Dear Yamaha...

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Sunspark said:
Edit: It has a centerstand! That's fantastic.
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Actually on that bike a centerstand makes no sense to me ... why would you want to drag extra weight every second you ride the bike? Plus it leaves less clearance for fun days. If it was a somewhat a touring bike, I'd understand, but particularly on this bike???
 
I had a 78 SR500 with every modification you could buy or make.
It was fast after all those modifications.
I'm talking entire top end, Cam, Wiseco, Huge carb.....everything.
I managed 170kph with it.
I imagine all those mods are still available for this bike.


I wonder what that round black container is on the bottom of the left side of the engine????
 
Low rider said:
I had a 78 SR500 with every modification you could buy or make.
It was fast after all those modifications.
I'm talking entire top end, Cam, Wiseco, Huge carb.....everything.
I managed 170kph with it.
I imagine all those mods are still available for this bike.


I wonder what that round black container is on the bottom of the left side of the engine????
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Charcoal canister to make it 50-state legal.

The fuel pump also is not inside the tank it is outside the tank as well.

The centrestand is good for chain work, tire removal, and for more stability when parking. It does make a difference as it allows you to do some work without needing a jack and floor stands.
 
You can get a paddock stand for all the little work required for 35$ or so bucks. I have never seen unstable bike with a good side stand. The only time it can be unstable is you park on uneven or soft surface which you shouldn't do anyway. I would take off the heavy metal piece in few hrs after I bought the bike ... LOL
 
I don't understand why every street bike with a chain doesn't have a centre stand. The extra weight of it will never make a difference when riding on the street. No one ever removed a centre stand from their bike and was blown away by the difference in performance. Centre stands are a god send if you want to lube your chain on a trip. No roll forward, spray. Roll forward, spray. Even for inspection they are handy. I prefer to use it when parking and walking far away from the bike, especially on street parking. Much harder to knock over.

Every bike I've owned had a centre stand and I've used it on all of them.
 
That's what race stands are for. Center stands just don't work on every bike although it would be nice to have
 
Most sport bikes would look stupid with a center stand on them. It would be the first thing I scrap.
 
Low rider said:
Most sport bikes would look stupid with a center stand on them. It would be the first thing I scrap.
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SS on street don't need to lube their chains on the road. They don't usually travel more than a 100 kms to the pose in timmies. ;)
 
My 05 Honda VTR1000 has 103,000 km on it??????
 
At $6k a pop, I don't see these moving off the floor very well... Couple that with a "female" audience target with that press release.. recipe for sales disaster.

I like the new direction of moto-manufacturers going retro, but not at these price points.
If you add the cost of modifying these to make them "unique" to your taste, it gets way too expensive.


Honda CB1100 is also a beautiful styled (bigger) bike. $10,400 MSRP!!!

2014-Honda-CB1100-Deluxe-FL34-590x456.jpg


2014-Honda-CB1100-Deluxe-cockpit-590x393.jpg
 
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Low rider said:
My 05 Honda VTR1000 has 103,000 km on it??????
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According to Djez, that means you've been to Timmies over 1000 times. I kid, I kid, but just the man we need to hear from. What are the vibes like riding around? On the highway? I'm not dumb enough to think it won't shake, rattle & roll. How many hours before numb hands demand a stop?

I haven't seen much "female" advertising for the sr400--that one I posted was for the JDM; having more lady-riders around is fine by me anyway. Most of the marketing seems to feature a Japanese hipsters and Euro-wurst. That dancing guy with the glittering pants is nowhere to be seen.

Centerstands are always a good idea in my book. Smart engineering could have put them on sportbikes, with some sort of quick release for track days. I guess if people are more than willing to buy aftermarket stands, why bother?

CB1100 is a fine bike, Dresden. The updated model with the bigger tank and 6-speed is even nicer. Did they lower the price here? Last I checked, it was north of 13K at the few dealers that had them.
 
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I really don't think you can go back in time at those prices. Yes you can style bikes to resemble older bikes. But the spindly forks, swingarms, frames and brakes have no place on a new machine imho. For example how much money would it cost to have 45mm forks in place of 36mm forks? Machining and production costs would be the same, material weight would be the difference in price only. Brake rotor diameter, same thing. To the untrained eye the bike would look the same and give the same funky old time vibe yet be so much more robust and be a better platform for utility, racing, touring you name it. These bikes are a con job.
 
These throwback bikes are intended for the young urban rider who wants a vintage bike but doesn't have the mechanical skills or workshop space to keep a real vintage bike running. But these riders also want vintage prices, not going to happen. Either buy an old bike and learn how to wrench or pay someone to wrench or pony up the cash upfront for a new bike. It all evens out in the end.
 
Morrissey said:
I don't understand why every street bike with a chain doesn't have a centre stand. The extra weight of it will never make a difference when riding on the street. No one ever removed a centre stand from their bike and was blown away by the difference in performance. Centre stands are a god send if you want to lube your chain on a trip. No roll forward, spray. Roll forward, spray. Even for inspection they are handy. I prefer to use it when parking and walking far away from the bike, especially on street parking. Much harder to knock over.

Every bike I've owned had a centre stand and I've used it on all of them.
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I hear you what you would prefer, but the fact that every bike you have owned had a chain and centre stand doesn't make it a rule or right, because there will be many people experiencing quite the opposite.

How many of SR400 will go on a continuous trip which would require a chain lube on the "road"? These are urban type of bikes, probably needing two lubes a year ...
 
Even though most of these bikes will be used around town, the "urban hipsters" these bikes are aimed at will probably appreciate the centre stand rather than have to find a place to store a race stand in their 400 square foot condo! ;-)
 
RetroGrouch said:
These throwback bikes are intended for the young urban rider who wants a vintage bike but doesn't have the mechanical skills or workshop space to keep a real vintage bike running. But these riders also want vintage prices, not going to happen. Either buy an old bike and learn how to wrench or pay someone to wrench or pony up the cash upfront for a new bike. It all evens out in the end.
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If they're throwbacks except the FI and CDI, then owners will need the same skills to maintain them as their older cousins. They won't be struggling with decades of poor or no maintenance, I suppose. No surprise that everyone wants vintage prices, even in the US, where stuff is categorically cheaper. Even the FZ09 launch was sung to the chorus of "If only it were $1000 cheaper and had Ohlins!" and that bike is 1000x better overall in terms of performance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeXjQFNZ0IM

Oh yeah, baby, show me that Fresnel lens. Swingarms and chain adjusters sure have come a long way.
 
I hope these models wont sell well so that i can get them for cheap in 2-5 yrs. :)
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