Two old bikes
Here’s one of the classics that my son and I own. The backstory is that he was contacted by a former employee who advised that he had just inherited a home and garage from an uncle who had passed away. He told my son that, on inspecting the property, he found two old bikes in the garage covered in pigeon s$&t and dust, but they appeared complete and asked if my son would be interested in them. Of course, once the words “two old bikes” were uttered, of course we were interested….
We went to the home that same afternoon (can’t delay when “two old bikes” are in play) and discovered that underneath the dust, cardboard, and rubbish were a Z1A and a Z1B in amazing original condition.
We chose to keep the ’73 and sold the ’74 to a close friend and ended up with the keeper being a freebie!
We fitted new tyres and gave the bike a service and deep clean, and here’s the result. The bike has 12,000 original miles, and we didn’t even need to replace the chain and sprockets.
While we have a number of “barn finds” that are quite amazing bikes, this is absolutely the very best one we have chanced upon, ever!
Al and Mike Gill, Edmonton, Canada
That “former employee” was valuable even after he left the workforce! — Ed.
The death of the motorcycle — not
As a lover of older bikes, I have three (at the moment), and I have been a subscriber to Motorcycle Classics since the beginning. Here is a photo of my current daily rider, a 1998 Moto Guzzi Cali EV11. My first real motorcycle was a ’73 Honda CB500F that I bought in 1978, and I haven’t ever bought a new motorcycle since, though I did win a Ninja 250 from Kawasaki back in 2010 (yes, those major manufacturer contests, where you send in the card from the magazine, are real). In fact, my first motorcycle was a Powerbike made out of a banana seat bicycle and a B&S lawnmower engine as per some Popular Mechanics plans, because I wasn’t allowed a minibike back in the ’60s.
Anyway, I have been reading motorcycle magazines bemoaning that younger generations will not be interested in buying or riding motorcycles, but I expect a major shift in that industry in the next 5-10 years. Gen X and Y parents have been buying their kids e-scooters and e-bikes by the truckload, and many of those have been illegal for on-road use, either because they are too fast or because they can be used by throttle only (without pedal-assist).
These 8- to 17-year-old kids are already riders. When they get their licenses, they may want cars, but I would bet that they won’t give up the thrill of being in the wind. In fact, many are predicting that young people are not interested in buying cars, often because of the price of cars or gas or insurance. But motorcycles are cheaper, easier to park, get better gas mileage, and are cheaper to insure. And they have already tasted what it’s like to ride and they love it. All you need to do is look at the faces of the kids in your neighborhoods.
Some may end up riding electric motorcycles, but I suspect some will migrate to petrol. Either way, motorcycles are far from dead.
David Spatt, Narragansett, Rhode Island
Electric two-wheelers of every type are thick in my neighborhood. Completely unregulated, uneducated, and riding with no safety gear, I hope the young riders make it to driver’s license age, as they are likely candidates for serious motorcycle riding! — Ed.
