Does a 1994 sports bike look really old to you?

[200Plus Club]

1998 and still looks fresh and modern to my eyes

[John D.]

I like the 90s bikes for their colour schemes more than anything.

Least favourite features are those funny frame things over the dash/behind the screen.

[Yazza54]

I'd say dated rather than old, you can still see the DNA of the modern superbike in the likes of the rc30, 916, first blade and R1

[Baryonyx]

moanthebairns said:

certain bikes have aged really badly, the SRAD springs instantly to mind. The front is fine but the rear looks really dated now.

The SRAD is probably one of the best looking sports bikes and will be remembered as such. It's that endurance racer style tail bulb that made it look so purposeful.

[bass gt3]

For me,everything changed when sports bikes went from backbone frames to perimeter frames. Since then, bodyworkhas become smaller, more minimal, anguar and sharp. Bikes look far more svelte in the middle with more pert rear ends. And thank god the huge cans of yore are gone!!

[Tim85]

Sportsbike wise after 2005 ish everything looks modern to me. Before that bikes tend to show their age withbigger rear seats bigger exhaust and front fairings etc. That's not to say I think bikes pre this time look bad but there's a definite change in styles around then.

[jackh707]

Tim85 said:

That's not to say I think bikes pre this time look bad but there's a definite change in styles around then.

Agreed, i think the some 90s bikes, blades, R1s and Ducs in good colour schemes do look their age, but look fantastic at the same time.

[WaferThinHam]

John D. said:

I like the 90s bikes for their colour schemes more than anything.

Least favourite features are those funny frame things over the dash/behind the screen.

You mean the ram air ports?

And some of the shell suit schemes are best left in the 90s.

They look dated to me, but I'm relatively young, so perhaps not qualified to comment...

[Tall_Paul]

WaferThinHam said:

You mean the ram air ports?

And some of the shell suit schemes are best left in the 90s.

They look dated to me, but I'm relatively young, so perhaps not qualified to comment...

He means these



It's like they couldn't make the screen/fairing strong enough so had to re-enforce it with some steel tubing.

[WaferThinHam]

Screen brace?

Most modern bikes still have them, they're just better hidden.

[Mastodon2]

Tall_Paul said:

It's like they couldn't make the screen/fairing strong enough so had to re-enforce it with some steel tubing.

With an analytical mind like that, you should be in bike design.

[Tall_Paul]

Mastodon2 said:

With an analytical mind like that, you should be in bike design.

90's lazy design? Modern bikes have better designed screens or hidden braces, but in the 90's they couldn't think of any better way to brace the screen than whacking a load of scaffolding on it

[theshrew]

Tim85 said:

Sportsbike wise after 2005 ish everything looks modern to me. Before that bikes tend to show their age withbigger rear seats bigger exhaust and front fairings etc. That's not to say I think bikes pre this time look bad but there's a definite change in styles around then.

I agree although I think some Ducati's still look fairly modern.

Bikes older than 2005 R1's seem to age better than the rest of the bunch.

[bogie]

Ive often wondered if its an age thing and whichever "golden" era of riding you were brought up in would always appeal...and I think so

I prefer the styling of some early 90's bikes to those of today ...it was much easier when there were only a few models of headlight for designers to choose from, and create some classic looking road weapons. These days there seem to be no such production limits which has lead to some over-styled modern transformer look alikes

In another 15 years I may be retired and still riding 90's "classics" because I like they look of them and they were "fast enough" to have fun on ....and I wonder if thats what many retired classic owners feel like now riding their dream bikes from the 60s and 70s ?

[John D.]

WaferThinHam said:

Screen brace?

Most modern bikes still have them, they're just better hidden.

Yes.

And, no st

[bgunn]

bogie said:

Ive often wondered if its an age thing and whichever "golden" era of riding you were brought up in would always appeal...and I think so

I prefer the styling of some early 90's bikes to those of today ...it was much easier when there were only a few models of headlight for designers to choose from, and create some classic looking road weapons. These days there seem to be no such production limits which has lead to some over-styled modern transformer look alikes

In another 15 years I may be retired and still riding 90's "classics" because I like they look of them and they were "fast enough" to have fun on ....and I wonder if thats what many retired classic owners feel like now riding their dream bikes from the 60s and 70s ?

I think that sums it up. When I originally started riding when I was 16-17, I dreamed about the top bikes of the era. ZZR-1100, VFR, things like that. And I just like the way they look, they have enough technology on them to be very accomplished (in the main). And so that's why I think my VFR 750 doesn't really look dated (to me), but I guess it would to someone else.

<gratuitous pic of my bike>

[dapearson]

bgunn said:

I think that sums it up. When I originally started riding when I was 16-17, I dreamed about the top bikes of the era. ZZR-1100, VFR, things like that. And I just like the way they look, they have enough technology on them to be very accomplished (in the main). And so that's why I think my VFR 750 doesn't really look dated (to me), but I guess it would to someone else.

<gratuitous pic of my bike>

[Hooli]

Once they wrapped bikes in tupperware they all looked the same and still do to me. Yes they've shrunk, but that's it. You need the horrid old bucket fairings to make a sports bike look dated.

[Biker's Nemesis]

Hooli said:

Once they wrapped bikes in tupperware they all looked the same and still do to me. Yes they've shrunk, but that's it. You need the horrid old bucket fairings to make a sports bike look dated.

And naked bikes don't all look the same

[Hooli]

Biker's Nemesis said:

And naked bikes don't all look the same

Yes they do

There is probably less differences in naked bikes than faired ones over the same time. Only real I can think of is incomplete frames (no bars under the engine) which look wrong to me. I know they work but they look like the engine will fall out.