| Interesting responses so far !
I have to make a couple of points though;
1) Brit. bikes leak oil - only if they have come straight from the factory or if they haven't been assembled carefully! I knew a chap who on getting his (new) 1977 Triumph Jubilee immediately took it all apart and reground the mating surfaces before putting it back together 'properly'. His comment was that the factory didn't have time to assemble the castings with the correct tolerances and that's why they leaked oil. In my experience, talking and looking any a number of old classics, only the ones badly maintained leak oil.
2) They don't stop - that's very true, the brakes cannot complete with the modern discs. There are conversions to hydraulic front brakes that can be made to increase the braking performance - but you still have to anticipate traffic conditions a long way ahead! However on quiet country roads it's not a problem (by the way, you don't need to slow for corners - you're not going that fast anyway and handling can cope with it!).
3) They vibrate -yep - all twins and singles vibrate, but a properly dynamically balanced crank can reduce the vibration to modern acceptable standards. Twin carb twins often vibrate due to the carbs not being sychronised correctly - but that's not specific to Brit bikes.
4) They break down more frequently. Many years ago I would have agred with this but now I don't. Modern engineering processes and materials mean that replacement parts are much better quality than the originals - for example electronic ignition systems and 12V electrics are common place on the classics and therefore eradicate the poor starting and continual adjustment/correction of the engine timing. When I was riding Brit bikes, typically they were already 20 years old, I had little money to spend on them and consequently the fact they ran at all was a miracle! If you took a Jap bike made in the 70's and didn't spend money on it to keep it up to good standard, would it be reliable?
I'm not trying to defend the Brit. classics here, just trying to offer a different viewpoint. There are many aspects to biking and many different ways to enjoy yourself on 2 wheels. I consider myself lucky to have been able to experience both the classic Brit bikes as well as modern Japs IL4 and now Dukes.
One thing's for sure - with a Brit bike you'll always get someone come over for a chat about '... I used to have one of those....' - will we be the same in years to come when we spot an old 916 parked up????  |