The ST certainly is distinctive. There's a you tube video of a bloke taking one round the Nordschleife circuit quite quick........
I think (hope) the pilot jests....![]()
I think Cpt Bigglesworth might be having a lend of usI think (hope) the pilot jests....![]()
Looking at the current classic bike situation it looks like the 70s stuff is still strong but the supply of resto bikes is drying up. The early 80s bikes like the GPz1100, GS1000, GSX1100 , cbx1000 are all going up in price. Forget your RG and RD 500 they are mad money and hard to find.
The next bikes that will start generating interest are things like GPZ900A1s, GSXR750 &1100, FZ750 and VFR1000R. These are the bikes the 50+ crowd drooled over as teenagers and still hold a connection with.

916 dukes are already fetching big money. If you’ve got a foggy rep or spa then they are in the 25/30k mark.The brief appearance of a GPZ900R in TG2 will boost demand for them a bit but they’ve been fetching decent money for a while now so I think the biggest difference will be how quickly they go rather than how much they go for.
I annoyed my wife a while ago by showing her adverts for GPZ750 Turbos because she sold hers about 10 years ago for half their current asking prices but I might be able to talk her into getting rid of her 916 before it needs the belts changing without being ridden again![]()
Interestingly I did a video on an early Fireblade a really nice one in Castrol livery, it is one of my my least viewed videos while the MZ250 has had 23 times more viewsthe first blade is already regarded as a Classic![]()
Isn't that interesting??? Not just a few more, many many times more.Interestingly I did a video on an early Fireblade a really nice one in Castrol livery, it is one of my my least viewed videos while the MZ250 has had 23 times more views
Yep MZ 84,000 - Fireblade 3,500Isn't that interesting??? Not just a few more, many many times more.
I think it's our age.Yep MZ 84,000 - Fireblade 3,500
Could be that we are a classic bike channel - or a Fireblade fan might look at our name and think we are a group of crinkly old gits who know nothing about sportsbikes, mabe we should have a name change to "Crazy Fast hair on fire spit on your Grandma Gang"
The SR500 very successfully pulled off the 'ageing motor dressed up as a classic' trick while the Honda XBR500, in my mind, never did.To me the Yamaha SR500 is a nice classic. It was introduced at a time when bike got faster and faster, had more and more "features". The SR500 stood out as beautiful (to me) classic bike even back then.

I think it's our age.
On Fortnine's channel, I have re-watched both the piece on the Silver Wing, and the Ural, whilst I've never bothered to watch the KTM 390 or 1290 episodes once. For some of us, old/quirky bikes are just so much more interesting I suppose.
But the GB500TT ( same engine, frame as xbr) did achieve the classic look ….shame they never officially imported it to the UK….a mistake by Honda imho.The SR500 very successfully pulled off the 'ageing motor dressed up as a classic' trick while the Honda XBR500, in my mind, never did.
Mind you, Honda sold bucket loads of XBRs so what do I know!?![]()
It would indeed, to me the Fireblade (superb though it is) is whitegoodsEKIMYRF - I'm one of those that have watched the MZ video but not the Fireblade video. If they were parked up next to each other then I would walk over for a squint at the MZ before the 'Blade.....and I bet that you would too.
I had an XBR, great little bike, nicknamed “The Atrocious”, from supercalifragilisticeXBRatrociousMind you, Honda sold bucket loads of XBRs so what do I know!?![]()
The SR500 very successfully pulled off the 'ageing motor dressed up as a classic' trick while the Honda XBR500, in my mind, never did.
Mind you, Honda sold bucket loads of XBRs so what do I know!?![]()
Perhaps the other way round, now that the 400 class in general is getting our attention, maybe the older ones will com back onto our radar.Or will the new 400 singles from India now hinder interest in a bike like this?