Somebody slap me...

[ogri48]

I think I'm going to sell a four year old bike with 150 bhp so I can buy a forty year old one with about seventy. More specifically a gt550 Suzy stroker. Another fz1 going cheap in the for sale section soon...

[dazza]

Funny you should say that, I'm thinking of selling my house and living in a cave. We are not so dissimilar. :lol

[kitcrazy]

:rollin :rollin :rollin :rollin

[red98]

mmmmm...i do like those 550`s,seen quite a few on ebay latley......shame you cant have both 

[midden]

mmmmm...i do like those 550`s,seen quite a few on ebay latley......shame you cant have both 

Could seeing quite a few on ebay recently not be a hint to keep the fz1

Funny you should say that, I'm thinking of selling my house and living in a cave. We are not so dissimilar. :lol

mine was always an upgrade with the flat to a lotus esprit turbo

[nick crisp]

Don't do it! Yooooooou'll be soooooorry!

Seriously, going down to a smaller bike ain't the problem. I went from an FZ750, to an RG500, and then to a mere 350 YPVS. But an old stroker? You're selling the CB13 too right? And you've got a Triumph (classic style but relatively recent), and a Harley? So what's the day-to-day bike? You know, the one that's easy to get along with, plug-in-and-play, starts every time on the button, comfy, reliable, no thought required?

What's gonna give you the adrenaline kicks? And don't tell me you don't need none of that mate - you've been raving about the performance of that FZ1 for weeks. The GT won't. Half the time it probably won't even be running. And when it does, it'll probably be a right temperamental sod.

Bikes like that are as extras - you've got the main things you need in something a bit more modern, but you fancy a change, a bit on the side; well it should be just that, an alternative. So buy it. But fer gawd's sake, don't sacrifice the Fazer for it!  :eek

On the other hand, foc it, if it floats yer boat  :lol

[ogri48]

Thanks for the slap nick..
The harley has gone, my son has it. The cb didn't sell, I then bought a taller screen for it, used it to to go see my grandson on his birthday and realised I loved it and can't let it go. The Bonnie is great for retro kicks, but the old suzook would give me that. And the fz1.. It's a strange bike. It's probably the best bike I've ever owned, but I'm simply not attached to it.
I've been looking at seventies bikes for years to do a bit of the reliving my youth/ nostalgia thing, and every year they get sillier money. So I thought ok I've gotta bite the bullet, once I've got one it's done and they either stay at the same value or increase as time goes on. Biggest I had was air cooled rd350b, rd400, then 350 ypvs. Out of those I'd prefer the 350b, but I'm a lot heavier than I was then, and a lot of my riding is two up. So, a stroker, but a bigger one. Remember riding a gt380 and thinking it was great, so a bigger version of that should suit the bill. The 750 kettles are way out of my price range, and I never liked the look of the water cooled lump, so the 550 is a natural contender. There's a minter on the bay going for  five grand, he will take four and a half, it's had a nut and bolt rebuild and is as good as new.im thinking get that, flog the fz1 and the Bonnie, just have the two. And if I do need summat a bit sportier than the cb there's always gonna be a gen 1 with about 40k on the clock going somewhere for £1200-£1500. As you and I know, That's the beauty of those early fazers and their massive trump card over the gen 2, such a good bike for so little money.
Anyhoo, I'll give this some serious thought before I pull the trigger. Whilst the fz1 doesn't tug at my heart strings, I've never had a bike I can ride so fast on crappy fen roads or in shite weather, which is the reality of being a uk biker in this region, as opposed to my rosy eyed memories of two stroke fumes mixing with the heat haze from blistering hot smooth black Tarmac in the permanent sunshine of my youth...

[Mark YPVS]

Just sold my foxeye 600 and have been commuting on the RD350N YPVS for a month in all weathers , enjoying so much i havnt bothered MOTing the R1 i brought to replace the 600


Buy the bike you want and ride it  :lol :lol :lol
Mark 

[sadlonelygit]

ring-a-ding-ding-ding.............nyyyyyyyyyippppppppp
make sure the timing is spot on and the middle pot runs 1 size larger on the mains...................and i know a man who can fix them when/if it goes wrong :evil
and 70hp :rollin :rollin :rollin

[ogri48]

Ok mate, appreciate that, I know you know your stuff with motors..70 bhp was tongue in cheek, I'm guessing closer to 45..

[locksmith]

Does the phrase go something like , looking back with rose tinted glasses?

As Nick as pointed out, chopping a gen2 for a seventies two stroke ????

Think long and hard

[ogri48]

Never been the best at thinking long and hard bud. It's done.59 plate fz1 with only 5k up and all the right mods going in for sale section this weekend for four and a half grand..

[slimwilly]

Haha,,you make me laugh  :lol


go for it man,, keep telling us how good the idea was and is


i like someone who follows his nose :lol

[nick crisp]

Well, I've had 2 Kwak H2s. I'll never have another. Just sayin.....

If you go for it ogri, I wish you well though, and hope you get loads of enjoyment from it 

[fazed]

Yeah. I had a gt550 back in the 70s. Smooth as a virgins thigh and comfortable but 45 rather than 70 hp the gt750 only made about 67 bhp!  agree it's an 'as well as' more than an 'instead of' purchase......

[red98]

Out of the three,380,550 and 750 , ive always thought the 550 to be the best looking......ive got two bikes from my youth.suzuki gt250 x7 and a honda 400/4 supersport......I never ride them, just nice to own and remember the good old days, I've made good money on both just by buy at the right time , better than money in the bank....I do need my fazers though.....buy it OGRI  then get that gen1 

[ogri48]

lol cheers guys..
i had a honda750f1 sohc as the seventies came to an end. absolutely loved it. a few years later i bought a bigger, better honda dohc 900.except it wasnt. it was just a fat superdream, whatever the earlier "lesser" bike had about it was gone. so i got an early GPz750, the swoopy aircooled one. that had it..
thats what im looking for. a bike with soul.i know it wont be fast, and i know ill just bimble down to the coast with the missus, but it will feel great to own one of the bikes i looked on in awe at in showrooms when i was starting my biking life. i wouldnt do it if i couldnt afford a modern superbike too (either the cb or the fz1 will stay) but ive bought right, it wont devalue from what i paid, and if it isnt what i thought it would be, then it will go, hopefully for no loss, and ill keep both newer bikes. its had a full nut and bolt restore, and sticks the finger up to classic buff pedantics by having the two disc front end from a gt750. i kinda like that too...

[slimwilly]

"MORE CHEESE GROMMIT ?"  hahahhahaha :lol :lol :lol :lol

[red98]

Very nice ogri.....hope the small plastic tank is filled with castrol R......enjoy 

[tony_d123]

I have the best of both worlds, FZ1 and a 1976 KH500. I ride them for different reasons but both put a smile on my face. With the old bikes a lot of it is down to recapturing your youth and memories, but the GT550 could be a bit too civilised (and dare I say boring) compared to the Kawasaki triples, hence they go for less money.


Buy a tidy rider for about £2k (they are out there) and restore it at your leisure and keep the FZ1. Owners clubs and forums are the best place to get bargains. Stay clear of eBay.