Sachs Madass ?

Bullshit

 

Were talking chalk and cheese here old Darling
MZs' will be around long after Jap bikes are recycled.
Y.

 

In aus.motorcycles on Sat, 08 Apr 2006 06:21:52 GMT

World wide it's probably true. China and Hong Kong alone would
probably do it.

Zebee

 

Probably twice as many!

 

China yes, Hong kong , no. Too hilly.

Moike

 

.. .and besides, if you left a bike chained to a tree anywhere
in HK, some prick would steal it soon as you turned your back!

(I don't remember ever having seen a bicycle in HK now that
I think of it. Chinia and Japan would do it though)

GB

 

Yes, you're right, technology has come a long way in the last 30 years.
Modern bikes are a world away from 60's and 70's bikes in terms of
performance. (And a GPX is by no means particularly modern)

Yeah right. You're showing your age. Your generation may be prejudiced
against anything Jap, my generation aren't. The build quality of Jap
bikes has been equal or better to anything in the world for at least the
last 25 years (probably 35). And the likelihood of a bike still being
around in 25 or 40 years is more to do with it's desirability to make it
worth restoring than the intrinisic build quality anyway.

JL
(owner of 2 Italian and 1 Jap bikes)

 

In aus.motorcycles on Sun, 09 Apr 2006 12:20:11 +1000

Absolutely. There are still 70s Japanese bikes on the road. Probably
more 70s Italian ones, but they were more desirable and more expensive
to start with.

I suspect there are more 750/4s on the road on regular registration than
750 unit Bonnies. Or 750 Enfield Interceptors.

On the other hand, there are few MZs but they do last a bloody long
time. I suspect that percentage wise there are more MZs about than
early 80s Japanese 250s and in better condition. Partly due to
construction and partly due to rarity.

In the end, what survives are the bikes people get emotional over. So
I expect to see more 250LCs in vintage bike shows of the future than
XS250s.

But hey, people are restoring 150 Bantams, the absolute definition of
boring cheap commuter so you never know.

Zebee
- owner of 3 70s Italian bikes and 1 70s Japanese bike.

 

'Generational' is a bit unfair (unless that was a private joke between
friends); I went to high school with people who swore by Brit bikes, but
that doesn't seemd to have interfered with their ability to get
mortgages, raise kids or have fulfilling lives. I suspect particular
blind spots about vehicle marques may vary between generations, but the
existence of blind spots doesn't.

You're right about the likelihood of what gets saved, but. Bikes that
were originally very rare and bikes that were originally very common
both get saved, for different reasons, but what it is that saves
examples of the stuff in the middle seems to be completely arbitrary.

 

if this is so old Mate why is it VERY hard to find any Jap bike in
the shops older that 4 or 5 years ? do they get exported to East Timor
or somewhere ?
Y.

 

In aus.motorcycles on Sun, 09 Apr 2006 20:04:32 +1000

Where do you live and where are you looking?

Mind you - it has always been hard to find older bikes in the shops -
they get sold private sale because the dealer markup is too much.

You don't see many older bikes in Sydney because it isn't that sort of
town. Go to Adelaide and you will see 20yo Jap bikes in daily use,
and 30yo ones every weekend.

Zebee

 

most jap bikes that are 4 or 5 years old have been written off R1/Gixxer
etc

those that are left arent worth a huge amount of money for the dealers to
make
good money out of

And of course when they get to a point where they require more than an oil
change at
servie the big dealerships dont want to touch them

but last time i looked in the dealers there was still quite a lot of pre
2000 bikes in there

 

I stayed with Clem once...Now I've got a derelict XJ900 in my carport...just
needs an exhaust, some wiring and a new instrument cluster...plus a corner
of the fairing is gone and it needs paint or polishing almost everywhere,
although the tank is perfect. If I can scrounge enough bits...

 

In aus.motorcycles on Sun, 9 Apr 2006 20:41:27 +1000

Probably get a pipe from Pipemasters. Try Show and Go and Japanese
MOtorcycle Dismantlers both in Adelaide for the clocks. Else get a
VDO electronic tacho and a pushbike speedo and some LEDs in a home
made ally plate mount.

Paint's easy. Matt black!

Zebee

 

I didn't realise it was THAT contagious!

 

Because all the MZ's take up all the room in the showrooms... der.

 

Beautiful non sequitur !! Claiming that only European bikes are of any
value and only Euro bikes will last more than 5mins isn't going to stop
you getting a mortgage or raising kids.Indeed. Not so sure about
fulfilling life though - anyone that one eyed is probably missing out on
other good things.

It *IS* however something that is far more apparent in what is I'm
guessing your generation also (based on your statement of having owned
Jap bikes since 1972 - unless you bought your first bike when you were
2, you're in the same generation that is far more likely to subscribe to
the "Jap crap" mentality. Something Gen X and Y rarely believe in (yes
there are a few but far fewer).

Indeed. My point precisely.

No argument.
My opinion fwiw: Common bikes get saved because they're cheap to
restore, so people on a budget can afford to do so. Rare bikes get saved
because they're rare and are potentially valuable (ie profitable to
restore). The ones in the middle get done for emotive reasons - ie "when
I was a spotty 16 year I lusted after owning an H1 (or an R1 for this
generation), now I'm 40 something with cash in the bank, I'm going to
alleviate my midlife crisis by buying the bike I wanted in my youth" so
I can subconsiously pretend I'm still young. Because I'm doing this for
emotional reasons not logical reasons, I don't mind spending 15K to
restore a bike that will be worth 6K when it's finished.

JL

 

What planet are you on then ? I have a 17 year Jap bike in my garage (a
250 2 stroke in fact) and a quick walk through the classifieds will see
many older Jap bikes for sale.

One thing that has been noted on ausmoto several times however is that
because Sydney has a lot of people with a lot money who upgrade every
year because they can, a lot of 3+ year old bikes leave here and go to
country areas and other states where there are fewer fashion victims.

So, a quick search on the tradingpost
http://www.autotrader.com.au/SearchResult.asp

For bikes 10-25 years old (1980 - 1995) gives 1027 hits

Sorting by oldest year first, the first 25 (1980 models) were all
Japanese bar one BMW, next page again(1981), 24 out of 25 being Jap (1
Hogly), next page(1982) 1 bmw, 1 Hogly and 23 jappers.

If you don't believe me, give me an email address and I'll forward you a
pdf of the searrch results, or you can do the search yourself, choose
motorcycles, national, advanced search and put in parameters 1980 to
1995 as the parameters.

Basically mate your prejudices are showing, do try to rein them in, it's
ugly*

JL
*which isn't to say my prejudices aren't ugly