Should an older bike be treated differently?

[MrAtom]

As far as cars, I baby an older car because I know it can't be thumped on too hard. My 1987 truck, for example, I never let it rev too high or anything like that. But my 1997 civic, I redline it no problem as long as the engine's warm enough.

What about bikes, though? Specifically, the pregen versus a 1980 cb400. I ask because I may be able to trade my crappy bike for another crappy bike (not the cb400 four. Just the twin). Even though mine's a 2003, it's 1988 technology. So not a huge difference. What does Ninjette think?

[choneofakind]

I'm going with ride it however you want. Mine's doing fine.

How do you "know" you can't get on an older engine? A long time ago, we KNEW the earth was flat...

[fishdip]

And in fact even in the old car manuals it tells you to do a hard acceleration at least once a week like what you would do getting on to a highway.

[verboten1]

Thump away.

If it's been maintained there is no difference. I rev the crap out of my '82 and my '75 just like my '08 or my wife's '01

[CC Cowboy]

I redline my 83 Interceptor a few times every time I ride it.

[cbinker]

All bikes are whores and should be treated as such.

[dcj13]

Your water-cooled Ninjette is a generation newer than the air-cooled '80 CB 400.

The older Honda will make you appreciate what you had with the Ninjette, including braking and handling.

[MrAtom]

Originally Posted by dcj13

Your water-cooled Ninjette is a generation newer than the air-cooled '80 CB 400.

The older Honda will make you appreciate what you had with the Ninjette, including braking and handling.

Oh for sure. Mechanical drum brakes are horrible. And, I was actually thinking I could do some suspension upgrades.

[MrAtom]

So, as long as it isn't a total lemon or obviously neglected, I can have a blast and rhomp around on it like I do my ninjette? Awesome. Thanks guys.

[alex.s]

Originally Posted by MrAtom

As far as cars, I baby an older car because I know it can't be thumped on too hard. My 1987 truck, for example, I never let it rev too high or anything like that. But my 1997 civic, I redline it no problem as long as the engine's warm enough.

What about bikes, though? Specifically, the pregen versus a 1980 cb400. I ask because I may be able to trade my crappy bike for another crappy bike (not the cb400 four. Just the twin). Even though mine's a 2003, it's 1988 technology. So not a huge difference. What does Ninjette think?

an 87 toyota truck would handle at least twice the beating a 97 civic could take.

for bikes it all depends on the type of bike and how its been treated. if you throw it up to red line then engine brake all the way back down non stop in 110f weather... things aren't gonna last very long.

i've never owned a honda bike, but i've flogged the **** out of ninjas. as long as the engine is taken care of you should be alright.

you should probably do an oil test first though. have it chem tested and see if its bearings are already going or not. if it tests clean you should be able to give it a nice all around service and then abuse the **** out of it.

[alex.s]

i do agree with others though... the ninjette is probably a step up from the cb400 in almost every sense. just not style.

[MrAtom]

I haven't been doing much other than exploring and cruising. I haven't really felt like staring down the reaper lately. I thought I'd be one of those guys that's really into going into the twisties, but really, the few times I've been, its fun, but normally I miscalculate something and almost die. Its not my thing I guess. Is still like to upgrade the suspension so I can do some more aggressive handling, but its not that important.

Besides, there's a lot of hipsters round here. You know how they love old Honda CB's. Plus, there aren't many CB's out here anyway. I think I could easily trade it again if I got bored.

[crazymadbastard]

Beat the **** out of it, really the only way to test "reliability".

[MrAtom]

Update: realizing that id have to spend a lot of time and money on fixing the honda up and tearing through it to make sure everything is exactly how i like it, i decided to keep the ninja and maybe try giving it a facelift again later on. Should have some time as soon as spring break hits. If it all goes well, keep an eye out for it in the farkles section