The FS1E spawned a generation of riders that looked down on Hondas after the SS50. Purple ones were faster
There were still a huge amount of Superdreams around in 1983 so go for it! And what of the CX500? - the bike that lauched a thousand dispatch riding careers.
Sports mopeds are the greatest icons in my eyes, and it's a shame they're gone. If you want to know why there are no youngsters into motorcycling you need only look at their current choice of bolides. And yes Andy, the purple ones were fastest. As for the CX500, it was indeed a seminal machine, but it was also a steaming turd that gave the rider all the pride of ownership of a hairy mole on the cock.
which was why it was ideal for dispatching - no need to waste any love on it. I never rode one, unfortunately. But I did have a 400N for a few years.
I did, and they were every bit as bad as they looked. 250 and 400Ns too, they're just tools, there's no fun in them at all. The Superdreams were definitely not iconic.
It's not just the demise of the sports moped, its the difficulty in obtaining a motorcycle licence, I've just passed mine at the ripe old age of 48, Theory, CBT, Module 1, Module 2 and £600 for the pleasure sir! if you are under 24 then you have to go through it all over again (Mod 1&2) two years later if you want to ride anything over 47 bhp, yes the training is better and motorcycles are more powerful, however no wonder motorcycle sales on their arse, the new iphone generation just can't be bothered, they want it all immediately.
I had a CX500 for just over a year and while it was fairly reliable and comfortable enough to ride it didn't have anything about it that I remember as being good. The forks were sprung but not damped, the rear shock suffered from the same problem, the ground clearance was bad even by late '70's standards and though the front brake worked well enough to nearly pitch you over the bars that was because of the suspension rather than the braking efficiency. The real reason despatch riders loved them was that their brains had been rotted by the lead in the petrol of the day.
Well done that man!!!!!! I've had no choice but to embrace the new rules ( instructor ) anyway back on thread ........I went from a thundercat to a 99 R1 and I distinctly remember the first time I wound it on hard........I know things have moved on but holy shit sticks batman !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My heart nearly smashed its way through my rib cage and I still wear the mental scars and huge lopsided grin .......epic ,iconic,scary ..... And now dirt cheap
You can't blame the yoof though, they'd buy the bikes if there were any to buy. No, the manufacturers shot themselves in the foot by going for the big money and concentrating on upper end bikes for the older buyers and ignoring the smaller classes. Back in the day there must have been a hundred or more different 250's to choose from, and a lot of people didn't bother to progress any further as the performance was fine for most occasions. Many more people rode to work because the bikes were considerably cheaper to buy and run in comparison to cars than they are now - now most riders have no choice but to go for 600cc+ bikes cos that's all there is, at least until recently. But now we have a unified licensing system across Europe - albeit a shit one - and a manufacturing base building smaller, cheaper bikes for developing countries, so there'll be lots of smaller capacity bikes coming back onto the market. I just hope that one of those manufacturers realises that they have a captive audience of 16 year olds desperate to throw off the apron strings, and builds them a stylish, cool 'ped to bop around on, and draw them into the fold before they get a chance at jumping into a car.
Whilst I am a big fan of the 916 - I think it (still) looks amazing, it had an obvious influence on the design of bikes that followed, its WSB pedigree is beyond dispute, and it is therefore undoubtedly "an icon" - how, exactly, did it "save Ducati's arse" ? Yes, yes - it brought Ducati to the attention of a lot of non-bikers, and made it one of the most well known brands in the world. But surely the biggest selling model that they have ever made, and the one that turned around their financial situation, was the Monster ? Feel free to disagree, but...
The 916 never turned a dime for Ducati; without the Monster they'd be long gone - or niche at best. Still the most beautiful motorcycle ever made, though.
of course ducati stole a load of styling cues from the honda NR750 underseat exhausts single sided swing arm so should we thank honda for that. I think so
The NR was a technical tour-de-force and no mistake. But it weren't no looker. And it wasn't exactly a missile either. 1-0 to Ducati...
it was 750cc and very fast at the time but my point was grounbreaking ideas. they had a vision and ducati copied some
The Monster kept the company in business through affordable sales. The 916 built the brand - making the Monster desirable. Whether or not they ever made money on the 916 is to some extent neither here nor there. Without its racing pedigree, Ducati is only half the brand it is. Were it only to make Diavels, Monsters and Multis, sooner or later the brand kudos would erode and that would damage sales. Winning races and championships is important to Ducati: it's part of the DNA of the brand. Which is why a failed MotoGP effort and also-ran places in WSBK are not things the brand can live with long term. Similarly in the shootout test, the Pani has to present arguments that BMW, Aprilia et al cannot answer, or it starts to look overpriced. MV still trades on its name and the racing success of the 70s, but having no recent racing success and not a demonstrably better product, it's all starting to look a bit niche now.
I blithered a similar a similar blither sometime ago. They can only sell so many bikes to the well heeled Starbucking, boutique shoppers. Racing results would help, but the price of the top line bikes is getting silly compared to the opposition.
