Will buying a sport bike ruin my vintage bike experience(s)?

I only have one friend into vintage bikes 90% of my other bike friends have 1 liter+ bikes.

We recently went on a small ride weekend in Montana. I was the only person with a passenger and i was on my 82 gpz 1100. Even with a recent fork tune up i was sadly out classed. Yes i was more careful with a passenger but still at 160km/hr I really start being impacted by wind drag. On the times where they hit the throttle I was fighting to keep up.

Also none of my vintage bikes are meant for any sort of distance riding.
So i was thinking about a 08+ busa with touring mods for touring duty, not city driving. Now i dont want to have a debate that the busa isnt the right touring bike. I really like them and at my height they are quite comfortable.

What im worried about which is the question of this topic is if i get a modern sport bike will my custom vintage bikes be no longer fun? Will they feel neutered or slow? Will i appreciate them less?

Im looking for opinions from people who have had or have both.

The sad thing is none of my bikes are done but they will all be this summer. And 2 out of 3 have 07-10 modern sport bike suspension and wheels. Those 2 out of 3 have built up engines too, one NA and one supercharged.

I guess one saving grace is the modernized vintage bikes will still feel quite nimble compared to the busa.

riding a hunderd an ten miles an hour with a passenger on publick rodes is not being careful and makes you a complete asshole how's that for advice

While I agree somewhat with the previous comment, I've been known to be an asshole too so I do not judge.

I came into this from sportsbikes with a sad couple of years without a bike in-between and I've ridden a lot at high speed in many different countries and got my kicks - now I just prefer something with a bit more erm..what's the word... soul or character, maybe. I would say that in reality you're probably going to find that if you go out for a ride on your Busa and do 110mph and scare the shit out of your passenger you're probably going to find any non-sportsbike you get on immediately after to be slow. However you're also going to notice said "character" of them more. Things that you've become accustomed too are going to reveal themselves again. This will either be very frustrating for you or quite rewarding - depends on you and what really sits in your heart my friend .

One thing I will say is that trying to keep up with a bunch of twats on new sportsbikes while riding an antique bike doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun to me. I'd rather let them take off and me take the country road at 60mph and let my passenger enjoy the experience. Maybe we'll find a nice little pub and a hayloft nearby.....in my version my passenger is Heidi Van Horne...

Ouch !

The answer is no there just diff rides that's all !

Ribo said:

While I agree somewhat with the previous comment, I've been known to be an asshole too so I do not judge.

I came into this from sportsbikes with a sad couple of years without a bike in-between and I've ridden a lot at high speed in many different countries and got my kicks - now I just prefer something with a bit more erm..what's the word... soul or character, maybe. I would say that in reality you're probably going to find that if you go out for a ride on your Busa and do 110mph and scare the shit out of your passenger you're probably going to find any non-sportsbike you get on immediately after to be slow. However you're also going to notice said "character" of them more. Things that you've become accustomed too are going to reveal themselves again. This will either be very frustrating for you or quite rewarding - depends on you and what really sits in your heart my friend .

One thing I will say is that trying to keep up with a bunch of twats on new sportsbikes while riding an antique bike doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun to me. I'd rather let them take off and me take the country road at 60mph and let my passenger enjoy the experience. Maybe we'll find a nice little pub and a hayloft nearby.....in my version my passenger is Heidi Van Horne...

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Good comments, thanks. Ya i kept things comfortable pace knowing I would eventually catch up. Its like you said a different kind of riding. They didn't do it much but its more the issue that they road their bikes the whole way and I towed mine to the hotel because the wind bothers me long term on a little to no fairing bike, and i haven't built the trust yet that nothing will fail on the vintage bikes on a long drive.

DreadRock said:

Ouch !

The answer is no there just diff rides that's all !

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Ouch is right, lol. Thanks man. I guess im an asshole for going over the speed limit once. If thats the case they should rename this forum to "assholes who do the ton" since 99%+ have gone over the speed limit at somepoint.


For the thread record I never said I did 160km with a passenger. What I said I was at 160 the bike starts to be impacted by wind drag. Lastly some roads in Montana are 120km.

Not sure who said it originally but it goes something like, it's more fun to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow... I prefer the old bikes for this reason

You won't hate the older bikes, but you may not ride them as often. I found the biggest issue was going from race caliber breaks to vintage drums. It was hard to remember that I needed to start slowing down so much sooner.

It won't ruin your vintage experience at all, if anything it will enhance it. I find it great to have different style bikes with varying power and handling capabilities. I don't have a sport bike, but do have an '09 SFV650 but my little 7hp MB5 still puts a big grin on my face every time I ride it. I actually hate to get off it. If you have the coin to have the best of all worlds, go for it.

I like motorcycles

+1 what Rich said. I have so many, had so many, they are bikes, I like them.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I am now at ease with the decision.

Based on the comments I actually think it will be nice with my xv tracker not to be modernized for the full vintage feel.

Time to sell the gpz!

polar opposite, but ride a bike (pedal bike) every once in a while and even my 360 with bad spark is a blast.

I'm a transportation cyclist and busting around on a glorified scooter is a blast for me because I have the frame of reference of working to get up the hills.

Get your busa if you want, but find a way to appreciate the slow and steady. ( a bicycle is a great way. instead of paying for gasoline you just eat shit you shouldn't otherwise be eating, and it only takes about a week and a half to get completely competent at pushing yourself across a city without getting winded).

It's funny, when I live in Fulham, London I used to commute to East London. Some days I'd cycle, some days I'd ride my sportsbike, other days I'd take the tube. No matter which form of transportation I chose I got from home to work in 45 mins. Now If I took the tube home it took about 4 hours but most of that time was spent in the pub.

xb33bsa said:

riding a hunderd an ten miles an hour with a passenger on publick rodes is not being careful and makes you a complete asshole how's that for advice

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We live in an area that is wide open with little traffic in the early morning. 110 mph is only second gear. Rule #1, never sit up above 150 for the passenger. Rule #2, never look over my shoulder to look at the speedo, use the hand held GPS. Rule #3, tug or tap twice, when your afraid. It's usually over in a few seconds for the pass, blast.

Rich Ard said:

I like motorcycles

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1

It's all good.

HollywoodMX said:

Thanks for the feedback guys. I am now at ease with the decision.

Based on the comments I actually think it will be nice with my xv tracker not to be modernized for the full vintage feel.

Time to sell the gpz!

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Are we talking double Ton?

it is more fun riding a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow and why many of us ride old bikes

new bikes are nice to ride , great brakes, handling, all round performance

but they often do lack that 'character'

with age you do appreciate each bike with what it is about , if you expect more than it is capable of then you may be disappointed and by the
same token if you dont expect much you can be quite surprised

but be very very careful about riding new bikes that you dont want to spend the money to buy as often once you ride one it can be all that you want

I have been lucky enough to own both classic bikes and super bikes together for many years, and the experiences that both give you are different. My R1 will do well over 100 mph in second gear, whereas my Suzuki T500's do little more than a ton flat out, but I love them both......
My recommendation is if it's possible, have both in your stable.

Scooter trash said:

Are we talking double Ton?

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Not sure what you are asking.

Thanks for the continued feedback from everyone . I like riding pedal bikes too. Kinda got a trick one speed.

Doing the ton on a modern sportbike feels like going 65 on a vintage bike. A Hayabusa will handle the touring duties with a few adjustments as long as you don't wear a chrome ww2 german helmet while riding it.