What makes a bike vintage

[Charley]

Sorry for any confusion. I posted this in the wrong area earlier. I have a 79 390 OR and have seen it referred to as Post Vintage. I am not sure what that means lol. Does vintage stop when the bikes got long travel suspension? Does post vintage stop at the mono shock era? I am sure these questions are kind of meaningless and trivial, but I am curious. One more useless fact bouncing around in my brain. LOL

 

[CagivaWMX]

It's very confusing....but also not really. Vintage is '74 and older..so your bike is post Vintage or "Evolution" Evolution is not a cut and dry deal with the model year...it's basically "no watercooling and no disc brakes or linkage suspension"

Since you're in the Northwest these are the guys who do the Vintage series and here's how they break it down:

http://www.siegecraftnw.com/VintageRules.htm

http://www.siegecraftnw.com/EvoRules.htm

And now it looks like they added a "Trans AM" class for bikes that fall through the cracks...or basically aren't old enough for vintage but would be at a drastic disadvantage in the Evolution Class:

http://www.siegecraftnw.com/TransAmRules.htm

 

[fran...k.]

Like you say LOL is that lots of laughs or laughing out loud? It all depends on what world you are operating. Antique which for liscence plate purposes has been re named early american in some places is 40 years old and vingage and classic must be less so it is kind of a moving target.

You got an answer for a racing orginization near you but I suspect they have some means of rule changes, usually they get submitted in writing put on the agenda and voted up or down on a yearly basis.

 

[jimspac]

Motorcycles are typically considered when they are 25 years old or older My state(CT) for example no longers requires titles for vehicles once they are 25 yrs old. Then they qualify for "Early American" plates that qualify for lower insurance because they are thought to be of lower usage than a current vehicle. I feel in our state the Early American is often a misnomer because I see the plates on older Hondas, Volvos, Saabs, Porches and the classic British sports cars and bikes

 

[fran...k.]

Maybe it is 25 years old. The insurance is kind of a non issue for my bikes except for the 1000 cc one they all cost at the minimum. Well if you want to insure it for replacement value do your own research. I got the antique/early american plate when the asessment went from $60 to $2000 all of a sudden and the plate fixes the assesment at $500. They are not registered in west virginia either as they have an annual inspection.

 

[ruwfo]

Charley,
The term Vintage & Post Vintage usually refers to classes of Vintage racing. AHMRA may have coined those classes,
because as more people wanted to race their Vintage bike, they didn't want someone racing a 1974 vs a 1978, which
are miles apart as far a suspension. So someone coined Post Vintage class names (EVO etc). As the mid 80's & 90's
bikes get older they will/should make class for them 2.

Husky John

 

[Ron]

Usually the rider!

 

[zumatube]

Tow , push , bump ; half the time to get 'em started is my base line.

 

[Puckerbush]

My Husky is a '79 390 CR. I call it vintage because the guy who rides it (me) is vintage. At 63 years old and two years from social insecurity, I feel vintage because many of my parts are not working as well as they used to and are probably hard to find (even on Ebay). But so far (Thank God) I can still get started with just a few kicks and head out into the world with a sense of adventure and excitement. I quit smoking years ago but my bike still does, but I use caster 927 because it smells good. I don't know if its the same stuff my mom tried to get me to take orally when I was a kid, but it seems to lubricate well. I mix it with the gas at 50:1, and have never seized the engine. And even though gas is something I have to live with, hopefully seizure is not in my immediate future.

 

[Gord]

Motorcycles are typically considered when they are 25 years old or older My state(CT) for example no longers requires titles for vehicles once they are 25 yrs old. Then they qualify for "Early American" plates that qualify for lower insurance because they are thought to be of lower usage than a current vehicle. I feel in our state the Early American is often a misnomer because I see the plates on older Hondas, Volvos, Saabs, Porches and the classic British sports cars and bikes

I get a kick out of my Early American plate on my Kawasaki H1, here in CT.
Since ahrma doesn't race in New England, our local races are ACR. For them Vintage is 74 and older, or Pre 75. Then they have Pre 78, which is bikes 75 - 77. Then Evolution which is air cooled, drum brakes, and non-linkage suspension. Then Vintage 80's, 1980 - 1989. Then Vintage 90's, 1990 - 1999, which would both be Post Vintage.
The Vintage Trials class in NETA is ANY trials bike that is air cooled, has drum brakes and twin shocks. The year doesn't matter. But we only have around 6 regulars that ride the class.
I wish Husqvarna would have built a Trials bike.

 

[jimspac]

Funny you should mention a Husqvarna trials bike. I was just looking at one that looks like someone other than Husqvarna built it. As far as most vintage rules it is almost unfair to exclude the Yamaha TY350 because of the monoshock that really has no advantage in trials over moved up or canted dual shocks. I am hoping to have my 82 Montesa 349 Cota ready to ride some NETA this year.

 

[Charley]

Thanks for all the information. Though I feel vintage at times I am happy to know my bike is an evolution class ride. That being said though my next restoration project is hopefully a 250 cross. But either way I still love the bikes I raced back in the day.