Pre-90 for HEAVEN?

[Shaun G]

Well said Mr Turtle.

Bruce and myself put our hand up last year to stand for committee positions. Unfortunately Bruce's illness meant that he had to withdraw at the last minute. we made no secret of the fact that if successful we would be introducing a pre '90 class as we felt that this would help ensure the long term future of the club.

It's funny but I saw some faces from the past appear at that meeting to cast their vote and haven't seen them again at a HEAVEN meeting since. So I think it would be fair to say that there was some worried anti pre '90 people  Anyway the membership has spoken and I am happy to accept their decision that pre '90 is something that is not wanted or is even on the agenda.

So to that end I will continue to support HEAVEN events when I can but intend to be more proactive in establishing a pre '90 movement in NSW from next year. My personal opinion is that a register such as VIPER (and the way HEAVEN started) is the way to go. By forging an alliance with a modern club, or clubs, I feel we can attract a whole new audience for classic mx as well as providing an opportunity for existing VMX'ers who identify with 20 year old bikes.

Stay tuned for an announcement soon.

And if you would like to express your interest in pre '90 send me an email [email protected] and I'll add you to our mailing list. if you aren't interested in pre '90 please don't bother letting me know because I don't really care 

Cheers
Shaun

[Nathan S]

One of the arguments against pre-90 is that "they're just like moderns".

At this point in time, I own an '89, a '94 and an '04 125 enduro bikes, but they're all closely related to the MX versions of the same age. When they were new, hey were all the/very nearly the best bike in the class.
And I sold my '00 RM125 a fortnight ago (its basically the same as a 99 model).
I reckon this gives me a decent example of each five-year-era.

"They're just like moderns".
Fukking bullshit!
The difference is huge - brakes, suspension, ergonomics and power (esp power delivery) all prove that the factories didn't waste their money by keeping all of those engineers on the payroll. The 04 model, particularly, makes the older bikes feel like frikken dinosaurs - if you really, honestly think that a 1989 model is even remotely like a modern bike to ride, then you really ought to spend some time on a modern bike!

I know the comment has been made partly in jest a times (Hi Bill!) but I know that some people believe it. They are Wrong.

[Nathan S]

Oh, and the latest toy:

Its an 89 KX125. I'd have prefered an 88 model with the RWU forks, but beggars are not choosers and all that...
http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f128/annaandnathan/Bikestuff/KX125-89/

Bike was $335 on Epay. As pictured, it had received/is about to receive:
New rear sprocket - $30 (Epay).
New chain - $60 (lucky score from local bike shop).
New tyres - $0 (won them at Rockley Vinduro).
Scraping plastics and making them look less bad - $0 (thanks Jason for the plastic polish).
Better handlebars - $0 (in the shed).
New grips - $15 (local bike shop).
New clutch lever - $15 (local bike shop).
New killswitch - $7 (Ballards).
KDX RHS side-cover - $0 (thanks Yumastepside).
New clutch cable - $5 (lucky score from local bike shop).

It needs:
A new piston and rebore (has been sleeved with an iron liner in the past).
One of the power-valve drums.
Front sprocket (I bought two fronts off Epay, only to discover that the splines changed between 1989 and 2004...)
Swing arm bearings. These are ~$200 in Australia, but ~US$35 + postage from the USA!
Shock rebuild.
I also want to put a proper seat cover, and fork protectors onto it.

Am hoping for the whole thing to be a clean, race-ready bike for ~$1000 all-up. Even if I'd paid full retail on everything, I'd still be looking at <$1500.

In contrast, my 'serious' pre-75 project already owes me well over $3k and will take another $2k to finish to the standard I want (admittedly better than I want for his KX).
Even my 'not very serious' MX250A racebike owes me a lot more than $1k.

[BultacoMacca]

The '89 Commodore VN station wagon that I drive is the age of car lots of people drive around in currently!
They AREN'T that old!!
Why are MX bikes called VMX bikes when they are just the same age?

[odd1]

I agree but is still 21 years old buy any reckoning thats old for a modern car!

[Shaun G]

The '89 Commodore VN station wagon that I drive is the age of car lots of people drive around in currently!
They AREN'T that old!!
Why are MX bikes called VMX bikes when they are just the same age?

With respect Macca I think you are missing the point. I too had a VN back in the day and currently have a VE. The VN just does not compare at any level. This is the same as my modern bike (a 2003 model which really isn't all that modern is it?) compared to my 89 YZ250. The YZ can not come close to the performance in any way. No matter how you look at it we are talking about 20 year old bikes.

Would you compare a pre '65 BSA to say a pre '78 Husky 390? Yet you say that these are both acceptable as vintage mx bikes. 

What I am trying to say is that what you see as vintage may not be the same as someone else and that to not even consider embracing newer classes in my opinion will see VMX in NSW go past it's "use by date" as time goes on.

Cheers
Shaun

 

[Nathan S]

The '89 Commodore VN station wagon that I drive is the age of car lots of people drive around in currently!
They AREN'T that old!!
Why are MX bikes called VMX bikes when they are just the same age?

Cars don't get updated every year like competition bikes do. Want to put money on a VN Supercar against a VE Supercar?
Historic road race and Historic car circles are already embracing the pre-90 era.

Besides, if you look around when you're stopped at the traffic lights, you'll see that your VN is one of the older cars on the road.

Don't care if you want to keep the word "vintage" for the older era bikes, but pre-90 bikes are still totally obselete against moderns - which put them squarely into the 'old bike' world.

[ted]

Gee i hope that #29 guy doesn`t get a wiff that this topic has been re-activated.

You crack me up Wattsisname

[Snowy 76]

I Love this Forum  and all the characters on it

[ted]

So to that end I will continue to support HEAVEN events when I can but intend to be more proactive in establishing a pre '90 movement in NSW from next year. My personal opinion is that a register such as VIPER (and the way HEAVEN started) is the way to go. By forging an alliance with a modern club, or clubs, I feel we can attract a whole new audience for classic mx as well as providing an opportunity for existing VMX'ers who identify with 20 year old bikes.

Stay tuned for an announcement soon.

And if you would like to express your interest in pre '90 send me an email [email protected] and I'll add you to our mailing list. if you aren't interested in pre '90 please don't bother letting me know because I don't really care   

Cheers
Shaun


That was almost Churchillian..Winston would be proud.

I can lend you some horses when you and your followers go on crusade to liberate the Premier state from the tyranny of really old shitter mx bikes.

[Shaun G]

Now listen here Fast Eddie.

No one wants to see the end of vintage bikes. Quite the opposite actually. By the way when are we going to see you on anything other han an Evo or Pre '85 bike? I thought people in your age group generally relate to the older bikes.

And I reckon you'll hear a bit from #29 when and if he can get his forum login reinstated.

Cheers
Shaun

[ted]

Q :By the way when are we going to see you on anything other han an Evo or Pre '85 bike?

A :When Pre 90 comes in...boom boom.   ha ha

[Tony Two Times]

New guy here. I bought pre-90 to get racing beacuse it was available at a good price. I am also of a vinatge that did most of my riding in the 80's. Bottom line to me is do you want the scene to stay healthy or stagnate ?

Stagnation is a possibility because......
- people seem to be holding their older bikes, making them harder to get;
- hesitancy among newbies to spend $3000+ on a race ready pre-85 bike to get started;
- without pre-90 you might miss guys like me who are now in their 40s and wanting to relive their glory days;

But really isn't it just common sense ? Thes bikes will soon be 25 years old. They are vinatge for that reason alone. Does the fact that they may be of higher performance negate that? If that is the case and we are anti-performance you'd best return all your bikes to 100% stock trim.

Normally I wait till I've got more than 20 posts on a new forum to piss people off but this seemed like too good and opportunity to waste 

T2X 

[BAHNZY]

Classic, Vintage, VMX, call it what you like. If you think that Pre85 and more importantly Pre90 is not vintage it doesn’t really matter, the riders will go where their interests are. Unfortunately the classes up to Pre78 and perhaps a little bit of EVO are a victim of their own popularity. The bikes have become collectible rather than purely race-able and with parts becoming harder and more expensive with time to obtain does not help the cause.

When I started racing, Pre78 & EVO was all the rage with people scrambling to get bikes that were readily available and cheap. Fast forward to 2010 and the well has dried up with cheap and easy access to these bikes and Pre85 & Pre90 has become the new thing. Clubs and organisations can resist the Pre85/90 movement for a while but they run the risk of splinter groups being established to meets the needs of the new riders coming through.  Pre85/90 is growing each and every year and will soon eclipse the EVO and earlier classes.

There is one exception to this, the Nationals, but this event does little to nothing (at the moment) to support the long term sustainability of regional or state run annual series.
 

[VMX247]

Unfortunately the classes up to Pre78 and perhaps a little bit of EVO are a victim of their own popularity. The bikes have become collectible rather than purely race-able and with parts becoming harder and more expensive with time to obtain does not help the cause.

Love ya Bahnzy,but its not happening as fast as some think/thought,even after we checked out CD7.
Its a big vmx picture out there   
http://ozvmx.com/community/index.php?topic=10083.0