Comments on: Why is it you never see Sport bikes listed in the Classic Motorcycle shows or Mags?

By: slimcolo

slimcolo — Sat, 03 May 2008 18:00:20 +0000

I see early sport bikes for sale all the time. HD Sportsters, BMW R50S and R69S (the original 600cc sport bike 1960-69), Indian Scout 101s (rare), Honda 750F,Kawasaki KZ 900, and Brit bikes
Not cheap but out there. Most states consider 25 years as classic, 50 antique. The AMCA (Antique Motorcycle Club of America) uses the 35 year mark.
And the 250 Duck was a single.
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By: 51

51 — Fri, 02 May 2008 23:14:46 +0000

Why are there no Harleys in the Moto Gp line up? The World Superbike line up?? They are so badarss but we never see them. Why?
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By: kikime

kikime — Fri, 02 May 2008 16:44:41 +0000

Hey..... Do I know you?
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By: XRO

XRO — Fri, 02 May 2008 15:43:12 +0000

Shaun, you are way off when you say it's only HERE that people are passionate about sportbikes. Wake up: they're everywhere now. My city has several sportbike groups, we learn from each other, are passionate about racing and keeping dumb riding off the streets.

There are several reasons sportbikes aren't really classic bikes. (Although there are some, I saw a great book on them) They aren't made to just cruise around town or for long leisurely rides, so they get pretty beat up. They aren't made to look pretty, they are made for speed. The first sport bikes are from the 1960's and actually look more like standards.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport_bike

By: magley64, magz™ if ya scoff

magley64, magz™ if ya *scoff* — Fri, 02 May 2008 15:25:48 +0000

the predecessor to the modern "sportbike" was the cb750, there are plenty of those around…

the first honda literbike is VERY collectable and was a hypersport of it's day (the CBX1000)

modern sportbikes are just that, modern…

in order to be "classic" you either have to have a bike from that era, or a "design" from that era…

nostalgia runs rampant
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By: guardrailjim

guardrailjim — Fri, 02 May 2008 14:21:20 +0000

Sporbikes haven't been around long enough to enter into classic status. Sport bikes started around the 1990s.
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By: buff7mm

buff7mm — Fri, 02 May 2008 14:06:04 +0000

classic sport bikes don't look anything like their offspring of today maybe you have seen them but you just didn't know what you were looking at. the old sport bikes blended in alot better with all other bikes, there wasn't any plastic, you didn't lean forward ect. on these older sport bikes (suzuki's gs-e's, honda cb-k's &f's kawasaki kz's ect.)
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By: simon y

simon y — Fri, 02 May 2008 14:05:48 +0000

I have seen a couple of sports bikes at the Barrett-Jackson.

http://www.barrett-jackson.com/application/search/w_search.aspx#gridview

just type MOTORCYCLE as the style type in the search -

out of the 10 listed for the last auction (2008 Scottsdale) four were HD, one Indian, one Yamaha and the rest were custom.

Keep in mind that while the Barrett-Jackson is the worlds greatest collection auction it is mostly geared towards cars not bikes. There are some beautiful sports bikes out there, but they are made for racing and going fast, custom builds and "collector" bikes are going to be either older antiques or custom build for people with more money than many of us will ever see.
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By: hh76

hh76 — Fri, 02 May 2008 13:32:35 +0000

What about the old cafe racers, they were the sport bikes of the 50's and 60's. The Vincent black shadow was one of the early bikes built for speed, if you can find one at a motorcycle show there will probably be quite a crowd surrounding it. Mostly what you don't see with the older bikes is the complete fairings that has become the most distinctive part of a modern sport bike.
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By: eekenterprises

eekenterprises — Fri, 02 May 2008 13:31:48 +0000

I recently sold a bike to a fellow in rapid city south dakota who is putting it in a museum there, they are becoming more and more popular and you will see more of them, but the fact is good quality vintage bikes are hugely consumed by collectors, and all the rest are too beat up to be in a museum.
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