my wife says why not just buy new

I'm cheap also! Doesn't sound like anyone else is or their afraid to admit it. However, my being cheap led me to my first bike, a KZ. A 1980 or 81 LTD 440. Bought it for $300 and have never owned any other bike except for a Kawi KZ for all the reasons listed above.
Lets all do our jobs to keep them alive!!

the next open spot in my stable is going to a two stroke triple SOMETHING!!

To me there are not many new bikes with their own "personality"...kinda like most of the cars nowdays. I wouldn't mind owning a few that are out there but for the most part, I agree with alot of replys to this post...OLD BIKES-simple, fast & with attitude NEW BIKE- tend to be cookie cutter stuff. I'll take an old Kaw anyday over most of the stuff out there today......just my 2 cents

I'll confess to being cheap as well, but alot of it for me is nostalgia as well. I worked for a Kawasaki shop first when I was 12 and then again from the time I got out of HS up until I was about 25. During that time frame all the bikes I currently own were brand new. Many of the bikes I now buy cheap, are replacements for bikes I owned back in the day. I liked them then and I still like them. The process of finding them cheap and bringing them back to life also gives me something to do while drinking beer.:laugh: What amazes me too is all the useless crap I still have floating around in my brain after 25 or 30 years has now become useful again:P .

After looking at that pic that Wireman posted I finally decided to get around to scanning a pic of a much younger Gringo from back in the day on the same bike. I have to say my haircut then was only slightly better than his and I'm thankful today that (unlike him) I still have a full head of hair.:laugh: :silly: That bike is long gone but somewhere I still have that leather jacket (not that there is a snowball's chance in hell I'll ever fit into it again) that jacket saved me from a ton of roadrash when I took a Z1-R off the road going about 90 MPH trying to outrun a cop. So I just have to keep it around. :whistle:

Post edited by: The Gringo, at: 2007/08/29 22:44

I don't think there are any pics from a quarter century or so back when I was riding my KL250 to H3ll and back and dreaming of a bigger street bike "some day". Maybe that's a good thing! :laugh:

Now if I had a wife that said "buy new", I would! Think she'd share the bedroom with the newer model? :whistle: :lol:

As for bikes, I may spring for a new one some day, but for now I'm having loads of fun with the KZs. I had the carbs off the SR for a week or so giving them a bit of cleaning, replaced the bowl gaskets (one was tore three years ago), and reset the float levels to 25mm from the gasket and did a fuel level check (all were spot on). I put them on last night and tonight I ran gas in to do the sync and the old girl fired off right away. It doesn't get more satisfying than that.

Great thread and a lot of great posts. I won't quote the various posters who struck a chord with me because this post would then be 3 times as long.
Ahhhh....a chance to philosophize a little. Hmmmm....
Stangely enough, when my small collection of street bikes were new, I had given up street riding and was into dirt bikes. I didn't pay any attention to the then-current crop of street bikes so most of what I now own were/are "mysteries" to me, especially the KZ. This is probably part of the attraction.
All four of my runners are lined up in my garage but for some unknown reason, my eye keeps straying to my 650C2. Sure, it's my newest acquisition, but it just looks so "right". I'm a "stocker" kind of guy for the most part so the C2 really "speaks" to me because it's so nice. As well, I know it's got the "go" to back up the "show". It's just a really fun bike to ride and will do pretty much everything I expect from ANY bike...
with the exception of top speed of, say, my Bandit. But, then, that's why I have the Bandit....so I CAN do silly things like that. I haven't had the C2 pinned in 5th yet since he's still getting broken in, more or less. Once I see ~3000 miles on the clock then I'll go for the "big run". I expect that having the 650 pinned in 5th will be just as exciting as having the Bandit in the same condition, even though the speeds will be vastly different.
With apologies to the Ogri comic strip: The more people I meet, the more I like my 650.:laugh: Well, except for most guys on this board.
Yep, spring tuneups, oil changes and general futzing around with old bikes is certainly rewarding. It's just great to commune with bikes, generally. I can almost hear my bikes thanking me for the attention I give them. Too theological ?? Not for me.
I can't wait until I'm FULLY retired so I can spend MOST of my time wrenching and riding.
As for new bikes, I bought the '06 Bandit 1200 because I thought I needed to update my long-distance camping bike. As it turns out, I'm not sorry I bought the Bandit because it's a great bike in the mold of a UJM.....I just wish I'd had the room to keep my GS750 too. Another MBD sufferer faces his addiction.:laugh: :laugh:
All bikes are rewarding to own, IMO....some just a LOT more rewarding than others.

Great thread and a lot of great posts. I won't quote the various posters who struck a chord with me because this post would then be 3 times as long.
Ahhhh....a chance to philosophize a little. Hmmmm....
Stangely enough, when my small collection of street bikes were new, I had given up street riding and was into dirt bikes. I didn't pay any attention to the then-current crop of street bikes so most of what I now own were/are "mysteries" to me, especially the KZ. This is probably part of the attraction.
All four of my runners are lined up in my garage but for some unknown reason, my eye keeps straying to my 650C2. Sure, it's my newest acquisition, but it just looks so "right". I'm a "stocker" kind of guy for the most part so the C2 really "speaks" to me because it's so nice. As well, I know it's got the "go" to back up the "show". It's just a really fun bike to ride and will do pretty much everything I expect from ANY bike...
with the exception of top speed of, say, my Bandit. But, then, that's why I have the Bandit....so I CAN do silly things like that. I haven't had the C2 pinned in 5th yet since he's still getting broken in, more or less. Once I see ~3000 miles on the clock then I'll go for the "big run". I expect that having the 650 pinned in 5th will be just as exciting as having the Bandit in the same condition, even though the speeds will be vastly different.
With apologies to the Ogri comic strip: The more people I meet, the more I like my 650.:laugh: Well, except for most guys on this board.
Yep, spring tuneups, oil changes and general futzing around with old bikes is certainly rewarding. It's just great to commune with bikes, generally. I can almost hear my bikes thanking me for the attention I give them. Too theological ?? Not for me.
I can't wait until I'm FULLY retired so I can spend MOST of my time wrenching and riding.
As for new bikes, I bought the '06 Bandit 1200 because I thought I needed to update my long-distance camping bike. As it turns out, I'm not sorry I bought the Bandit because it's a great bike in the mold of a UJM.....I just wish I'd had the room to keep my GS750 too. Another MBD sufferer faces his addiction.:laugh: :laugh:
All bikes are rewarding to own, IMO....some just a LOT more rewarding than others.

For me, I just like the look and ride of the older rice burners...

I don't like to lay down to ride a bike or drive a car, so no vettes or crotch rockets for me.

I don't like useless noise, or low fenders, so no cruisers, or Hardley, for me.

I do like to have some power under me and wind in my face... and I like a sporty look.

Now if there was a chance, it would have to be a V-Max.:whistle: That ain't gutless!

Gringo...that picture is PERFECT,Bud!(picture-perfect)

Old-school Kawi,and old-school jeans!:laugh:

Too cool!

Sandy those must have been a pair of my going to church jeans, they only had grease stains on them, no battery acid holes visable.:laugh: :whistle:

heh heh heh...nothin wrong with Your "Sunday best" while on the bike Chris...You're a stylin DudeB) :laugh:

I am getting all choked up;) Great story's:) I like my bikes because they are like me, old and run down :whistle: I just like classics, weather it is bikes or cars. Love to work on them, and an occasional break down is just character. Wouldn't give up my bikes for the world, or the wifey, or.....