For us older guys....

GsxrBots

Motorboatin' Moonpies, Gangnam Style
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Do you ever feel sorry for "kids" these days? Especially in the motorcycle/automotive aspect of their life.

Most of the younger guys out there have never ridden a V-twin sportbike, never had to kickstart their ride, push start their car, etc. etc...

Never had to worry about carburetors or points.. Never had to mix gas/oil.... Never had to carry spare oil in the trunk :banghead:

I just spent a little time over at Gixxer.com tonight and realized how "punky" the last generation is, and what they've missed in life.

The latest generation of riders/drivers gets the latest technology that was basically unobtanium for us. The new 600's are light-years ahead of what the latest bikes were in our days.

Just wondered if anyone else felt this way? I'm not jealous of their youth, I'm upset over what they are missing out on. These guys aren't gonna get old and remember how many times they were stranded on their 2012 Gsxr 750's and the like. They might not even remember them. :down:

I'm hoping to find some old bikes within the next 10 years of my life to make sure my son knows what its like to have to tinker with stuff to make it run. What its like to smell like gas and oil all weekend.. What its like to wrench longer than you ride.

I'm off my soap box now guys, carry on with ripping on me for being old.. :moon:
 
I have a 82 GS1100E you can start with. Basically turn key and runs like a raped ape so it might be a little better than what your looking for. It runs that way because I built it out of necessity, you cant get much better than that. Im guessing in 100 years they will be riding virtual motorcycles sitting on the couch and us ghosts will be praying for the next meteor to hit and hit well. Im sure my great grandfather had some similar thoughts.
 
85 Interceptor, 83 GS550, I miss those bikes. My first road bike was an 81 KE100, I rebuilt that engine twice on my own to keep it running.

Sent from my Ford F-150 using Forum Runner
 
I remember telling newbies to start out on a 600 instead of a 1000 because of the power, but the new 600's have more power than the old 1000"s so what do I say now ? :banghead:
 
Hey, I'm pretty old and I've never been on a v-twin sportbike. I grew up on the old 2 strokes though.
 
I remember the days of kick starting, setting the points, adjusting the valves, checking the oil often, syn'c the carbs, adjusting the cable's to the brake's or adjusting rod to both drum brakes, adjusting the spokes, lubing the speedo cable, lubing the tach cable, and cleaning the oil pickup screen/filter. (My first bike the CB350) Along with the other mid 70's to late 80's UJM bike's I grew up riding on. Yes, no more of this crap for this generation. It was a chore to do and a pain at times to stay up on, but you bonded with that P.O.S. more so then these newer P.O.S. So much easier today with these new machines, all that is required is a key, gas, gear, and go! Trust me I appreciate it more, the ease of it all, but man you had to work for it, if you did a lot of riding on an older bike.
 
Age is relative! I've been around since you had to retard the timing before you kicked that b*tch over or it would throw your a$$ over the handle bars. Everybody forgot once but never twice :-)

I'll be out on Saturday with a group of novice racers who have big hopes of number one plates and trophys as well as umbrella girls. It's our first track event of the year and it's also the novice race school which is required to get a race license. I always look forward to spending the day romping around with first year racers. Most are young and full of ambition. Well, young to me that is :-) I'm not sure but I may be the oldest Race instructor in the business and still having just as much fun as ever. I'm sure I'll know when it's time to give up sport bikes and stick to the cruisers. At least I hope so!
 
Back in the Day - re-jetting = black magic :laugh:

Guy's out there who could get your motorcycle running right - attained legendary status in every little town. They were masters of the dark art of motorcycle carberation.

Younger folks don't remember motorcycles as inherently unreliable and persnickety.
 
I ride a 86 CR500 on the dirt and you should see people try to start it. I get her to fire on the first kick every time and ive seen guys almost twice my size wear themselves out trying to get her to fire. The guys with the older bikes in their history probably make up the majority of the solid knowledge base on this forum. Your welcome.
 
i couldent agree with you more bots...as much as i love the new tec with newer bikes i miss the old days of carbs,points,thats why i have and love my CBR-600F2..riding it and working on it always takes me back to those great days...
 
I may be only 37 but learned about maintenance on my first car. It was a 1967 Chevelle and I must have had that car apart and back together a couple times. Always was a tinkerer and spent a lot of time in the hobby shop with that car and many others. Rebuilt a bunch of q-jets and holleys as well as engines and transmissions. Then I came across the opportunity to buy a 1985 Goldwing for 40 bucks. Tore that thing down and went through the fuel system and brake system, installed a new timing belt and did a few other things to get it on the road. I miss having a good project car to mess with piece by piece until it is pristine. Once I get a nice place with a garage and space, I'll look into picking up an older bike to build a cafe racer type and get a car to build into a work of art. Rather do that instead of having learned how to get to the next level of GTA or whatever video game is the rage these days.
 
I hope I am not being thrown in the group of "today's generation".. At only 23, I dont know what it was like tinkering on mid 80's bikes but I can tell you this... I have spent WAY more time in 2013 tinkering on my 06 gixxer than riding it. In fact, I just got it put back together last night :thumbsup:

I LOVE tinkering.. In fact, I have my brother-in-laws cbr100 in mt garage right now waiting for an oil change and brake fluid flush before he comes home from leave.... And i'm doing it just because I WANT to :thumbsup:
 
I ride a 86 CR500 on the dirt and you should see people try to start it. I get her to fire on the first kick every time and ive seen guys almost twice my size wear themselves out trying to get her to fire. The guys with the older bikes in their history probably make up the majority of the solid knowledge base on this forum. Your welcome.

That's cuz you make SURE it starts o the first kick :laugh:
 
The latest generation and kids as a whole these days suck, period.


Blame the parents and their lack thereof, social media(which is ironic because they are all a bunch of social retards or well on their way of becoming), media and my favorite the entertainment business. There is only so much disgusting irresponsible behavior you can force feed through reality TV before it starts poising minds.

How's that for a rant. :laugh:
 
I hope my two sons grow up wanting to tinker and take care of their vehicles themselves. Their Dad has always tinkered and even completely rebuilt a '65 Mustang before he was 16 years old. Omar can fix anything, so I really hope my kids see that in the men they have as role models and want to do the same. Both of my kids love to understand how something works, and I've had them both help me in the past with changing oil on my Mustang and the Busa...I do see video games taking over much of their time, but I like to think it's the age they're both at now (10 and 12) and something all of their friends are doing as well. David will tear himself away from XBOX long enough to help with tinkering on things outside, and has even been helping Omar some with the Busa hauler we have...

It's a struggle today, and I do blame our generation...so many kids don't have to work for what they want, like that first car. If they did have to work for it, they'd also want to understand how it all works and do what's necessary to keep it on the road. Today, far too many parents just buy that first car for their kids, and if something breaks, they make sure it's fixed. Times have sure changed, and honestly, we have no one to blame but ourselves... :banghead:
 
Drive in movies.:laugh:

Yes I once tore everything apart to se how it worked, some even went back together... nowdays allot of that stuff is cheap and pressed etc, use and pitch junk.:banghead:
 
I haven't spent too much time on here YET, but I can say so far it seems to be a more mature group that all come together to ejoy and sare in something in common. MAN, how refreshing it is!! I definately consider myself part of the "older" generation. I'm 37 and an auto mechanic by trade. I have ALWAYS had to have something to tinker with. I absoultely have dealt w compression releases, kick starts, carbs, chokes, two stroke mix, points and drum brakes and I wouldn't trade it for anything! I agree that nowadays "kids" get on somehting that I would have only dreamed of having and hit the key and go, never checking oil or air in tires and not caring a bit about it! Sad I say. I have a 6 year old boy and fully intend to show him what tinkering is all about and the joys (and sometimes disgust) and appreciation for making something run/work right and understanding WHY.
 
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