So having owned bikes made in the 70's, 80's 90's ,00's and 10's I thought I would start a thread about which decade made the best bikes and why...... For me it was the 90's, the late 80's defined the standard with technology and the 90's was all about implementing and improving it. 250cc in-line 4 cylinder egines pumping out 45hp, 2 strokes with 70Hp on tap, 400cc V4's and finally the death of the dodgy square headlights from the 80's ... the 90's FTW
Definitely 90s for me as well. The innovation out of the 90s was something else. Nowdays its about refinement
Give me a carb and a kickstarter! To me the late period of the classic British made bikes , Norton,Triumph, BSA etc is the golden age. Its been copied and rehashed but nothing comes close to the original. I think what influences us is what we see when we are in our late teens / early twenties (how old were you 2 in the 90s ? )...... I will always prefer things from my time then .... including bikes , cars and especially music..... and I know the beer tasted better. I will happily admit Im now also wrapped in the bikes Chris mentions above .... the 4 pot screamers and 2 smokers ..... during that period I was not involved with bikes at all ..... it was kids/family/mortgage and all that stuff. Untill I bought the Fizz and got involved here I knew very little about them. As much as if someone gave me the latest model Ducati I wouldnt complain, anything 'new ' doesnt really do it for me.... everything electronic and push button and plug it into a computer to work on it..... no thanx.
Gosh, this is a tough one? So many choices and so much innovation, I'm struggling. Ok, the 60's was special as Japan introduced there bikes to the world, and didn't that change things. That momentum carried on into the 70's with huge domination of the bike industry causing the demise of several well known manufacturers from Europe. The 80's was an interesting period as some very innovative motorcycles were being produced and styling changes as well. The 90's was a most special decade, projects from the 80's reach maturity in the 90's and gave us some very exciting bikes indeed. The 90's also saw the demise of our beloved 2 strokes, a sign of the time. The 21st century bought with it some new and rewarding innovations that continue to change the landscape. Fuel injection, the salvation for the motorcycling world. Electronics made huge advances in diagnostics for bikes, does it get any better. My decade has to be 2000's, but really it's a culmination of everything learnt and applied over the last 50+ years. Having said that, I currently ride a 1992 Suzuki and a 1978 Suzuki, who am I kidding, ever decade was great.
Have to agree that they were all great times. Things that happened in my life get forgotten, but I can remember every bike I had (30+) over that time.
I love my 2 strokes and so the modern stuff does nothing for me. But I am watching where electric is going and believe it will make the current stuff obsolete. I believe that the best track bike ever was the V twin TZ Yamahas from the 90s. Too late now, I should have got one 10 years ago. I own what I like and most of them are from the 80s, with my two registerable road bikes being early 90s but using 80s technology. My late 70s dirt bikes have a lot going for them as they were products of Yamaha's massive innovation during the 70s but they are flawed by their suspension and lack of disk brake. But I really love riding them, especially the IT175F which is a fabulous little bike. My main Vinduro bike is the mid 80s IT200. It has the suspension and disk brake and handles well and is simple reliable air cooled two stroke. I wouldn't change it for anything else. The start of the 80s gave us the RD350LC which was an exciting giant slayer. It redefined sports bikes and all the manufacturers had to lift their game. RZs, RGs, KR, KR-1s, NSRs, TZRs. Woo Hoo. So what do I have? 12 old Yamahas. 1977 IT250D and IT400D Classic Dirt Track race bikes. 1979 TZ350F Grand Prix race bike 100kg 75hp+ 1979 IT175F and 1980 IT125G great little Vinduro bikes 1981 RD250LC and RD350LC Historic P5 road race bikes 1984 IT200 Vinduro 1988 TDR250 mad twin 2 stroke motard seriously modified for Historic P6 road racing 1989 TZR250 2XT 100kg 60hp+ seriously modified Historic P6 road racer 1990 R1-Z naked 2 stroke sports road bike 1992 RD350R Brazillian twin headlight RZ350 set up for touring
I think bikes are like woman.......all shapes...all sizes....... and never met one that was not pretty........pretty nice ..or pretty ugly.lol. beauty is in the eye of the beholder....the japs changed bike technology and when the chinese get there act together they will be a powerforce.who will follow...india?what will be the new technology?electric? hybrid?compressed air?all have been researched.all i can say is personal preference is in the individual.
Sooooo your telling me that the `90s had better bikes than the 70`s MV Agusta`s the Laverda SFC 750....the Ducati ss 750, the Honda 750 the Triumph Trident, the BSA Rocket 3 just to name 6 iconic bikes.....where do you think the `90s bikes got their inspirations from???? the previous 6 bikes thats where...those bikes had more sole and inspiration in their tyre valves than 1990`s bikes.....1990`s bikes were faster....Ohhhh yeah....but they were so clinical that they had no charisma.....I know I`m an old fart, I`m 57 years young.....BUT....give me MV Agusta 750 or with an 850 Magni conversion...a Ducati 750 Green Frame or a Laverda SFC750...etc any day
Hey Jeffro, its all about personal preference, at 57, you have 18 years on me, and as such you grew up having access to the machines you mentioned above. As an avid enthusiast, I rarely see these bikes unless they are in a museum or at a bike show so my experiences with 70's superbikes are somewhat limited, my uncle did have a 73 850 Commando... oh how cool was that bike !!! The first real superbike that I remember as a kid was the Suzuki Katana 1100, but I still like the bikes made in the 90's, Manufacturers were aggressively playing one upmanship and the bar was certainly raised with technology and handling. I also believe we saw some amazing advanced in 2 stroke technology which fuelled my love of MotoGP . I sort of agree with the clinical comment, but feel that is better used to describe bikes made in the last 10 years as fuel injection and all the electronic wizardry has increased power and handling, but for me, I enjoy riding a bike with carbies. As stated before, the best thing about this poll is there is no wrong answer, its all about personal preferences, I like how GI put it, I hit my late teens in the early 90's, and it was that time when I started taking notice of motorcycles and I'm sure that has influenced my vote.
To see and hear these bikes at their best you should come to a Historic Road Race meeting. Especially the Barry Sheene Festival of Speed or the Island Classic where there may be over 200 bikes racing. But even the PCRA club rounds you get lots of variety. Mainly late 70s thru mid 90s but also some 60s. At PCRA Rd3 there was an orange Laverda 500 in the garage next to ours. Lots of Ducatis. T-Rex modified Honda CB750s. Next race meeting is PCRA Rd4 at Eastern Creek on Sunday 29th September. Come and say hello. I will be racing the #35 TZR250 and TDR250. The TDR has plenty of character. Feel how light a 100kg TZR250 road bike is. If it is anything like Rd2 then you will probably see some of us crash them too!
Great Topic. In my humble opinion it is not so much a question of decades as it is game changers. Motorcycles that changed the industry, or stood apart by virtue of lifting the bar to a whole new level. The Vincent what a masterpiece and so far ahead of its time. The MV Agusta 750 … enough said. You won’t see gear driven cams again on a four cylinder bike for a while. The Honda 4 and then the Kawasaki 900. Those two icons from Japan raised the standard for reliability and performance. Ducati, maker of small single cylinder machines, produces a V-twin that is an economic disaster and leads to bankruptcy for the factory, but it also wins the Imola 200 with what Paul Smart described as ‘a road bike’. I owned and raced a 1975 version. The constant stream of brilliant two strokes from Japan. The one that I would like to mention is the 1970 Bridgestone 350. Chrome bores, rotary induction, piggy back mounted alternator, 6 speed gearbox, dry clutch. Bloody hell what more do you want? The upswept pipe GTO is one of my dream machines. http://www.bridgestonemotorcycle.com/documents/BSbrochure.pdf The 1985 FZ750 Yamaha: I first saw this engine at the Brisbane motorcycle show. Unlike a lot of my colleagues, I have never been loyal to a brand. I just appreciate fine engineering. With its slant 4 engine and downdraft carburettors this heralded the breakthrough that was needed to move away from the old 4 cylinder design that had little room for improvement. This bike, in the hands of Mike Dowson, was the machine that finally broke the previous lap record for a production motorcycle set on a 1975 Ducati by Dan Oakhill at Lakeside near Brisbane. Mind you Oakhill, who was my best friend, had done some extraordinary things on those bikes. Then came the superbikes that were spawned by the WSBK series. 851 Ducati, Honda RC30, Yamaha R7, Kawasaki ZXR-R and amazingly a baby NC30, Kiffsta now owns one of these. Oh my god! Gear driven cams on a road bike. No dear reader, it is not an MV Agusta, it is a Honda! I cringe everytime I see these beautiful machines being butchered. My list ends at the first R1 Yamaha and 916 Ducati. After that it is all about EFI, traction control, blah blah. Two hundred horsepower! What are you going to do with it? To say nothing of the motard/streetfighter/’not sure what I am look’ of modern bikes. cheers Blair
blair, a mate of mine back in late 60,s had a bridgestone 100. all i can say is at the time i had a honda 90. the bridgestone was a better bike.
Hey Risky! I had a paddock basher Honda 90 and my friend also had a Bridgestone 100. Must be something in the water.
My best mate at the time started on a Honda 90 ..... brand new ....... I rode pillion everywhere on it as sadly I didnt have a cent to my name ( I think I was still at school? ) awesome Im 25 again !
