For those of you who are not currently involved in vintage motorcycles , you ’ ll likely wonder , why ? Why indeed , when there is currently a wide variety of incredible new motorcycles to choose from , each with amazing engineering and capabilities , that someone would want to ride and compete on an old bike ? Short suspension , quirky ignitions and motors , troublesome carburetors , not to mention questionable reliability – and where the heck do you find parts for a 40 + year-old motorcycle ?
and besides – we were having a ball ! And , the 60 ’ s & 70 ’ s progressed into the 80 ’ s , and hey – our bikes were getting a lot better . The suspension revolution came along . Wowee ! No more getting beat to death on any surface rougher than your driveway . Improved ignitions , better carbs , better oils - permitting leaner ratios in the old 2-strokes – which meant fouled plugs became virtually a thing of the past . ( Guys , there was a time when we were running 20:1 . Can you believe it ?) And brakes !
Well , for many of us of a certain age , these are the motorcycles we started out on , and as such enjoy reliving those days past when we were young ( er ), and the bikes were new . Ah , but go out to any vintage bike event and you ’ ll see not only us old , fat guys pounding around on the same year and model of bike we had “ back then ”, but also a lot of younger people out there as well . Yep , guys and gals who were not even born until a full generation after these old bikes had long run their course are also having fun with vintage bikes . So , what ’ s the deal ?
Speaking from personal perspective , Bob and I were indeed around in the 1960 ’ s and 1970 ’ s , and started out on funky , smalldisplacement bikes , short on power , suspension , etc . But you know what ? We didn ’ t know any better ,
As was the case with most of us back then , Bob started out on a mini bike , progressed through a Honda Trail 70 , and began his racing career on a 1970 Hodaka Super Rat .”
VOL . 5 ISSUE 1 - JANUARY 2021 // PAGE 103