Older bikes...

[MordantMonkey]

I really prefer the styling of the older standard bikes (70s-80s kawasaki kz's, honda cb's, yamaha xs's, etc.). Plus older bikes tend to be a bit cheaper, and i don't mind doing a lot of learning and repairs on my own. to me that's part of the appeal of riding!

My question is, which of the older bike lines is it easier to find parts for? what parts/components can usually be replaced with similar or aftermarket items?

[mgdavis]

I'm currently working on a '79 CB750. Parts have been obtainable, I've just been ordering everything through the local dealer. The only bad part is waiting for parts to get in from California, and sometimes something will be in transit from Japan. Most everything I've ordered has taken a week to come in.

[sharpmagna]

Older Magnas are pretty prevelant and I've found a bunch of parts on ebay, but not much on the 87-88 models.

[totalmotorcycle]

I really prefer the styling of the older standard bikes (70s-80s kawasaki kz's, honda cb's, yamaha xs's, etc.). Plus older bikes tend to be a bit cheaper, and i don't mind doing a lot of learning and repairs on my own. to me that's part of the appeal of riding!

My question is, which of the older bike lines is it easier to find parts for? what parts/components can usually be replaced with similar or aftermarket items?

I'm with you on the styling of the 80's bikes, just something about a UJM.

You are safe with any of the "main line" UJM's of the late 70's and early/mid 80's. CB's, XJ's, KZ's, GPz's, GS's. Anything outside of these then you might be asking for trouble.

Honda CB's are very reliable for that era and very easy to find parts for. Generally have a harder time in really hot weather but start in very cold weather easily.

Yamaha XJ's are reliable overall and easy to get parts for. Love the hot weather but are cold blooded in very cold weather.

Suzuki GS's engines and hard parts are legendary for reliability but electronics/wiring* are rubbish. Most will have stater/alt, wiring etc replaced if they are still on the road. VERY cheap to buy parts for. *Till after 1986 when Suzuki used a different manufacturer.

KZ's and GPz's are overall jack of all trades bikes. But I've haven't owned one of those...yet.

If you can, my first choice would be to go with the Honda CB's for that era then a Yamaha XJ's and the Suzuki last unless it's had it's electronics replaced. And if you really want a Suzuki GS try a 1980+ GS as they had digital ignition rather than breaker points.

Mike.

[noodlenoggin]

Parts for my XS are plentiful on eBay, and there's a bit of a cult following so there are a couple of other suppliers for new parts on the internet.

[MordantMonkey]

thanks for the replies!

i found a beautiful '76 kz400 w low miles that was garaged dry, but it seems that a lot of parts changed after that model year. for instance carb kits for the year really hard to find, though i read that only the "float needle" is different from that '77. Is that a big deal? what are my options if i need to replace/clean the carb on down the line?

maybe i'll look to a honda or a yamaha.

[Flak Monkey]

Parts for my kz650 are very easy to find on ebay.
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[TorontoBoy]

Check eBay. If there are 4 pages of parts available, then you're in luck. Even for old bikes, many parts are shared with other bikes and are available at your stealership.

[flynrider]

thanks for the replies!

i found a beautiful '76 kz400 w low miles that was garaged dry, but it seems that a lot of parts changed after that model year. for instance carb kits for the year really hard to find, though i read that only the "float needle" is different from that '77. Is that a big deal? what are my options if i need to replace/clean the carb on down the line?

maybe i'll look to a honda or a yamaha.

My first bike was a '76 KZ400. I wish I still had it. It was a great all-around motorcycle. There are still lot's of parts and support around if you know where to look (see below).

Mike's post above pretty much covered it. Stick with the big 4, stay away from wierd configurations (Suzuki's water cooled 2-stroke 750 comes to mind ) and find something that has a solid Internet owners group. Nothing is more valuable than a couple of hundred folks who have already been where you need to go (maintenance-wise).

For the KZ400, there is a huge amount of support and info at Odd Ivar's site : http://www.kz400.com/ and if that's not enough, the folks at KZRider are extremely knowledgable on all of the KZ variants : http://www.kzrider.com/

I too am a huge fan of the UJM. I got tired of constantly wrenching on my old bikes (instead of riding), so I bought a modern version of the 70s/80s UJM. Honda revived the old CB750 and built it from '91 to '03. All are mechanically identical and it's not to hard to find one with low miles. Also, Kawasaki revived the old KZ line in the early 90s and renamed them Zephyr. Not as widely available as the Honda's, but they came in the old KZ sizes of 550, 750 and 1100.

You might find some of these newer retro bikes to be in better shape than the 30 yr. old versions.

Good luck!

[oldschoolorange]

my GS550 is easy to find parts from except for any aftermarket performance stuff. You would be suprized at how many parts are interchangeable though. I have a 4-1 header from an 87gsx750 on my 83 gs550, It took a bit of tweaking wiht the torch but other than that it fit perfect