Reply With QuoteI had a Yamaha FS1E for my 16th birthday BUT that was in 1975!!!
By '84 was firmly in 4 wheels......!
I have been having a spring clean and discovered this Yamaha price list from 1984, so thought I'd post it on here for posterity. 1984 seems like only yesterday for me! Anyhow, it's interesting to see the models that were for sale back then
I nearly bought an RD350LC but ended up with a second-hand car instead - mucho regret. I did buy a TY175 at some point though, which was great fun to fool around on. I think they're quite sought after now for use in classic events. Trials bikes sure have changed a lot since those days.
I had a Yamaha FS1E for my 16th birthday BUT that was in 1975!!!
By '84 was firmly in 4 wheels......!
Just a quick comparison ,the RD350LC was £1399 in 1984.
On the bay at the moment the same bike is .....................https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Yamaha-RD...cAAOSwLApZvQxv
Note the ref. to 'Car tax' - what a rip off that was. I think it was 10% and you then had the privilege of paying vat on that tax as well!
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Blimey we started on NSU Quickly's, Raleigh Tonabouts and all sorts. Soon got onto some better stuff thoughOriginally Posted by learningtofly
What a great post. A DT50 was my first bike. I then switched to Honda - CB250RS, VF400 and then a VF500. Those were the days. Inflation adjusted prices would be interesting. My RR cost the thick end of £16k at the end of last year. The most costly bike in that list is £3,500!
I think they ended up calling it a ‘duty’ to get around the anomaly of a Tax on a Tax.
Interesting prices though!
Very interesting; an LC500 for under three grand!
Oh my!
First one Suzuki 80 pos my dad obtained for me (I had to pay the miser back). I used to feel such an arse when all my pals had scooters.
Second was a CB250 Honda that seized up in Radstock. The rebuild bill was worth more than the bike so I had to give the robbing barstids garage the bike.
Finally saw sense and bought a Brand new Suzuki TS125 Stinger. Cracking little thing that would do 85 (after a while) My friend had a Tiger cub that loved to break down everywhere so he used to carry a piece of rope around his waist when we went out so I could tow him back.
A friend has just finished a really nice job on a 350lc which he reckons has cost near 12k to do properly using no’s parts wherever available
Anyone got a twin horn bracket?
The last missing piece
Gulp. But good on him.
Classic example Goat of how nostalgia builds a brilliant bike that is worth half of what you have invested.
Just look at BAMW to see what they do to airheads!
Haha, I can just imagine that scenario. Happy days eh!
1984, eh?
I bought a new bike in `84, not a Yam but a Suzuki Katana 550, i think it was discounted to about £1300 because of the new model GSX`s just brought out.(the 650 was only 100 quid more but extra insurance costs etc put me off..)
It was so fast it melted my face;
About 6 weeks after i bought it i got shunted from behind whilst waiting at a roundabout and suffered some cosmetic damage to the lhs - all fixed under insurance but annoying nonetheless...
I did go on to buy a 650 Kat, and an 1100.
My mate had a Stan Stephens-tuned 350 LC (with Allspeeds) which was absolutely lethal, when pillion i could only relax when he got it into fourth gear as below that it`d lift the front wheel with ease with just moderate throttle.
He eventually wrapped it around a lampost and snapped his femur while attempting to showboat his motorcycling prowess to the local ladies.
You don`t see enough 2-strokes these days, they sound lovely.
Where has 34 years gone...?
Last edited by E_2_Right-Force; 8th March 2018 at 21:36.
That’ll have been a 550; basically a tarted up GS550. I always wanted the 650 (and 1000/1100) but was riding a Z650 at the time and haven’t had a Suzuki since.
The 550/650 are another “classic in waiting”; I’m sure they’ll start to be appreciated sometime soon!
FS1E for me (1976) , always cleaning baffles out and polishing ports to try and get a few more ounces out of her, followed by DT175, great days. Mate bought the RD250, was a mental machine in the day but guess very tame by todays standards
PS always fancied the XT400/500 even to this day
That’s pretty cool to see. Being the retail prices you’d assume the actual prices were cheaper too. Bike prices are bananas new these days, I bought a brand new Yamaha R6 in 2001 & it cost me £5700. Think an R6 today is somewhat more expensive!
As folk are posting pics.
When I picked up a Seiko I serviced for someone, he showed me this.
And, as we’re on a Watch forum too, here’s the Seiko I serviced for him before & after
The R6 is £11,300 RRP today so it’s only doubled in the last eighteen years. I don’t think that’s too bad really.
Those were the days :-)
Last edited by Mouse; 9th March 2018 at 21:19.
Ran Dunlop TT's on my RD250 and RD350 the rival to Avon Road Runners if my memory serves. Sported a similar haircut too, lol.Those were the days :-)
You kids where spoiled with all the modern stuff, my first bike as a 14 year old was a Francis Barnett 197 and cost me all my savings £3.50 :)
If only I’d had a genuine Honda CG125, I was a bit late to biking so bought a Hongdu CG125 around 15 years ago, it was a Chinese made 1980’s Honda CG125 made under licence. It was f***ing shocking. Luckily I quickly passed my direct access and bought a VFR, from the ridiculous to the sublime.
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Still available today courtesy of nice Mr MillyardThose were the days :-)
https://goo.gl/images/XBmWRs
The FS1 never really touched ground here. It's Japanese counterpart Honda SS50 was a lot more popular here. There was a complete tuning industry around this bike (and the Yamaha). Point was: Dutch law was different from road laws in the countries around us, providing us, youngsters, with down-tuned 50cc bikes, with a Vmax of 40 km/hr... Everything on that bike screamed: "I can handle more power and more speed!" Within hours after purchase, the carb's jets were replaced, different gear wheels, and -when you had deep pockets...- the piston and cylinder were replaced for a larger item, leaving the outside of the engine block unchanged! Vmax 100 km/hr was easy.
Dutch law was ruthless back then. When you were stopped by the police riding a tuned moped, it was pounded and shredded into pieces. Only after some horrible accidents (kids on the run for the police, causing fatal accidents), the law was 'tempered': the bike was pounded, dismantled and you were allowed to pick up the chassis et all after paying a hefty sum.
Apart from the Japanese bikes, we had a fair share of Kreidlers, Zündapps and Puchs on our streets as well. Kreidler being the most expensive - and virtually bombproof.
This thread brings back memories... being 16 in 1974...
Last edited by thieuster; 10th March 2018 at 09:15.
That's Her Majesty's Rogering and Crucifixion's job. Gouge, gouge, gouge.
But a new RD350 for under £2k. Where's me time machine?
I passed my test just before the 125cc law came in which meant that, a couple of months later, I was able to pick up an 800-mile old RD250LC for £475.
If you told the kids of today that you had to move the footrest before starting the bike they'd think you were pulling their choke!
I also recall when I was a student in Middlesbrough in the early 80's, the local dealer knocking out the Mk1 RD350LCs for £799 to make way for the new YPVS bikes.
Much as I think I'd love one now, I suspect if I rode one it would be a disappointment. I did see a chap riding a 350LC a few days ago and he didn't look that miserable.
Last edited by Gyp; 10th March 2018 at 10:26.
The dealer that has that one has a lot of stock that's been sat for a very long time.
The "restored" GSX1000S Katana has been up for sale for at least 9 months, which is when I first saw it. It's since come down £3k, and they've reduced the photos you can see (including the one of the broken speedometer), but it's still not sold.
Ebay sold prices are a better indicator of value than ebay asking prices :-)
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