For me, age alone will not qualify a bike to classic status. Again, I reckon it starts with grabbing the imagination when it first comes out. There has to be something really outstanding about it which puts it ahead of the competition. I think you have to be careful not to confuse classic with vintage. Almost all pre-70s British bikes are now generally considered as vintage, but I'm sure that people who rode and owned bikes in the heyday of Brits will tell you there were good and bad, same as with the "Jap era".
Regarding "grabbing the imagination when it first comes out", it's interesting to note that the Fazer gen 1 thou did not do this - it's price in the showrooms was too high, and Yamaha made too much of the "son of R1" hype to market it as an aggressive street bike, which in standard form it isn't. But when good second hand examples started to appear in showrooms, then it began to make it's name as what it truly is - a great all-rounder. (Of course I'm bound to mention this bike - I'm now on my fourth one. But I have my reasons for liking them so much. But classic? Probably not.)
Yeah the price of the FZS1000 was silly when it came out. It was about 9 grand or thereabouts I think, not much cheaper than the R1.
It started selling in decent numbers after Yamaha adjusted the price.
I bought mine pre-reg zero miles for 6 grand in 2004.
As for classic and grabbing the imagination. True. But I think there's other factors. Or other ways that bikes grab imagination or later get remembered.
Plus there's the slow burners. TL1000R - what do you think - I say it's gonna be a classic, but it was an also ran when it came out. It was daft when it came out, but the daftness has aged so well. I think I want one!
I would agree that the TL1000 was a classic engine. Didn't Suzuki reuse it in the SV1000? Or was it re(de) tuned for that? Certainly the SV didn't get the same reputation.
The S came out in 97, 125bhp and got rave reviews. But then endless tales of accidents, fatalities and lots of tank slapping action plagued it. Suzuki recalled it and fitted a steering damper, which just seemed to confirm that there was something fundamentally wrong with the bike. Many claimed the weird compact rear rotary damper set up was to blame, others said the front end was just to radical to ever be stable. New prices plummeted as Suzuki struggled to shift em.
They are cracking looking bikes.
Both Honda and Suzuki were tinkering with V twins. Both decided to developed them further. WSB and other series rules limited 4 cylinder bikes to 750cc, but twins could go to a full 1000cc. Manufactures of 4 cylinder bikes protested, and Ducati and Aprillia started winning everything.
So Honda and Suzuki got serious about their twins.
I get the impression that the Honda boys drank coffee, worked out and got plenty of OT in. Meanwhile looking at the TL1000R (now 135 bhp) maybe the Suzuki boys were off to the pub at lunch and out every night popping pills.
The R was available with a race kit, if you had 50 grand to spare, but despite big boasts about thrashing all and sundry with their new creation it wasn't long before team Suzuki were nowhere to be seen as Honda with their more thoughtful creation mopped up all the trophies.
And of course the R1 popped up at about the same time, lighter and more powerful than the R it sold in droves. Honda struggled to shift their beautifully put together SP1 and later the 2, basically just down to price, big discounts were eventually offered to shift em. It's reckoned Honda made a loss selling these bikes. While the R1 and the TL1000R are basic production bikes, the SP1/2 are high spec production bikes in a similar manner as the VFR750R (RC30 and RC45)
The Suzuki engine cropped up in a few other bikes, there was even a Bimota powered Suzi twin. Yeah it got retuned and stuffed into the SV1000, the SV1000 also ditched the rotary shock. The SV was just a bit dull after the mayhem of the R and S. SV1000 makes a darn good buy I think, but it'll never be a classic.
Don't forget the V-Strom 1000, that's got the TL engine?
Mickey
Sent from my villa in the South of France.
![[Image: 73337.png]](http://mefi.us/images/fuelly/smallsig-uk/73337.png)
What modern bikes (say last 10 years) do people think will make classic status 20 or 30 years from now?
On the bend
Just flapping about on this stagnant little pond on the outer rim of the internet.....yup.... :-))
Cbr 400 baby blade, coz they look the shizny & i want one.
Easiest way to go fast........don't buy a blue bike
Top of the list, no less!! :lol :lol
Also confirms what Nick Crisp and I heard at the Classic Jap Motorcycle Stand at Brackley!
The Deef's apprentice
