Are modern bikes just too good?

[Maddog]

Do you think sites such as this are struggling to exist as modern bikes come out of the factory a bit too good and dont allow for mods like the old bikes did?

I remember trawling sites looking for cheap mods for pretty much all of the Kawasaki ive owned....removing butterflies, cheap quick action throttle, R1 calipers on a ZX10 04 etc etc etc

How to guides as well. It seems most modern bikes just need a remap and they are sorted

[Lord Danoir the first]

They're too expensive is what they area.

I couldn't afford one without finance, and that just doesn't feel the same to me. That's why I tend to get bikes approaching the bottom of their value, because I can afford them and I can enjoy owning them.

Last brand spanker I had was a K1 thou, back in 2001, and I paid £6500 in cash....... that's barely a deposit nowadays.

[PJ]

I agree with Danoir, my GS was £18,000 which I paid £6000 towards, the rest is on finance obviously.

I will say that the GS community love modding bikes so I wouldn't say it's all dead in that arena either, but certainly I suspect people are less likely to wanna tinker especially with a bike that has tons of electronics.

I read about people getting fault codes and unrideable bikes just because they removed the wheels to have tyres fitted and managed to damage to dislodge an ABS sensor or something.

Mines got active suspension, lean sensitive ABS and TCS and all manner of gizmos which are great, but I'm not sure I'd wanna be fucking around with too much in case it caused an expensive headache.

As for bikes being too good, given my experience of BMW quality I'm not sure I'd say that, but it does amuse me that the 6.5inch TFT dashboard on my bike can be removed just by pulling it out of 3 rubber grommets and then disconnecting the wiring block.

And by remove, I mean steal. There's been a spate of them being nicked given how easy they are to remove, BMW say it's not a design flaw and suggest owners remove the TFT's themselves should they feel it's a safety issue. A new one is £1200 from the factory lol

[Jarse]

Good post PJ. I agree with and identify with most of your points.

Scrambler, Explorer and Tiger 800/900 forums are full of modifications and farkle additions.

I paid about the same for the 900 as I did for the 1200 7 years ago. £18k, ouch, no thanks.

[David W]

Would I like a 220HP BMW M1000R?
Fuck yes.
Do I want to pay over £30k for a toy?
Fuck no.
Could I live with the risk of losing my job even if the bike was being given away?
Probably not.

[Dom1]

Two of the main things that attract me to the Yamaha T700 is the simplicity and price.

I like to be able to work on my bikes myself (stop sniggering all those who know what they are doing).

I still can't justify the price so now I am waiting for them to start filtering down to the second hand market.

[terry950sm]

I go on a ktm rfs page. Old technology, carbs etc. Loads of rebuilding topics and how to pages.
The ktm 1290gt l go on is full of add on accessory pages.

[Manic636]

Lots of mods done by folks on the gsxs owners groups, but yes the more complicated the bike the less inclined I'd feel to play with it and tbh the less required and maybe that's why I struggle to let go of the GSXr which is fairly well modified along with being fightered although it's over 2 years since I've ridden it.. I've put too much of myself into the thing to feel comfortable seeing someone else kill it ...

[Alzo]

When the modern bikes work they are pretty sublime.
All the connectivity side of things is unnecessary and add nothing to the enjoyment of motorcycles...escapism is a big factor in biking.
I managed to "not" pay the £17100.00 KTM want for my chosen bike...so there are deals to be had...but they are expensive.
Manufacturers are going to price themselves out of the market.

[David W]

My MT is all I need and more now. K-Tech suspension and all the other things I've done to it plus the added benefit that it's bought and paid for!