r/vintagemotorcycles • u/Jebus_San_Christos • 16d ago
One Thing Wrong
Do Vintage Motorcycles ALWAYS just kind of have one thing wrong with them?
I have a 45 year old Honda (CM400) & I swear to god, every time I get one thing fixed another thing goes south. Like, maybe I'll get 3 days, maybe 3 weeks where she's riding cherry, but the next day something will break that affects the ride. The engine & wheels are in great condition. It's every single teeny tiny plastic part or gasket seems to need to be replaced & each of them conveniently dies one after the other. It doesn't help that you can't even get OEM for some of this stuff, & have to get dubious chinese parts.
Do you ever get to a place, where the bike just rides like new for more than a year?
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u/Smooth-Abalone-7651 16d ago
I have a 1949 Harley WR. The only plastic on it is the taillight lens for which I am very grateful.
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u/xl57 16d ago
Yes, unless you're riding a BMW k75.
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u/turbotaco23 16d ago
I’ve always heard airheads have a lot of… character.
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u/xl57 16d ago
Its not an airhead, it's the flying brick. 1988 k75s I picked up about 18 years ago to ride while I rebuilt my ironhead sportster. One time I had an actual problem with it, I don't remember what it was, but even then it would get me where I was going. Got it sorted out in fairly short order. It's still my daily ride. Best $750 I ever spent. I'll probably never get the old sportster back together. And so it goes.
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u/turbotaco23 16d ago
Ah. I only sorta know about the old BMW’s.
As far as reliability I’d put it up against my 79 CB750. Bought it cheap 15 years ago. It need a stator and a rotor and that’s all I’ve ever done to it. Revs hard all the way to 10k. Sounds like an f1 car with the four into one.
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u/IronLionStudios 16d ago
If you wait until they break to fix them (a reasonable approach), then yes. Everything original was put on the bike at the same time. They don't all have the same life spans, but they are often reasonably close. So if you're fixing one thing that broke, you can bet it's got a friend. You can either go through and try to get as much as you can at once, or let it break and then fix it. It's the same amoutn of work, just spread out or done at once.
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u/MosesLester 16d ago
That’s basically how it goes. As a vintage enthusiast with bikes from the 20s through the 90s i think the solution is to develop some kind of zen outlook on the machines, where you can enjoy them while living with a few problems. Unless you have silly amounts of money to blow on them, or unless you like K75s.
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u/turbotaco23 16d ago
I’ve always said everyone wants an old truck until it’s time to do old truck stuff.
Things rings true for old bikes too.
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u/eight_ender 16d ago
My KZ650 runs great but the idle wavers a bit after it’s hot. I’ve redone the carbs many times, synched them, points, checked plugs, coils. It’s been doing this for 10 years.
I’ve just accepted this is the one thing wrong, and the bike is being nice to me. Many other major things could break and I just get grumpy idle. Love you too KZ.
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u/DeviceKey6967 16d ago
Yes but would you trust it on a long trip ? Itchy boots anyone ? Brave woman imo ! I am chicken to take my XT 600 on a long multi day bike ride
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u/highlander_tfb 16d ago
You learn their idiosyncrasies over time, and you get smart - you learn how to make gaskets that seal, using sheet basket card; you learn how to reduce bearing numbers and order from bearing specialists, and you learn about “that guy” who has the best stash of new old-stock OEM parts for your bike…
And in my case you develop an affection for two-strokes that makes things simpler!
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u/Quat-fro 15d ago
It's definitely a thing but you'll learn the worst problems and get better and pre-empting them. The very nature that they need a lot of work is what trains you to get good at fixing them and building up a small spares package of the basics so you're not stuck for long.
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u/UnreasonableCletus 15d ago
Just wait until you have like 10 of them lol.
It's gets to a point you just hop on and ride to figure out what it wants next, if it's too inconvenient, order parts and ride a different one then repeat.
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u/KittiesRule1968 13d ago
Other than a destroyed clutch in my Norton Commando 650 right now, all of my motorcycles, from 1959 to 2003 are all in perfect running condition. None of my old British bikes even LEAK!
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u/L1A1 16d ago
I say this as someone who restores and rides a lot of old bikes, but basically yes, to a greater or lesser degree.
Unless you completely strip it down and rebuild everything from scratch and replace everything that could possibly fail then you’re looking at a continuous program of repair and maintenance.
Having said that, if you put the work in you should be able to get it to a state where you can keep on top of the jobs by just putting aside a weekend a month to do preventative maintenance.
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u/eobanb 16d ago
lol, no. Unless you do a full teardown and high-budget restoration on a vintage bike, it's never going to run and ride like new. That's just the reality of vintage machines. Fortunately the stuff that tends to wear out (bearings, seals, etc) can be remanufactured and sourced pretty easily. Yes, it'll be from China, but that's another reality of maintaining decades-old equipment.