Correct. What makes motorcycling so beautiful? For me, that means riding on two wheels with more than 50cc engine capacity. No criticism whatsoever of the riders who prefer three wheels!! But I am a two-wheeler. And modern motorcycles also usually originally have two wheels. So where lies the problem with classic driving? Let's face it... the newer generation of motorcyclists often have fewer skills to understand technology. Let alone tinker with it. Gruesome amounts of money are spent to keep their two-wheeled 'penis prosthesis' in top condition. Motorcycle clothing must be in the design of the brand. When a drop of rain falls, they either break down or cry tears because some dirt has gotten on their two-wheeled lifestyle gadget. Perhaps a bit of an exaggeration, but getting oil on your hands is perceived as a contagious disease. Classic drivers are constructed differently. They still avoid oil or grease and don't move a muscle when they sacrifice a piece of skin on their two-wheeler when they shoot off an old bolt head with an equally old wrench. The mindset is definitely different. Long live the soul. Long live the classic!
Well, luckily I do have suitable tools.
But old Hinckley-TriumphThey are so terribly solid that there is nothing that can be done about them. Have one with 192.000 km on the clock that drives like a new one.
And those 1985 Hondas are just as good. But removing and installing the carburettors of that V4 was a real rotten job.
Amen!
This is absolutely correct, I have also driven a Guzzi for a long time and that is always an adventure in itself. Requires some of your creativity.
I sometimes think that we have forgotten the art of driving of yesteryear and that we can only get by with an enormous amount of electronics on board.
I recently saw a review where a BMW R1300 GS had the negative point that it did not have contactless charging for your mobile phone. What a loss.
I'm usually happy when I don't have to push a motor but just start it in one go.
Where has the romance gone?
Italian driving has required creativity since time immemorial, whether on two or four wheels, every ride is an adventure in itself.
Friend Jan K said it this way: Italians put something on the market if they think it's NICE enough. Further product development was something for the buyers
Read: This engine is the ideal platform for your smartphone
He is beautiful again, Dolf, and completely agreeable.
Yooo! Soulsistah!