Personal responsibility

[proctorls]

A few weeks ago I was visiting the local retro MC shop - you know the one - with the old wood floors saturated with oil, the windows none-too-clean, the rolling stock ranging from a '63 Triumph Cub in rough shape to a Norton Commando, a nice Bonneville 650, couple of R100 airheads - you get the picture.  No carpets, no soft music, and the person behind the counter is not a cute little number, unless your taste runs to middle-aged guys with dirty fingers.  
     Anyway, I had pedaled (Peugeot PX10) the 5 miles from Proctor to collect a crush washer to go under the plug for the hole in my LS's left head.  The MA'd guy came up with the right part in about 3 seconds, and then we turned our attention to another customer's K1200.
     Seems the ABS module had STB, to the tune of about $2K. And I found myself thinking, hell, that's probably half the value of my LS.  I know ABS is the nuts, but where do you draw the line?  At  some point, it stops being a motorcycle, and starts being a serious financial liability.
     What I like best about my LS is that I can tackle almost any maintenance job with a reasonably good chance of fixing it.  With hand tools, and my own dirty hands.  I love roaring down the road thinking, "I've had my hand on practically every part of this thing.  If anything goes wrong, it's my ass."
    If bolts come loose, or wires fray, or oil runs out, it's either an act of God, who does not, I believe, concern himself with old airheds, or my own damn fault.
    This has made me a more cautious person in both the way I roar down the road, and the way I torque my oil drain plug.
      Getting to be an old fart may have something to do with it, too

Ride like your life depended on it.    

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

What I like best about my LS is that I can tackle almost any maintenance job with a reasonably good chance of fixing it.

That is why I chose mine in 1980.

[darrylri]

Not to be argumentative about it, but my '94 R1100RS, with ABS, has 205k miles on it.  It has stranded me twice in that time:  the front u-joint in the driveshaft seized at 157k, and at 180k the motor blew up when a piston skirt broke while I was cruising at 6000rpm/110mph on the B10 Landstrasse in Baden, Germany.  

In the latter case, I was able to buy a new motor from a '97 RT and get it installed at Siebenrock for about $2500 (the dollar was worth a lot more in 2004).

The point I'm trying to make is that the "fixes easily by the side of the road" / "Never needs fixing" argument sounds a lot like "tastes great" / "less filling".  It's ultimately not resolvable.

What IS great about BMWs is that they run the model lines for a long time, so what problems they do have either get fixed or everyone comes to know about them and what to do about them (or at least, what to expect).  

[Motu]

I don't feel comfortable on a bike until I've pulled most things apart.I often start working on a bike they day I get it.I did the fork seals on the R65 before I rode it.It's nice to intimately know your bike rather than ride something you know nothing about,and have to get other people to fix it for you.

[Barry]

I don't feel comfortable on a bike until I've pulled most things apart.

This is all part of the satisfaction of owning an old bike and you get a sense of pride keeping a 30 year old machine in good order. Same goes for my 20 year old car. It has never let me down.

Owning a modern machine is easy anyone can do it you just need money.

I can also understand the sense of satisfaction with owning a modern machine that starts instantly on the button and runs faultlessly from cold. As soon as something goes wrong though that bubble bursts and you feel you can't trust it again. In the modern car world poor reliabilty and costly repairs are almost accepted as normal by many owners.

[dav]

It also comes down to the owner of the 'modern' bike how he/she looks after it or the lack of it, iam sure some owners just ride until the next service without ever checking, looking, finding out where & what lies within there new machines. I do agree if something goes wrong while touring somewhere remote & it stops dead for now reason etc, what can one do? with all the gizmos on these bikes these days it could be anything, so you would just prey you are in a mobile/cell phone covered area..

But modern bikes (for me anyway) do have a real purpose, some people jump on planes when they on there yearly holidays, me i jump on my bike & disappear for a few weeks,  it lets me explore in comfort day after day. I would not have seen many many towns, backroads, mountains/roads etc without modern bikes. Yes i know back in the day they did't have all the modern comforts like todays bike but they did't have a choice, remember ALL bikes were modern when they first came out..As i said before i think it helps if the owners know the basics of there machines besides just jumping on & riding away..

btw i love my R65 for the back to bare bones riding joy & i love my R1200R for its modern comforts & pure touring experiences (as long it does't stop dead in the middle of......)

[MrRiden]

I call it the law of diminishing returns. Sure the modern bikes have such nonsense as gas gauges, CD players, Tire pressure monitors, oil change reminders but at what cost? Seems to me to add a little cost a lot and that's too much. Especially for this poverty rider.
rich

[darrylri]

I call it the law of diminishing returns. Sure the modern bikes have such nonsense as gas gauges, CD players, Tire pressure monitors, oil change reminders but at what cost? Seems to me to add a little cost a lot and that's too much. Especially for this poverty rider.
rich

Everyone has to decide for themselves what is of value, of course.  I would not begin to try to tell you what is best for you.

But frankly, I find things like ABS, ASC (traction control), tubeless radial tires, heated grips, 700watt alternators, anti-knock sensors, telelever and paralever suspension absolutely worthwhile upgrades.  110hp and a 9,000 rpm redline don't hurt, either, while delivering mid-40s to low-50s gas mileage (on California's crappy RFG II/E10 gas).

While it may sound like I'm arguing against older bikes, it's clear from what I own and ride that I love them as well.  Some "improvements" certainly are questionable, but in the main, there's a reason for much of the new technology.