Did I buy an "Old Man Bike"??

Funny thread. Sometimes us old guys delight in a bit of treachery! Be that as it may... Last year, I rode around on a couple of "old man" bikes - "18 Goldwing, and an '18 Venture. Then in November, I traded them for a '24 Roadmaster.(900 lbs.) Does that make me an 'older man'?
 
Yeah, I was 57 when I bought my 2007 ST1300, and I sold it in about 2020 - not because it was too heavy for me, but because I could see a day when it would be too heavy (I have one artificial knee and one OEM unit).

I switched to a 1983 BMW R100RS, which is a 43-year-old equivalent to the fast, smooth ST1300 - except that it weighs 502 lbs wet and that is about 230 lbs less "stuff" to wrestle with in a parking lot or a sandy road shoulder.

Don't get me wrong, I loved my Honda ST1300 and rode the heck out of it for five years....but....

While the 1983 BMW does not have an electrically adjustable windscreen, EFI, or ABS, it is fast, quiet, and smooth. It has decent brakes and will do a "buck-50" all day (150 km/hr metric - that's about 93 mph for you old-fashioned folks), and it gets about 50 MPG - and I can fix it myself (no CANBus wiring or TFT displays that go all sh!tty in the rain, etc.). The beautiful RS fairing keeps me dry in the wet, doesn't cook my "equipment" in hot weather, and I can easily go 300 km (around 200 miles) on a tank of fuel. I usually run out of @ss before I run out of gas.

The boxer AirHead engine only has two cylinders, one chain-driven camshaft, and four valves. It has no radiator, hoses, hydraulic clutch slave cylinder, no balance shafts or variable cam timing, or valve lift or even valve shims - but it does have electronic ignition, a reliable alternator, and good instrumentation. This thing is about as simple as a big air-cooled garden tractor. If necessary, I could do a full top-end rebuild sitting on my bum in the gravel on the side of a road with the tools I can fit under the seat, but BMW AirHeads are so durable that such an event is.....unlikely. High-quality maintenance and replacement parts are plentiful and don't cost much, and everything is drop-dead easy to fix.

Finally, it carries all my crap, has a comfy seat and a riding position that befits my 68 years of "experience", and it doesn't sound like a kitchen blender.....and I like it a lot. Mine came with bags and two seats (dual plus the somewhat rare solo "seat-and-a-half") - and I paid less all-in than my cousin paid just in sales taxes for his 2021 Honda Gold Wing.

So, old man bike - who cares? I ride for me - not for what some twit thinks when he sees me.

BMW R100RS w Honda Top Box.jpg

1983_BMW-R100RS_Sept-12-2020.jpg

Pete
 
Last edited:
MaxPete said:
Yeah, I was 57 when I bought my 2007 ST1300, and I sold it in about 2020 - not because it was too heavy for me, but because I could see a day when it would be too heavy (I have one artificial knee and one OEM unit).

I switched to a 1983 BMW R100RS, which is a 43-year-old equivalent to the fast, smooth ST1300 - except that it weighs 502 lbs wet and that is about 230 lbs less "stuff" to wrestle with in a parking lot or a sandy road shoulder.

Don't get me wrong, I loved my Honda ST1300 and rode the heck out of it for five years....but....

While the 1983 BMW does not have an electrically adjustable windscreen, EFI, or ABS, it is fast, quiet, and smooth.

It has decent brakes and will do a "buck-50" all day (150 km/hr metric - that's about 93 mph for you old-fashioned folks), and it gets about 50 MPG - and I can fix it myself (no CANBus wiring or TFT displays that go all sh!tty in the rain etc.). The beautiful RS fairing keeps me dry in the wet, doesn't cook my "equipment" in hot weather, and I can easily go 300 km (around 200 miles) on a tank of fuel. I usually run out of @ss before I run out of gas.

The boxer AirHead engine only has two cylinders, one gear-driven camshaft and four valves. It has no radiator, hoses, hydraulic clutch slave cylinder, no balance shafts or variable cam timing or valve lift - but it does have electronic ignition, a reliable alternator, and good instrumentation.

This thing is about as simple as a big air-cooled garden tractor. If necessary, I could do a complete top-end rebuild sitting on my bum in the gravel on the side of a road with the tools I can fit under the seat - but BMW AirHeads are so durable and reliable that such an event is.....unlikely. High-quality maintenance and replacement parts are plentiful and don't cost much, and everything is drop-dead easy to fix.

Finally, it carries all my crap, has a comfy seat and a riding position that befits my 68 years of "experience", and it doesn't sound like a kitchen blender.....and I like it a lot. Mine came with bags and two seats - and I paid less all-in than my cousin paid just in sales taxes for his 2021 Honda Gold Wing.

So, old man bike - who cares? I ride for me - not for what some twit thinks when he sees me.

BMW R100RS w Honda Top Box.jpg

1983_BMW-R100RS_Sept-12-2020.jpg

Pete
Click to expand...
The bike certainly doesn't look it's age ! So keep your helmet on at gas stops and you might get some looks from younger women. :crackup:
 
catcher said:
Funny thread. Sometimes us old guys delight in a bit of treachery! Be that as it may... Last year, I rode around on a couple of "old man" bikes - "18 Goldwing, and an '18 Venture. Then in November, I traded them for a '24 Roadmaster.(900 lbs.) Does that make me an 'older man'?
Click to expand...
yes ... younger men can't afford that bike. :thumb:
 
Its kind of funny that to me the ST1300 handles gravel (don't know about sand) much better than my ZX14. It doesn't make sense as the ZX14 is about 100lbs lighter and has wider tires but the little bit of gravel I need to drive in my back alley is a non-issue on the ST.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom