Old vrs new

[Ken F]

I for one like the new technology. Just recently purchased a '95 R1100RS after riding Harleys for the last 43 years. To me it's a breath of fresh air!

Ken F

[GlobalRider]

I hear a lot of Airhead owners swear by the old technology and don't even want to try the "new" stuff.

I have and the "new stuff" works great...right up to the moment till it doesn't work anymore. Then all you can do is stand around and wait.

[knary]

well said

i went for a ride Monday with my buddy on his rather newish Bonneville, granted, it's a bit of a throwback bike, but still modern. we'd never ridden together before and he was impressed letting me know "that thing goes pretty good".

the old bikes do more than you think they can, they might just not do it as effortlessly as the newer machines.

What doesn't go "pretty good" compared to a new bonnie?

[R80RTJohnny]

Keep a variety in your garage and life is good.

Enjoy!

[GlobalRider]

Keep a variety in your garage and life is good.

Enjoy!

Thats why I just added a Porsche Carrera to my garage as well....to add to the two airhead GSes and one oilhead GS.

Once again, I decided to go "older" rather than "newer" simply because a 993 series is far better than a 996 series and better than a 997 series...IMO.



By the way, its low ultra low mileage, totally original and absolutely MINT.

[mikeb921]

Keep a variety in your garage and life is good.

Enjoy!

This sounds like the best plan.

Ride Safe
MB

[184480]

Had a 1980 R100RT I rode for 19 years and it never made me walk once. Got a 2002 GS Adventure, almost 70,000 miles in 5 years. Almost no problems either. Wanted to downsize and sold the GS and bought a 1973 R75 /5.
The /5 was in rough shape but I was adamant about getting in good enough shape to tour on. Many hundreds of dollars later it became apparent to me that it never would be what I was expecting as far as reliability etc. One cold, damp, Saturday morning I went to start it to meet club folks for breakfast and I couldn't get it to start for anything. It went on Craigslist that same afternoon and was sold in a week.

I like old bikes but I hate working on stuff anymore and if you run an old bike that's what your doing about 30% of the time. They're old, that's the problem. The electrical connections are old and corroded, bearings are worn, just lots and lots of issues.

I like riding the latest technology. Most often its reliable, dependable and you spend most of your time in the saddle instead of kneeling next to a broken bike on the shoulder of a freeway.

[lkchris]

Personally though; BMW won't get me back with any hot new model ...

Nor will BMW sell old, obsolete technology to today's first-time buyers.

[108625]

Nor will BMW sell old, obsolete technology to today's first-time buyers.

Amen to that.

The only people claiming a new airhead (which was obsolete when they were building it) will sell, are people who already own airheads.
Who do they think will buy these bikes?
How much would they pay?

[knary]

New Ural ST is expected to sell for around $8k.

[shire2000]

I have said it before and know that many others feel and think the same way. I do not like the looks of the new BMWs. I am sorry, but I think the design of the seat forward to the forks, reminds me of a demented hog in heat. Also, I do not like all the "farkles" and I don't need all the added on gimickery. GPS, CB radio, AM/FM CD, MP3 player, 16 speaker sound with enormous sub woofer, 10,000 watt amplifiers, Anti-lock brakes, traction control, self adjusting this and that, electric windshield adjustment, heated seats, heated grips, defogger, air conditioning, air bags, windshield wipers, monster trunk, anti-tip over suspension (training wheels), 5 mph bumpers. Where will it all end? oh, just get kill me now.

Give me a basic, simple design that I can fix on the side of the road, if I need to. Not everyone can afford the new bikes at the current price points. Sorry, but I just cannot justify buying a bike in the $20,000 range or higher. Sure there are lots of people who can, and lots that will have a full stable of those types of bikes. But there are just as many who can afford only one bike and prefer something they can work on themselves if required.

A new version of the old design would be very welcome by many, especially at a reasonable price. I don't think it would be all that hard to make a real modern version of an Airhead. And make it look like an Airhead. The Hexhead is a nice bike, but the only thing it really has in common with an Airhead is that 2 cylinders stick out the sides and the roundels.

If I was to become serious about buying something new, I just might be looking at a Ural. Although I do like the new Moto-Guzzi. I just purchased an older Ural that I am going to upgrade with an R100 engine, make all my own wiring, upgrade the suspension to modern shocks and replace all bearings with new aftermarket ones. Once completed, that will be my "new" bike. Present estimate of the complete rebuild/refurbish is under $7,000, including the many boxes and bags of parts that are supposed to be a complete bike and the R100 engine that I rebuilt last winter. Can't buy anything new like it for anywhere near that price.

But then, I am just an old fogey. What the heck do I know?

[cjack]

Ever look at the R1200R? Kind of like an airhead, but satisfies the clean air act.

[shire2000]

Looked at the R1200R and sat on one. Did not like the look nor the seating position. Plus, it feels heavy as heck in comparison to my R100RT. If other manufacturers can make retro styled or even just updated old style bikes that pass EPA, then why can't BMW? Because they have chosen not to.

I also look at the so called evolution of BMW bikes and really feel that they have just finally figured out how to compete with the Japanese brands. It took them a little longer, but finally figured it out. With the new S1000 they are making a very competent and updated UJM. I fully expect that in a short period of time, almost all BMWs will be utilizing the same design.

For those that do not know the meaning of UJM, it is an old saying used back in the 70s and 80s for Universal Japanese Motorcycles. Basically all 4 cylinder Japanese bikes looked pretty much the same. Nothing wrong with that, but lots of people bought European and American designs, just to be different. They felt that the Japanese bikes had no soul.

[darrylri]

Looked at the R1200R and sat on one. Did not like the look nor the seating position. Plus, it feels heavy as heck in comparison to my R100RT.

Don't know why that would be. An R1200R weighs 490 lbs. with a full tank, that's just a bit more than my R90S at 473 lbs., and certainly a lot less than your R100RT at 515 lbs. And the R doesn't have a big fairing held up high. (Kind of an apples vs. oranges comparison.)

[108625]

"Soul"?

People can use whatever language they want to explain their choices, but "soul" is just another way of saying it all comes down to wanting to be different taking a higher priority than other criteria.
(Such as performance, design, comfort, reliability, or whatever else).

Put another way; if the classic UJM was always boxer powered and just as ubiquitous, and the less common BMW was always a transverse four and just as uncommon, the same crowd would be bestowing "soul" on the tranverse four BMW because it was different from all the boxer-powered UJMs.