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409 Posts
Getting back to riding after several years (about 31 to be exact), I can't help but notice how much easier it is to ride a motorcycle these days. When I say that I am speaking in technical terms.
I started again last year with A Honda Metropolitan scooter. back in the day, I worked at a motorcycle/scooter dealership and had my own Vespa ('61 Allstate) and rode and tested many of the bikes we got in the shop. I can't say I grew up riding as my family was dead set against motorcycles so until then I never had one. I had to learn on my own and I did it because I wanted to know and also figured if I'm working in a motorcycle shop I need to be knowledgable of the trade.
Before I go down the list, let me say I'm speaking from my experience based on what I worked on in 1979-80. If something did exist back then that I'm "mistaken" on, well it's my experience and not me trying to tell YOU how it was. Times were changing but this was still the pre-ninja, pre-katana era.
Most Bikes I worked on and rode had bias ply tires with tubes. The Vespas had cute little 8 or 10 inch ones on split rims for ease of changing. The real motorbikes mostly had wire wheels with chrome rims. We changed the tires manually on a wheel stand with foot-ling tire levers. Only expensive bikes (BMW in my case) came with mag wheels and tubeless tires. But I did start seeing mags with tubeless more often. A lot of the riders I knew who rode the freeways here in So-cal would complain of how the tires of the day would lock in to the drainage grooves while they were riding. I'm glad the new tires don't do that.
Almost all bikes had kick starters, even the ones that had electric starters. Kick starters were still the norm in motorcycling. Some bikes were harder to start than others . . . it was all about technique. One mechanic I worked with found it easier to start his Harley by pulling the plugs, squirting a drop of gas in to each cylinder, replacing the plugs then rolling it down the alley in third and poping the clutch; if you tried to start it with the kick starter you would probably end up lying on you back in the yard staring at the sky with your eyes bulging out,huffing and pugffing to catch your breath. I've had several BSA owners tell me of similar expierences trying to start their bike. Yeah, I know bikes still have kick starters. My Metro did but my CBR250 doesn't. In both cases neither has a manual choke to worry about or an enriching button. Don't forget the compression release; big 4 stroke singles had these, even some of the small ones as well.
Carburetors. Theres another mystical piece of engineering. They are simple but theres also a lot to them. Bikes still have these as well along with the three position tank petcock valve that feeds them. Ever turn one to the reserve position only to fill the carburetor with rust sludge? Yeah, the carburetor doesn't work that well any more and requires a cleaning. Back then we also didn't have E10 to worry about. Gas was really gas. My little Metro had a carburator and suffered the well known effects of ethenol gas (after me not riding it for two weeks). I am assured that my CBR250 will not have this problem (but remains to be seen). Fuel injection was one thing that sold me on the CBR.
Pre-mix, oil tanks, and oil tanks . . . since there are no more new 2-stroke street bikes here in California, there's no more pre-mixing or filling the oil injection tank. Don't jump on me, I said "street bikes". No more taking a blow-torch to the muffler to bake out the oil sludge (an official vespa shop manual procedure).
Cable operated drum brakes. I don't miss them. Hydraulic disc brakes are great. back then, I only saw them on the pricier bikes.
Ignition points; don't miss 'em either except for when you did have an ignition problem it was easy to troubleshoot.
Center stands are nice to have. CBR250r doesn't have one and I miss it . . .but I can do without. That kick stand interlock on the CBR is a little unnerving especially if you don't know it's there. The dealer neglected to mention it ( I suspect because a lot of honda bikes have this so it's not a real issue, only my issue).
As a mechanic and one who hasn't practiced in a long time I find old bikes easier to work on probably because of familiarity and less required special tools. I think the new bikes are great because you don't have to know a lot of stuff to just ride them. They are easier to start. mechanically, they all seem less like motorcycles as I remember them
Since my bike is new and I've just started riding again, I havent experienced any problems with this bike yet and have no complaints . . . except maybe one. The seat is a little too high for me when I'm stopped (Riding position is fine but when stopped I'm on my toes). That's not the bike, that's me and my short legs; I'll get a lower seat. I had the same problem with the new Vespa as I recall since it also has a 30 inch seat height.
I'm reading through the many posts here and the only thing I might have experienced here so far is the downshift issue. For me, I think I just have to further refine my technique. What happens is under some conditions I can't get it into first before the stop so I'm in a higher gear than I should be. This despite tapping the lever down several times(more than enough times to get it into first) Usually, on the downshift I can hear and feel first: all other gears go 'click' on the downshift when you go from second to first it goes'ca-chunk' in a rather satisfying manner. When I don't hear/feel the 'ca-chunk', I'm pretty sure I'm not in first. I find If I'm still rolling and not finding first, let out the clutch until it starts catching then pull it in and downshift;works every time. The few times I've stalled is because of the wrong gear or I've poped the clutch at a full stop. I don't recall this being any different than any of the old bike I used to ride.
So far I am fortunate. But I will say this; as a QA professional(it's what I do), when someone says something is happening I never doubt it. I may not be able to replicate the issue or ever see it. But if you say it's happening, it's happening. I thank you in advance for sharing and thank everyone on this forum for the advice they offer be it helpful or not because it is offered in the spirit of being helpful. So . . thanks, all!
I started again last year with A Honda Metropolitan scooter. back in the day, I worked at a motorcycle/scooter dealership and had my own Vespa ('61 Allstate) and rode and tested many of the bikes we got in the shop. I can't say I grew up riding as my family was dead set against motorcycles so until then I never had one. I had to learn on my own and I did it because I wanted to know and also figured if I'm working in a motorcycle shop I need to be knowledgable of the trade.
Before I go down the list, let me say I'm speaking from my experience based on what I worked on in 1979-80. If something did exist back then that I'm "mistaken" on, well it's my experience and not me trying to tell YOU how it was. Times were changing but this was still the pre-ninja, pre-katana era.
Most Bikes I worked on and rode had bias ply tires with tubes. The Vespas had cute little 8 or 10 inch ones on split rims for ease of changing. The real motorbikes mostly had wire wheels with chrome rims. We changed the tires manually on a wheel stand with foot-ling tire levers. Only expensive bikes (BMW in my case) came with mag wheels and tubeless tires. But I did start seeing mags with tubeless more often. A lot of the riders I knew who rode the freeways here in So-cal would complain of how the tires of the day would lock in to the drainage grooves while they were riding. I'm glad the new tires don't do that.
Almost all bikes had kick starters, even the ones that had electric starters. Kick starters were still the norm in motorcycling. Some bikes were harder to start than others . . . it was all about technique. One mechanic I worked with found it easier to start his Harley by pulling the plugs, squirting a drop of gas in to each cylinder, replacing the plugs then rolling it down the alley in third and poping the clutch; if you tried to start it with the kick starter you would probably end up lying on you back in the yard staring at the sky with your eyes bulging out,huffing and pugffing to catch your breath. I've had several BSA owners tell me of similar expierences trying to start their bike. Yeah, I know bikes still have kick starters. My Metro did but my CBR250 doesn't. In both cases neither has a manual choke to worry about or an enriching button. Don't forget the compression release; big 4 stroke singles had these, even some of the small ones as well.
Carburetors. Theres another mystical piece of engineering. They are simple but theres also a lot to them. Bikes still have these as well along with the three position tank petcock valve that feeds them. Ever turn one to the reserve position only to fill the carburetor with rust sludge? Yeah, the carburetor doesn't work that well any more and requires a cleaning. Back then we also didn't have E10 to worry about. Gas was really gas. My little Metro had a carburator and suffered the well known effects of ethenol gas (after me not riding it for two weeks). I am assured that my CBR250 will not have this problem (but remains to be seen). Fuel injection was one thing that sold me on the CBR.
Pre-mix, oil tanks, and oil tanks . . . since there are no more new 2-stroke street bikes here in California, there's no more pre-mixing or filling the oil injection tank. Don't jump on me, I said "street bikes". No more taking a blow-torch to the muffler to bake out the oil sludge (an official vespa shop manual procedure).
Cable operated drum brakes. I don't miss them. Hydraulic disc brakes are great. back then, I only saw them on the pricier bikes.
Ignition points; don't miss 'em either except for when you did have an ignition problem it was easy to troubleshoot.
Center stands are nice to have. CBR250r doesn't have one and I miss it . . .but I can do without. That kick stand interlock on the CBR is a little unnerving especially if you don't know it's there. The dealer neglected to mention it ( I suspect because a lot of honda bikes have this so it's not a real issue, only my issue).
As a mechanic and one who hasn't practiced in a long time I find old bikes easier to work on probably because of familiarity and less required special tools. I think the new bikes are great because you don't have to know a lot of stuff to just ride them. They are easier to start. mechanically, they all seem less like motorcycles as I remember them
Since my bike is new and I've just started riding again, I havent experienced any problems with this bike yet and have no complaints . . . except maybe one. The seat is a little too high for me when I'm stopped (Riding position is fine but when stopped I'm on my toes). That's not the bike, that's me and my short legs; I'll get a lower seat. I had the same problem with the new Vespa as I recall since it also has a 30 inch seat height.
I'm reading through the many posts here and the only thing I might have experienced here so far is the downshift issue. For me, I think I just have to further refine my technique. What happens is under some conditions I can't get it into first before the stop so I'm in a higher gear than I should be. This despite tapping the lever down several times(more than enough times to get it into first) Usually, on the downshift I can hear and feel first: all other gears go 'click' on the downshift when you go from second to first it goes'ca-chunk' in a rather satisfying manner. When I don't hear/feel the 'ca-chunk', I'm pretty sure I'm not in first. I find If I'm still rolling and not finding first, let out the clutch until it starts catching then pull it in and downshift;works every time. The few times I've stalled is because of the wrong gear or I've poped the clutch at a full stop. I don't recall this being any different than any of the old bike I used to ride.
So far I am fortunate. But I will say this; as a QA professional(it's what I do), when someone says something is happening I never doubt it. I may not be able to replicate the issue or ever see it. But if you say it's happening, it's happening. I thank you in advance for sharing and thank everyone on this forum for the advice they offer be it helpful or not because it is offered in the spirit of being helpful. So . . thanks, all!
