The question has been answered thank you very much.

[DR]

This is a thank you to Ray/Evie from Emerald.

I've often turned away chances of riding new or late model bikes simply for the fear that once I did I'd find it hard to go back and enjoy riding the older ones. After a great weekend away riding a 2010 RM450-Z and late model KX250F at a track in Central QLD courtesy of Ray and Evie Sullivan my instincts have been proven correct.

  I'm now casting my wind burnt fleet culling eyes over the collection and doing the sums required to arrange funding of a modern for my very own asap Believe it or not, as much as I loved the RMZ it was the little 250 Kawa that clicked with me instantly allowing me to to ride harder and enjoy myself like I never thought possible. I can't speak highly enough of the green meanie. Only sore part I had from the ride was my arse due to the gripper seat covers   normally my arms and legs would be shot for a few days after the fact but this time was entirely different

Do I now hold moderns in a new light?..you bet I do! Thanks for the weekend and the education Ray, just I needed to get my head out of the sand. These newer models are absolute weapons and worth hoping on any chance you get to ride one

[shoey]

Yeh Doc.

I was riding my late model 300 KTM as the sweep at a vinduro on the week-end.

It was like chalk and cheese going from the modern to the Vintage and from the Vintage to the modern all week-end.

[firko]

. As much as I love old bikes, they certainly have their limitations. I had a similar experience to Docs the last time I went down to the farm with the mates. Because of my dodgy ankle and knee I have some trouble starting the old big bores so I commandeered my mates button start  09 510 Husky and instantly fell in love with it.....it's so much better than my old 00 Kato 400 and light years better than the Yammy IT465 and Maico 490 I rode later that weekend. That little fire trail excursion really rubbed it into me how much I was missing not having a modern bike. As soon as I've got my injuries sorted and pissed off another 20kg I'll start looking for a nice button start enduro bike. I like the idea of the electric start KTM 250/300 2 strokes.

Hey Doc....Has Ray sorted the Cheney TM400 after its "problems" a little while ago?

[frostype400]

I must ask Ray for pics of his cheney tm400 I am buying a 71 tm400 from him thanks Michael.

[Graeme M]

Indeed yes, the modern bikes are pretty damned impressive, and way better to ride than the vintage bikes. The best of both worlds is to own both, isn't it? I enjoy riding my 05 YZ125, but equally I love getting out on my 75 RM125. The difference is astounding but the enjoyment is similar (actually I get more fun out of the 75 to be honest). It just requires a different mind-set for each. I find it more personally satisfying riding the '75 - my speed on the '75 is closer to that of the other racers on the similar era bikes. As we go later, the gap becomes more obvious! Riding the '05 leaves me floundering way at the back of the field...

Still, I took the YZ out on Sunday to a practice day at the local track. Cold and wet and very slushy, but I had a ball. I'd hate to have ridden the RM in those conditions.

[STW996]

Yes Doc they are and can be great fun. I ride a Honda CRF450X and the best thing is the electric leg!

Great bike to ride and is way more bike than I need. It will climb anything with great torque and ease of use. Funny though it steers just like my pre 85 bike so has something in common.

But one thing is true they are great to ride but are left behind in looks and style of the 60/70 bikes.

Shane

[TooFastTim]

Ah you are speaking the unspeakable truth!

We love old bikes, not because they were or are good (they're not) but because of the people they attract and the memories they evoke.

[Viper666]

Bought my daughter a new CRF250X and stripped it of all ancillaries except the button start (She's a short arse like her dad) and she raced that and I occassionaly raced it in the Vets but was still very committed to VMX. Then a combination of injuries and a promise to the son to concentrate on his racing and a ride on his YZ125 05 at a clubby has changed my tune a bit. One long time member mate observed that he reckoned he hadn't seen me enjoy myself that much in ages. I must admit, it was good.

I was locking up the rear and sliding into corners then dumping the clutch to shoot out again. (In my head anyway) I liked it far more than the 4 stroke. This made it hard to get back on the old bikes I can tell you.

Mybe Ravenswood will get my head straight again?

Viper666

[DR]

Firko, Ray's Cheney is looking mighty fine. Actually I think the hold up was me with some zinc plating of bits but it's so so close to being finished and it's looking better than ever Frosty I'm sure there's some pics on the way in the not too distant future

As for the looks of the new bikes, I'm baited, hook, line, sinker, the lot! I liked everything about them even the way they look especially when it's all so functional, just choose your color

[Mike52]

Ok check the two links at the bottom of my signature.
Then explain what you have just seen.
The hill the first guy is riding up is the same hill as the second.
I go on those trail rides and the new bikes seem to have an aversion to going upwards.

[Marc.com]

I click with the RMZ450 thats for sure, but they are a rapidly depreciating consumable resource, where recycling old MXers has a sense of value about it that moderns don't have.

I think Graeme was right with the state of mind thing, plus i like the option of blaming the bike, which is a bit harder if someone just won a USGP on almost the same bike.

[Nathan S]

Yeah, its a funny one.

I originally got interested in old bikes because they were all I could afford at the time.
Since I began racing VMX, I reckon I've spent as much on old bikes as I would have on buying a new two-stroke, racing it regularly and replacing it every year...

But I definitely don't regret the money I've spent, and the old bikes still float my boat for a number of reasons:
I love taking a "worthless pile of junk" and making it into something can be enjoyed;
I love rebuilding/preserving things that would otherwise be thrown away;
I love being able to ride something vaguely near its limit (unlike a decent modern, where I ride around at one-third throttle);
I love community that comes with old bikes - people are keen to help each other out and I am yet to meet a genuine dickhead through old bikes;
I love knowing that the old bikes aren't depreciating if they sit in the shed and are ignored for months at a time (even though I'm not into the "this here classic is appreciating by the day" way of thinking);
I love the lack of egos and bullsh at old bike events (at least compared to modern events);
I love discovering the old bikes that work beautifully as a bike, (even when they don't do anything particularly well by modern standards);
AFAIK, there's no modern equivilant to CD or HBBB.

None of this is meant to perpetuate the "Maico 490 [or whatever] was the best bike ever built" line - if they were that good, they wouldn't have stopped making them... New bikes do their thing very well, there's no doubt about it.
I've got an '00 model that eats my similar '94 model bike, which eats my similar '89 model - even for a gumby like me, the engineers have earned their pay since everything began to fit the same mould in the late 1980s.

[retrowrex]

Mike 52.  Would there be a little rider ability coming out there?  Or are the newies just too tall for the old paddle.  They should out handle there way up with plently speed, deflecting off the rocks and roots.  The old Husky did it oh so easy.

Still love the old bikes.  They were/are fat and slow by todays standards but all is made up for with the nostalga and atmoshpere at the classic bike rides. Every year for decades they have been at the least slighly improved on the previous model, (Even if it was just prettier stickers).  And there have been sooo many major advances.

How many 2010 Suzukis were overtaken at CD6 and CD7 by much older and smaller cced classic bikes?

Bike ability 10% rider ability 75%. 5% good luck.

Retro

[Rossvickicampbell]

TFT - spot on - it's the whole package that comes with VMX.  Have been to a couple of modern meets and it just isn't the same for us old farts - do you really see a forum like this for moderns.  It's more than the bikes.

[TM BILL]

The modern 4 stroke does absolutley nothing for me and iv'e been lucky enough to ride a few. However at a push i would ride (race ) a modern 2 stroke but preferably with the blokes i ride old bikes with.

These days its not the bikes i dont like its the kids in the sport i generally dont like.

This might do it for somone

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=300834308