Interesting Airhead for sale
- Thread starter DrAlf
- Start date
My God, hark at a load of you lot. What a load of pipe and slippers, knicker twisted, sand in the vagina, brow beating load of old cobblers. "Oh no, look what he's done to that 1980s bike. That exhaust flange nut isn't standard for a start". Get over it – if you want a bog standard, ugly as sin, ill handling and braking bike, that's just fine and dandy. Go ahead and buy one and keep it in a heated garage, cosset it and check that all your paint codes are correct, secure and smug in the knowledge that you are keeping a bike that was shite then and is still shite in tippetty top A1 concourse condition.
They are motorcycles for fucks sake. It's not the bleeding Holy Grail that somebody has matt blacked and covered in pipe wrap. You are all just too old and have turned into your dad. I'm not suggesting somebody takes Lawrence of Arabia's old Brough and sticks ape hangers and a flame paint job on it but a bit of perspective please.
If new (young) people don't come into motorcycling, then what? The majority of these bikes maybe a bit shit and overpriced shit at that. Who cares, don't buy it. Guess what – you aint the target demographic. They obviously like 'em, good enough for me.
Rewind about 30/40 years. The same old stuff no doubt spouted about Bonnies and Beezers being chopped with coffin tanks and twisted leg springer forks by miserable old duffers with not enough to worry about. Does that mean all the Bonnies are gone? No of course not, still available should you want one.
There we are now! All better, that's me done.
This is not about pipe and slippers though... It's just about biking being different and not having everyone following the same boring f'ing line... We now have a production line of half arsed form over function fashionista projects where there used to be some decent engineering, a bit of modifying to improve and a good bit of humour in customising... Now it is just to fit in down the café over a latte and is mostly the preserve of middle aged, middle class bikers and nothing to do with youth and being a bit different and a bit of a rebel...
Most of biking is not looking at yourself in the mirror to see if your style is right but about "walking the walk" and as with HOG wannabe's, over precious Wingdingers, kneeslider on the grinder merchants and Tesco Adventurers, a bit of piss taking is necessary to burst their over precious, humourless bubble...
Like most fashions, give it a year or two and many will have gone onto the latest fashion as espoused by Becks or Boorman and want "all the money" for their little monsters...
David Nimrod on his old RT or my old mate on his Stan Stephens tuned DT50 or the fat scruffy open faced Rukka wearing bloke on an old Met RT who pulled a minter of a wheelie past me and a crowd of other couriers in the West End like it was a piece of piss, will all be far more cutting edge and rebellious that exhaust wrap and a sprung seat on an airhead outside the Ace Café over latte while doing a Steve McQueen pose in Italian leather....
Vive la difference but FFS BE different...
This is not about pipe and slippers though... It's just about biking being different and not having everyone following the same boring f'ing line... We now have a production line of half arsed form over function fashionista projects where there used to be some decent engineering, a bit of modifying to improve and a good bit of humour in customising... Now it is just to fit in down the café over a latte and is mostly the preserve of middle aged, middle class bikers and nothing to do with youth and being a bit different and a bit of a rebel...
Most of biking is not looking at yourself in the mirror to see if your style is right but about "walking the walk" and as with HOG wannabe's, over precious Wingdingers, kneeslider on the grinder merchants and Tesco Adventurers, a bit of piss taking is necessary to burst their over precious, humourless bubble...
Like most fashions, give it a year or two and many will have gone onto the latest fashion as espoused by Becks or Boorman and want "all the money" for their little monsters...
David Nimrod on his old RT or my old mate on his Stan Stephens tuned DT50 or the fat scruffy open faced Rukka wearing bloke on an old Met RT who pulled a minter of a wheelie past me and a crowd of other couriers in the West End like it was a piece of piss, will all be far more cutting edge and rebellious that exhaust wrap and a sprung seat on an airhead outside the Ace Café over latte while doing a Steve McQueen pose in Italian leather....
Vive la difference but FFS BE different...
Aren't most things relating to any given style led by fashion? From the way homes are styled and decorated to the clothes we wear to the food we eat. I am not talking about high fashion but about styles that are dictated by the time we live in. I am sure this will lead to the cries of "oh no, not me I am not led by what others do". Bullshit...almost all are to a lesser or greater degree. None more so than in something like motorcycling. Adventure bikes, sports bikes, chops, Harleys, sneery old blokes on Airheads (yes I do ride one and no I haven't got exhaust wrap or anything else that fits into that mould).
Of course this current style will die out, they all do, then another style will come to the forefront, who cares? Are you suggesting that people should pick a style of machine that they like early on and stick with it throughout their life just to show they are the 'real deal'? All this bollocks about there won't be any bikes left unmodified. Seriously? We now have the internet that people use extensively to show this type of thing. In reality, how many of this type of bike do you see in the real world? Personally, that answer is virtually none unless at a bike show.
I am no great protagonist for this style of bike personally either. Some are ok, some are hideous to my eyes, that's life. I just don't get along with the narrow minded, seen it all, done it all cobblers that inevitably gets spouted on places such as this. They are just doing what I and many others have done and will most likely carry on doing in the future. They are presumably getting the same sense of achievement and enjoyment from building and riding as I did. More power to their elbow I say. I personally don't give a shit whether they are fashionable types or what type of coffee they prefer.
Anyway, I am done on this one. It'll just end up going round and round saying the same things in different ways. I'm off to make myself a coffee. Mine's a Latte
fayeslane
Registered user
Is that really any different to a fully farkled R1200GSA, with a half pack of sarnies in his Touratech panniers, doing a long weekend in Wales once a year? It's just fashion and like any fashion it will fade, going back to the 50's and 60's for every mint Triton there were 20 Tiger Cubs with a bump seat and it's handlebars turned upside down, it's still the same cycle. But a bike modified or standard that has style will always be appreciated, because as we all know, style never goes out of fashion.
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2002
- Messages
- 12,649
- Reaction score
- 1,228
I'm with Melch on this !!
Aren't most things relating to any given style led by fashion? From the way homes are styled and decorated to the clothes we wear to the food we eat. I am not talking about high fashion but about styles that are dictated by the time we live in. I am sure this will lead to the cries of "oh no, not me I am not led by what others do". Bullshit...almost all are to a lesser or greater degree. None more so than in something like motorcycling. Adventure bikes, sports bikes, chops, Harleys, sneery old blokes on Airheads (yes I do ride one and no I haven't got exhaust wrap or anything else that fits into that mould).
Of course this current style will die out, they all do, then another style will come to the forefront, who cares? Are you suggesting that people should pick a style of machine that they like early on and stick with it throughout their life just to show they are the 'real deal'? All this bollocks about there won't be any bikes left unmodified. Seriously? We now have the internet that people use extensively to show this type of thing. In reality, how many of this type of bike do you see in the real world? Personally, that answer is virtually none unless at a bike show.
I am no great protagonist for this style of bike personally either. Some are ok, some are hideous to my eyes, that's life. I just don't get along with the narrow minded, seen it all, done it all cobblers that inevitably gets spouted on places such as this. They are just doing what I and many others have done and will most likely carry on doing in the future. They are presumably getting the same sense of achievement and enjoyment from building and riding as I did. More power to their elbow I say. I personally don't give a shit whether they are fashionable types or what type of coffee they prefer.
Anyway, I am done on this one. It'll just end up going round and round saying the same things in different ways. I'm off to make myself a coffee. Mine's a Latte
Nice one... Good bit of fun debate anyhow and we certainly don't have to all agree...
Perhaps we should see a few more out on the road being ridden rather than photo'ed for forums... There are some great ones out there but all this Kevils/bobber/clobber style stuff has been done to death so hopefully something new will be along in a mo... PS That thing about houses/clothes etc is true also... I guess I have never been very fashion orientated...
Exactly... Another more pic'ed that ridden trend... The main thing is to enjoy the biking and not take yourself too seriously or be precious about... What's interesting though is biking trends are far more transient now though and biking in general is far more middle class and middle age... The lads are far more drawn to cars and that is a bit sad... I used ot enjoy teaching the youngsters as they had some great ideas and were the future of biking and not just present bike sales...
I'm with Melch on this !!
Crack on Kenny... You have tried plenty of bikes though and you are obviously in for the long haul...
Couple a pics to finish showing some collected from the net over the years that I have a bit of time for for one reason or another...
Vive la Difference and please note... They all have sidestands...Attachments
Nice one... Good bit of fun debate anyhow and we certainly don't have to all agree...
The main thing is to enjoy the biking and not take yourself too seriously or be precious about...
Couldn't agree more. It's supposed to be about fun at the end of the day. The day it isn't is the day I jack it in.
I'm going to get myself a frappamochalattechino double decaff. Can I get you something Wrigsby? I'm guessing a mug of tea, preferably in an old chipped unwashed, stained mug with a couple of bits of old swarf off the workshop floor floating in it?
fayeslane
Registered user
Here's a local bloke riding and having fun with his airhead. Apparently some confusion with RS & GS. Purist alert
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQUb8QOWfYk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQUb8QOWfYk
i dont like coffe so thats me out of the frappylattemocha brigade
fayeslane
Registered user
sorry im a tea man all that coffee stuff is for johnny foreigner
Here's a local bloke riding and having fun with his airhead. Apparently some confusion with RS & GS. Purist alert
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQUb8QOWfYk
Thats' pure porn to the trad brigade and he even has a fairing to stop his pipe ash getting in his eyes on the ride home.... He would have stopped at the Frappachino café but the sign on the door said "No (muddy) non designer boots"...
Couldn't agree more. It's supposed to be about fun at the end of the day. The day it isn't is the day I jack it in.
I'm going to get myself a frappamochalattechino double decaff. Can I get you something Wrigsby? I'm guessing a mug of tea, preferably in an old chipped unwashed, stained mug with a couple of bits of old swarf off the workshop floor floating in it?
Coffee, black and strong, definitely no froth... Tea waiting for later...
simoto
Registered user
Interesting R75 based airhead special for sale here:
http://thebikeshed.cc/bikes/bmw-scrambler-r755-malibu-canyon/
Nice looking bike but seems like a lot of cash? How much would it cost to build something like this? Do inlet tubes require wrapping?
No connection, just like surfing BMW pron[/QUOTE
Since you asked..........
Someone with the necessary skills to undertake all the work themselves could bring this in under the sale price, I recon.
Paying for labour would send it way past 10k.
Back in the day, exhaust pipes were wrapped to maintain the heat energy in the gasses. if it actually made any difference Honda would be doing it today. Custom builders tend to use it to conceal poorly made/modified exhausts. The incoming air should be kept as cool as possible to maintain air density, so wrapping the inlets is probably counter productive. Unless the wrap protects the inlets from the heat of the engine. Either way I doubt if the difference is tangible or even measurable.
fayeslane
Registered user
Interesting R75 based airhead special for sale here:
http://thebikeshed.cc/bikes/bmw-scrambler-r755-malibu-canyon/
Nice looking bike but seems like a lot of cash? How much would it cost to build something like this? Do inlet tubes require wrapping?
No connection, just like surfing BMW pron
Since you asked..........
Someone with the necessary skills to undertake all the work themselves could bring this in under the sale price, I recon.
Paying for labour would send it way past 10k.
Back in the day, exhaust pipes were wrapped to maintain the heat energy in the gasses. if it actually made any difference Honda would be doing it today. Custom builders tend to use it to conceal poorly made/modified exhausts. The incoming air should be kept as cool as possible to maintain air density, so wrapping the inlets is probably counter productive. Unless the wrap protects the inlets from the heat of the engine. Either way I doubt if the difference is tangible or even measurable.
My guess is he had some pipe wrap left over but not enough to do the headers so thought – "well I have to put it somewhere on the bike and that's as good as anywhere."
My guess is because it's a black tubey engine bit he thought it needs exhaust bandage, and it has an arse kicking retro modern cool new old school custom look. Oh, and was very easy to do.....
A real R75/5
Agree with some of the above comments - a chopped R75 will not retain the value of the genuine article.
My 1973 Long Wheelbase R75/5 had only covered 7600 miles when I bought it 3 years ago, after it had been unused for 25 years apart from odd run ups and engine turning over. I totally rebuilt it (apart from engine)
with new stainless steel spoked wheels, new panniers and frames, frame re-sprayed, all electrics replaced, rear bevel drive splines replaced, carbs totally re-built, new cables, hoses, forks dismantles and rebuilt, wheel bearings replaced, etc.
It now rides well and is fun to ride.
Safe riding,
Mike
Agree with some of the above comments - a chopped R75 will not retain the value of the genuine article.
My 1973 Long Wheelbase R75/5 had only covered 7600 miles when I bought it 3 years ago, after it had been unused for 25 years apart from odd run ups and engine turning over. I totally rebuilt it (apart from engine)
with new stainless steel spoked wheels, new panniers and frames, frame re-sprayed, all electrics replaced, rear bevel drive splines replaced, carbs totally re-built, new cables, hoses, forks dismantles and rebuilt, wheel bearings replaced, etc.
It now rides well and is fun to ride.
Safe riding,
Mike
Attachments
Similar threads
