After all the threads about tyres lately, it's got me thinking about the good old days. I started riding in the late 80's by 1991 I had moved up to a GSXR 750 it was fitted with the top of the range radial tyres ( think they might have been the ' only ' radial at the time ) They where Michelin A59x and the rear was M59x. Now for anyone not old enough to remember these tyres they where horrendous,but it never stopped us riding like t@wts we used to wear out lower fairings, Sunday ride around Wales was flat out for 4 hours (150-160 mph ) come rain or shine ( Welsh police to busy chasing sheep to concentrate on us , also they had Astra vans and BMW R80's which needed a big hill to hit 100mph) To tell You how hard these tyres where I can remember all the old gits ( my age now !! ) bitching that they ONLY get 25000 miles out of the rear ! Yes that's 25k miles and they complained lol !
Ha, that was before my riding years, but it sounds an awful lot of fun (apart from the tyres part that is)!
In the mid 80's I moved from a Honda Superdream to a Kawasaki gpz750 turbo I spent nearly every penny I earn't paying for the bloody thing, can't say I gave the tyres a second thought back then as long as i managed to stay shiney side up.
I remember the Michelin A59/M59 - I had them on my 94 CBR600. The strange thing is tyres are cheaper now than they were then - back in the day I use to pay £200 for a pair of Pirelli Dragons (160 size rear). A pair of the latest Michelin PP3 in 190 size are only £170 now
You must have been looking over my shoulder a few months back when I wrote the article below. It rang so true with me So I thought you might appreciate me sharing it with you. A few months back I was chewing the fat one evening with a couple of lifelong biking buddies and we started to reminisce about the “Good old days” and how much better motorcycling seemed to be then than it is now, more to the point it got us thinking about how times have changed. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t consider myself old, (well not that old anyway) but I started riding in the early seventies with what was then a state of the art Yamaha FS1E 49cc moped (anyone remember the Fantic’s or Gilera’s?) which was unrestricted and could on a good day downhill with the wind in your favour do 55 flat out, although to be fair the bike was about 5 years old and it had about 10 previous owners before it came into my possession. When I first started riding, there was no such thing as CBT, back then you applied for your provisional licence, picked out the bike you wanted or could afford, the dealer then handed over the keys and said something like “see you soon”. This always struck me as a strange comment, but they knew that we would drop it sooner or later and would end up returning to have it repaired, but being poor and unable to afford repair bills we very quickly learnt from our mistakes. There was the option of taking the RAC/ACU course, but training was something only the cissies did, not us hardened bikes with our fantastic fifties. At 17 I moved on to my first “big bike” the awesome Honda CD175, (in those days, as our older readers will remember, we could ride up to 250 on ‘L’ plates) no not the Benly, but the original with the fully enclosed chain case and the speedo that was built into the headlamp nacelle. Those who had money went for the Honda CB175 which had luxuries such as an electric start and rev counter, but the old CD was a good solid reliable workhorse for me to learn my early road craft on. I ran that bike into the ground and passed my test on it, which was then a 5 minute ride around the block with the examiner standing on the street corner, and provided you did everything right when you were within his view, you passed. Having passed my test I then moved onto bigger and better things, the Suzuki GT380 Triple which at the time was a state of the art bike and sat nicely alongside the GT550, GT750 Kettle and GT500 Twin. Blimey what a mistake that was! Middle cylinder was forever seizing, electrics were very dodgy and ground clearance was OK if you liked sparks flying out from the bottom set of exhausts every time you cornered. Within 12 months I was growing tired of 2 strokes and then I found the joys of big 4 stroke multi cylinder motorcycling in the shape of the Honda CB500/4 (well it was big at the time). This to me was proper motorcycling and from that point on I never looked back and went on to own a multitude of multi cylinder Japanese 4’s which continues right up to the current day with my Blackbird. Now the reason I mention all this nostalgia for the old days, is that in their day these bikes were the dogs danglies and more to the point, some of the things we did on these bikes defy description. Remember frames were super flexible, tyres were skinny and made of 95% nylon (or so it appeared) and yet we used to hoon around on these things like the top racers of the day. If you dared to mention to anyone with more than 12 months riding experience that you might know more than them, you were either liable to get a lynching or you would simply be ignored, so you looked, listened and learnt until you eventually became accepted into the biking community. You learnt to fix your own bike, it was a case of having to as most of us couldn’t afford to buy genuine parts, and bolt on extra’s such as huggers or alarms were unheard of. It was amazing what you could fix with a 10mm ring spanner, an adjustable and a screwdriver. How things have changed. Today’s bikes are far superior in many ways to the ones I grew up with (and to a degree I am probably looking too much through rose tinted glasses), but I do feel that we as motorcyclists have lost a certain something that was ever present in the old days, although I can’t quite put my finger on it. I know that the roads these days are much busier, training and testing requirements are now far more stringent (which is a good thing in my opinion), enforcement of traffic laws is far heavier than it was in my youth, but I am of the get the feeling that we had far more fun back in the 70’s and 80’s than perhaps we are able to do now! Reading this you are probably thinking that I no longer enjoy riding, far from it, I still enjoy my motorcycling immensely, but in many ways I do feel fortunate that I grew up in an era when proper fun could be had on a bike rather than being all pose and talk that we seem to get today. As I say, how times have changed!
Had a decent size grin reading Tony's post. I bought my first bike at 'nearly' 17 for £20, which included the box it came in... spent the time leading up to 17 working out how to put all the pieces together to make a bike that would go (very nearly managed it). All my mates had the ultra fast Suzuki AP50 from 16 on and up until now I had, rightfully endure the epithet of 'bus stop wanker'. Smack on 17, I rolled out my Suzuki K10 and wazzed off to the local fair, blowing my mate's paltry 50cc moped out of the water with my 80cc awesomness. I had to push it home of course... and several times after that too, as the electrics on it would make a Ducati owner laugh at me. Enough was enough when riding it in a rain storm, the plug cap insisted on earthing through my left knee, so that one went in the bin (actually into a go cart that still exists) and I got myself a CB200. Parallel twin, cable operated disc brake and (ahead of its time) tank pad. Loved that bike. Passed my figure of 8 driving test on it, had it nicked from outside my front door when I was in bed with the flu... Sold my soul to the HP for a candy blue 550/4, rode it through all weathers (had to. No car, not going to be a bus stop wanker again). That's why I won't ride in shitty weather now. Been there, done that, got the limp to prove it. Got the woman, got the car, bike went into the back of the garage... Mortgage, mortgage, mortgage... mortgage paid off! Ducati. (Bellisima) Murdered Ducati... FireBlade. (550/4 still in back of garage, waiting for retirement and excuse to stay out of woman's sight)
Aah, nostalgia ain't what it used to be. I'm guessing I'm just slightly older than TC. I can remember riding anything I could get my hands on cheap, used them to the point of where I couldn't repair them then ditch them for the next heap of junk. I came from a mod/skinhead background so favoured scooters, bikers were the opposition, but most of the time lambretta's and Vespa's were the preserve of the richer kids so I rode an assortment of Hondas, suzuki's and the like. As a 16/17 year old I worked with the " leader of the opposition" which saved me from a kicking on several occasions. Occasionally he would give me a lift home on his tuned, enlarged Triton. At that time there was no helmet laws, so a lot of people didn't wear them, including me. Only cissy's held on on back of bikes so often we would be flying down the road at ton plus speeds just using your knees to cling on. Jeez it was terrifying! During the winter I can remember having to pull over to warm my hands on the exhaust (no gloves, or any bike gear for that matter) and having icicles hanging from my eyebrows. Like TC I think I enjoyed riding more in those days as you felt able to use more of the bikes performance. Anyone who say's they use anything more than about 25% of today's bikes performance are either liars or riding gods. The old bikes felt as though they had a hinge in the middle and took some riding. Also in the early seventies the tyre of choice for the big bikes was the newly released Avon TT. The front tyre was literally triangular shaped until it was inflated, and not far off when it was inflated.
Down here in the Channel Islands, not sure about Jersey though, we were allowed up to a 100cc at 14, and at 16 you could have anything you liked even with L plates. For a while the biggest bike at our school was a Laverda Jota. At 14 my circle of friends changed to those who had bikes and smoked B&H !
I spent a week on Jersey a couple of years ago. It was great, but one thing puzzled me. 20 and 30mph in built up areas, 50mph on one very short section of dual carriageway between St Aubyn and St Helier. But even from our cottage a couple of miles into the sticks, I could hear the big bikes screaming around the island. I mean, it's not a hard one to police... How do you guys keep your license.
Puts it all into perspective, obviously bikes then did not have the power of today, but nor did they have the brakes/suspension/tyres/frames etc. We just got on and rode them to the edge of survivability whilst constantly breaking down, getting wet through whilst using 'waterproofs' and losing mates forever.....RIP....28 apprentices in my year, 5 did not make it through the 3 years. ( and not all of them were bikers) I really laugh now when the modern riders state the bike needs electronics and multi mode maps to make them safe to ride in all conditions etc etc.......how times have changed, these things even with all the power are safe pussies compared to the bendy framed death traps we learnt on.
Ffs we sound like our fathers does make you wonder what bikes will be like in 20 years time, I can see it now.............eh I can remember when I was a lad we had to mek do wi 200bhp at back wheel, yer don't know yer born you younguns today.
"You used to have to wear armour! Bloody hell, didn't you have deflector shields back then?" Who am I kidding. Motorbikes will be illegal by then.
Things were definitely different in the 80's. I took no test, bought a Honda 50 step through from my mate, went to work on it first day out, rode way too close to the kerb (like you do a push bike as that was all I was used ) and went for a sliding session, fortunately across grass, but you can imagine the state of my works trousers, shirt and light weight jacket, well it was winter and I didn't have gloves, gloves were for girls! Found some experience with that when it broke down so I ripped the number plate and tax disk off it and put in on a 90 I had managed to pick up, well at least it was taxed and MOT'd and road legal right, wrong according to Mr Officer, apparently number plates had to stay with the same vehicle, well that was me told. Bought an FS1E, what a great bike, got stopped at least once a week as it had a Micron pipe on it, and boy did it sound like a right bees nest under attack. A various amount of 125's, but nothing sticks more in my mind that my CG125, which had a square section tyre on the back, and I was, without a doubt Barry Sheen flat out everywhere, including bends and getting the pegs on the floor, to this day, I genuinely have NO idea at all how I did not end up on my arse, it squirmed and shook on every bend as the tyre gave way and was riding on about half an inch of block tread, try that on ya blade! Having been through a number of bikes since, I ended up with a blade, and even now I can't go round corners like I used to, I guess its down to too many trips to casualty and have my legs cleaned out with a scrubbing brush. However the upside is I wont leave the house without PROPER protection all round, I don't give a crap about what the weather is doing, just cause it 30 degrees out, that don't mean it wont hurt when you hit the road! I loved the days of riding a bike with a full faced lid and no visor, you cant begin to believe the joys of that, bee's really hurt at 70 mph in your eye, and wasps get really grumpy when they hit your face and bounce in your ear, you also wouldn't believe how quick you can stop a 125 on a grass bank and ditch it and get your lid off to get a wasp out your ear. I think the having no stand at all on your bike was really cool, taking your lid off when you got the petrol station, not because you couldn't get fuel with it on, but because you had to put it on the floor and carefully prop your bike up on it so you could fill it up and pay for it, the joys of it all. Loved it, but wouldn't want it all again!
Just a few corrections, ahem. You spent a week IN Jersey, not ON it. The max speed limit is 40 mph not 50 and is island wide unless you're in one of our many 15 mph (green lanes), 20 mph (through most of the villages) or 30 mph limits. We manage to keep our licences by obeying all the speed limits. On a serious note, despite the low speed limits, with more registered vehicles than inhabitants, every ride on a bike is a ride of survival. This is due to a lot of "blind" junctions (you can't see what's coming unless you edge out, a lot of drivers don't bother to edge, they just stick half their car out into the road). And a strange sense of curtesy where idiots jam on the anchors to allow someone out of a side road or driveway. These coupled with the inevitable phone users make most rides a bit exciting. I rode every day until I retired a few years ago, and most days there was a wtf moment.
To this day I still regret selling my Honda 900 F2B. The back wheel was no wider than most modern bikes front wheel (120/17 a 130 at a push) but it had the best fairing and mirrors of any bike I have ever had and was probably the most comfortable. Yes, modern bikes are better engineered such as the Blackbird (my current ride) but there is no denying I had more fun on my 900, and the things I did on this bike defied belief. No it was not the fastest (about 120 flat out with the wind in my favour) it was not the fastest accelerating, but for pure grin factor and presence, it was awsome 1982. Fond memories. It got written off by a numpty van driver on the way to work one day. I paid £1400 for it when it was 6 months old. 110,000 miles later I got the same money for it as I paid for it in 1986. Then I changed it to My first ever brand new bike It cost me the payout for my 900 plus £50. Yep, £1450 quid for a brand new bike. That was another fun bike and it carried its engine oil in the frame. It came out at the same time as the original VF750F and the VF1000F (pre VFR) Note the 16 inch front wheel. That was fun finding tyres.
In my riding career I have had two license suspensions for speeding, a two month and a twelve month. The biggest challenge is slow drivers pootling along. I mean low limits are okay I suppose, roads are narrow and dangerous. But people pootling along causing tailbacks - totally incapable of even doing the lowest limits imaginable. It was such a thing that got me my one year ban - first bit of straight road - blast past the lot, all impatient and straight into a speed trap. So watch out for getting all impatient and blasting past lines of cars stuck behind some flat-cap senior citizen !
