Do you think 1970s motorcycles had better styling?.?

Question

most bikes in the 70s had no fairings not much plastic but made more use of the essential parts to get a good look , what do you think?

Answer 1

i think the build quality of a japp bike was better then than now, but i think the quality of an american bike is better now than then

it was all vinyl seats back then, now we have leather

i dunno, i think i like the modern bike more

Answer 2

They looked good but were nowhere near as reliable, rideable, safe, fast and as easy to clean as current bikes. For me, however, the Honda CBX thou (the 6 cylinder one with loads of chrome) was a stunningly beautiful bike. Possibly 80's though....

Answer 3

durring the 70's i loved my bike(s), now after owning cruisers, seeing custom choppers with cool paint designs, the victory hammer (muscle bike) and the new crotch rocket designs id have to say i like todays bikes better.

Answer 4

Do you think 'other' things from the seventies looked better too.......clothes for example. This is surely a matter of taste. If you like seventies 'culture' you would probably like the styling of the bikes.

Most people I think (myself included) prefer the range of styles and variations available today!

Not to mention the fact that modern bikes generally start without much problem, stop without too many issues and don't leak oil everywhere. They are also generally lighter and better balanced.

Just my opinion of course, but things always seem better when you look back on them........but do you remember the pain?

Answer 5

I actually thought the 50's Harley's and the 60's British bikes were the pinnacles of straightforward motorcycle design, where the motorcycle was the art and they didn't add art on to the motorcycle. The old Velocity and others were pure art form in design, a mix of art and motorcycle, but they just don't do it like the ones I mentioned above for me. Those years of those bikes are the icons in my head for "motorcycle"

Answer 6

Some of them.

I had a couple from the '70s.

The one I liked the most was the one I stripped all the plastic parts off of, including the chain guard and airbox. It started a few conversations, as it no longer looked Japanese.

Answer 7

I think it's strange that today's bikes don't have kickstarters!

Answer 8

Sure,think off all those 4 strokes and 2 strokes,especially the big capacity strokers like gt750 and kwak 750 triple.

We will never see the big 2 strokes again.For me,it is the sound of a big 70s stroker that does it.Even big 70s 4 strokes sounded better than todays stuff.Only downside to 70s bikes today is the lack of tyre choice but a well restored one beats any modern bike in my opinion

Answer 9

I agree to a certain degree,  I had lots of bikes in the late 70s, KH 250, KH 500, Z1000 etc  and they were lovely to look at, and there was a lot  more to clean ! a lot of todays bikes have reverted back to the 'retro' look. But todays bikes go like **** off of a shovel so that tends to make up for all that plastic and their lack of looks !

Answer 10

Ahhhh twas the golden age of biking for me but there were mingers - how many CX500's do you see these days? They were extremely popular at the time!

The Z1 or GT750 kettle did it for me and show me a more awe inducing bike than a Z1300 or CBX thou - drool

drool

drooooooooool

slobber slobber (I saw in the 80's on a 250 Dream (it wasn't super by name or nature but I remember it with fondness and affection)

Answer 11

Neither better nor worse but different

I renovate older classics like the Triumph and thoroughly enjoy doing them but I would not dream of riding one as my enjoyment of biking.  Likewise I appreciate the earlier motor cars but still drive a modern one.

That said there are plenty of classics that would still make a good daily bike but simply not for me.  Once I have done one the only ride I make on it is to MOT test and the very occasional ride out and then end up selling it and looking for another to do.  The passion is doing them up again to better than new and the real passion would be a Vincent Rapide and this is one I would very much keep

Either way I would still not give up my modern Harley for anything

Happy biking whatever you ride and keep safe

Answer 12

I can't believe this question because I was only thinking the same thing the other day!!!!

There is something about the styling from the 1970's which seems timeless and proper. Don't get me wrong modern bike are absolutely cracking and more reliable than bikes from the 70's, but we are talking about style here and not reliability.

Something like a Bandit has it's stying cues for the 1970's and look how popular they've been.

For me it's the 1970's, but ultimately I think it's more a generational thing.    

Answer 13

I thought 70's bikes were ugly myself, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that c**p.  

Answer 14

Most bikes were purely utilitarian. Perhaps the older Triumphs had some "style" designed into them, but most of the other bikes of the era were not pretty at all. The plastics that started showing up in the 80's served two purposes; aerodynamic, and to "cover up the ugly." It's expensive to make metal bits of a motorcycle both functional AND beautiful. Back then only expensive bikes could afford to make the funtional parts of the bike pretty (BMW comes to mind). For other bike makers, plastics allow the unsightly parts of the bike to be hidden from view.

Answer 15

Not at all. They were all stupid and squared off or a badly integrated conflagration of mismatched shapes. Just awful.  

Answer 16

The stuff that camr from Japan the so called standards were very ugly.Harley pretty much looks the same as it ever did and ever will.

Answer 17

I think it is a matter of personal taste. I was a teenager during the 70's so I have an affinity for cars and bikes of that era. I do think that Today's bikes for the most part all look alike by function meaning Cruisers look a certain way, Sportbikes look a certain way. Very few bikes have a unique look anymore and some of the ones that do are McFugly ie Victory Vision and Suzuki B King but that's just My taste, I'm sure some Love them.