Why do you do it.....?
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for me one of the reasons is; i just love the fact that the bikebuilders from the period i like the bikes from; build the bikes with their heart and the passion the bikes and sport, money making was not their first drive,..and this is also the reason that most of these firms do not longer exist
and i have this not only on the bike front, but with all sorts of products where people are fabricating because they just love their job,..
and i have this not only on the bike front, but with all sorts of products where people are fabricating because they just love their job,..
These are the bikes I like different, quirky and nice to look at, coveted from BITD, one by one they disappeared and now all the big manufacturers make boring jelly mould clones in black and grey. The old stuff has flair not dictated by manufacturing costs.
Got to say though I'm not anti modern, some stuff is fantastic, the american small builders are producing some amazing stuff and even the homegrown small outfits are creating attractive packages like cotic or charge and I'm really liking Dialled bikes alpine in retro purple, yum yum.
Got to say though I'm not anti modern, some stuff is fantastic, the american small builders are producing some amazing stuff and even the homegrown small outfits are creating attractive packages like cotic or charge and I'm really liking Dialled bikes alpine in retro purple, yum yum.
I 'm with Defiant about the first.
Most of the bikes bitd where all bikes of their one. They were designed with heart and build with passion. On the other hand its just nostalgic...
About the second..... I ride them occasionaly because my *kuch*Scale*kuch* rides quicker on some kind.... :?
Most of the bikes bitd where all bikes of their one. They were designed with heart and build with passion. On the other hand its just nostalgic...
About the second..... I ride them occasionaly because my *kuch*Scale*kuch* rides quicker on some kind.... :?
wooly pluto
Retro Guru
I must admit that is / unfortunatelly / true
especially in the country with poor roads, poor drivers, poor fuel - read it Poland. Even if you keep it garaged and looked after there is always someone who opens the door of his car wide just to touch your car with them on the supermarket parking and doesn't take care to make a dent in a 30yrs old bodywork. Or you may destroy the engine that should run on a good fuel, as there is simply no way to buy good one. Or some sunday driver will just damage it. I am quite scared when I drive my own oldtimer these days. Sad but true for me :?
Lots of reasons for me I suppose :-
I like to own and use objects that I haven't just gone and bought "off the shelf", that aren't identical to what anyone else could have if they just spent the money. This applies to pretty much everything that I am interested in - for example , I am a bass player and I own some fairly high-end instruments (Musicman, Alembic, Pedulla) but the one bass that I will never part with has a neck from a Peavey Foundation (when they were US made) , a home constructed alder body, and electronics and hardware that have changed several times over the last 20 years to get to where it is now. It is the one bass that people always associate me with and the only one that I feel is really "mine".
My daughter(who is 24 now :shock: ) decorated it with hand painted monkeys and flowers and a raven years ago. I should addd that I use it far more than all the others put together.
Same with bikes then...
I like preparing any sort of two-wheeled machine. Back when I rode trials bikes I used to get the piss taken out of me at scrutineering when I turned up with immaculate bikes - "why did you bother spending so much time bloody cleaning it- it's going to get dirty lad!". And the bikes were usually things like a Miller framed TL125 bored first of all to 180cc and then stroked to 230cc with XL125 cylinder head (for the bigger valves, otherwise it wouldn't rev above 2000 rpm) and forks converted to air forks etc etc. or in my Enduro days a Suzuki DR400 motor shoe-horned into an RM250 chassis - stuff like that.
Trials bikes and mountain bikes have in common that (as Dr S says) they are small and simple enough to prepare to perfection. When I used to do a lot of 4x4 stuff (trials etc) I never had the time, space , facilities or money to end up with perfection - plus, like rallying, it's easy for one small mistake to end up costing thousands of pounds. I just can't afford that anymore (never could actually..).
Plus, by profession I'm an engineer so that aspect is obvious and I love being out in the forests and mountains (never happier, in fact) and all of this is why I have mountain bikes. I'm not a restoration purist, in fact I think that the nicest bikes are those that have evolved and changed over their lifetime. I am very attached to my 1988 Explosif, but I have no desire to restore it to original specifications. I value it because I've owned it and ridden it for 20 years, not as a museum piece.
Sorry for the long reply....
I like to own and use objects that I haven't just gone and bought "off the shelf", that aren't identical to what anyone else could have if they just spent the money. This applies to pretty much everything that I am interested in - for example , I am a bass player and I own some fairly high-end instruments (Musicman, Alembic, Pedulla) but the one bass that I will never part with has a neck from a Peavey Foundation (when they were US made) , a home constructed alder body, and electronics and hardware that have changed several times over the last 20 years to get to where it is now. It is the one bass that people always associate me with and the only one that I feel is really "mine".
My daughter(who is 24 now :shock: ) decorated it with hand painted monkeys and flowers and a raven years ago. I should addd that I use it far more than all the others put together.
Same with bikes then...
I like preparing any sort of two-wheeled machine. Back when I rode trials bikes I used to get the piss taken out of me at scrutineering when I turned up with immaculate bikes - "why did you bother spending so much time bloody cleaning it- it's going to get dirty lad!". And the bikes were usually things like a Miller framed TL125 bored first of all to 180cc and then stroked to 230cc with XL125 cylinder head (for the bigger valves, otherwise it wouldn't rev above 2000 rpm) and forks converted to air forks etc etc. or in my Enduro days a Suzuki DR400 motor shoe-horned into an RM250 chassis - stuff like that.
Trials bikes and mountain bikes have in common that (as Dr S says) they are small and simple enough to prepare to perfection. When I used to do a lot of 4x4 stuff (trials etc) I never had the time, space , facilities or money to end up with perfection - plus, like rallying, it's easy for one small mistake to end up costing thousands of pounds. I just can't afford that anymore (never could actually..).
Plus, by profession I'm an engineer so that aspect is obvious and I love being out in the forests and mountains (never happier, in fact) and all of this is why I have mountain bikes. I'm not a restoration purist, in fact I think that the nicest bikes are those that have evolved and changed over their lifetime. I am very attached to my 1988 Explosif, but I have no desire to restore it to original specifications. I value it because I've owned it and ridden it for 20 years, not as a museum piece.
Sorry for the long reply....
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Having owned and (lightly) restored 30 odd classic/ old bangers - I just couldnt afford to carry on.
In the parrallel universe of cycling, having restored some 3000+ to road worthyness since I was 16, I know what I like and stuff up to 1994 seemed to have the magic.
It all started when I was given a bike to do up for a friend, he was as troubled as I was. It was just an old racer but he was a good friend. Restoring that, riding it and watching the look on his face as he saw what he thought was a wreck re-appear in near mint condition was enough.
I just love finding stuff that people have given up on that I can fix and put back on the road (something to do with how I was brought up, I'm sure...).
In the parrallel universe of cycling, having restored some 3000+ to road worthyness since I was 16, I know what I like and stuff up to 1994 seemed to have the magic.
It all started when I was given a bike to do up for a friend, he was as troubled as I was. It was just an old racer but he was a good friend. Restoring that, riding it and watching the look on his face as he saw what he thought was a wreck re-appear in near mint condition was enough.
I just love finding stuff that people have given up on that I can fix and put back on the road (something to do with how I was brought up, I'm sure...).
reanimation
Retrobike Rider
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Oh, Interesting.
Yeah Dr S presents a good reason, I have far too many cars and tehy are scattered typically 30mile away so getting to work on em is a military operation weekend. And so much to do, almost endless. :?
Fettling bikes easy, i can get away with that just about, in the flat
It takes me back to what i did through being at junior school with crap old BMX's to being 15 and having an half decent Orange I built myself, I even built the wheels! So its great to get back into it, teh brands and parts mean much mre than teh new stuff as it doesnt feel like the new bits belong to my generation, or are as lovingly prepared and developed, or should i say manufactured. Rose tinted gigs probably.
My next bike is gonna be a new one BTW (tis the plan) some great new stuff out there.
I don't go riding (off road) as much as I like but its about being free in a nutshell, something we have less of now and in the future.
PS vote no to the congestion charge! Big brother is watching.
Life is too complicated, and fast, get out on the bike in the wilderness, have fun and get back to nature - WIN
Yeah Dr S presents a good reason, I have far too many cars and tehy are scattered typically 30mile away so getting to work on em is a military operation weekend. And so much to do, almost endless. :?
Fettling bikes easy, i can get away with that just about, in the flat
It takes me back to what i did through being at junior school with crap old BMX's to being 15 and having an half decent Orange I built myself, I even built the wheels! So its great to get back into it, teh brands and parts mean much mre than teh new stuff as it doesnt feel like the new bits belong to my generation, or are as lovingly prepared and developed, or should i say manufactured. Rose tinted gigs probably.
My next bike is gonna be a new one BTW (tis the plan) some great new stuff out there.
I don't go riding (off road) as much as I like but its about being free in a nutshell, something we have less of now and in the future.
PS vote no to the congestion charge! Big brother is watching.
Life is too complicated, and fast, get out on the bike in the wilderness, have fun and get back to nature - WIN
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