Advice: Orphans of the 1980s

Ah, the 1980s. The decade when GSX-Rs started to roam the earth, while names like Eddie Lawson, Freddie Spencer and our own Wayne Gardner ruled the Grand Prix tracks.

Malcolm Fraser and Bob Hawke were in The Lodge, while Billboard online sums up the 1980s as: "the decade that brought us Dallas and DeLorean, Madonna and MTV, Chernobyl and Cats, the Tylenol Murders and the discovery of the Titanic, Rubik’s Cube and Reykjavik, Farm Aid, Live Aid and the fitness craze."

From Oz, we had acts like Men at Work and Olivia Newton John scrambling into the international charts.

This was the decade that saw liquid-cooled engines start to dominate the showrooms, 16-inch front wheels come and go and a host of other techno tricks tried out. In the second half of the decade it was also a time motorcycle sales fell through the floor, to something like a fifth of what they are today. Harley very nearly went bust and a lot of local retailers keeled over.

In a mad scramble to grab whatever sales they could, the industry launched a dazzling array of models, trying every trick in their techno armoury.

Inevitably there were some sales flops along the way – some richly deserved to sink without trace (a topic we’ll cover another day...), while others deserved better. It’s that last group, the orphans of the eighties, we’re covering here. We’ve selected the top 10 on the basis they were worthy motorcycles in their own right that deserved a better run. And even now, they’re probably not a bad buy.

FIVE FANTASTIC FLOPS

1.

A beefed-up chassis boasted ABS and four-piston brakes up front, parallelogram shaft out back, matched to the first 16-valve version of the injected powerplant. The performance belied the ‘mere’ 100-horse output while the handling was ultra-stable.

There was nothing wrong with the spec, so why did people stay away in droves? Price didn’t help, as it was close to double the cost of the popular but more pedestrian GPz900R. But it was styling that really pulled people up in their tracks. The big boofy bodywork with the screaming K1 graphics was just too much for most to handle, and the company soon toned down the paint in an attempt to appease buyers.

Now, of course, the radical-looking one is the version to have. Even today, it would be a very capable tourer, albeit with restricted luggage capacity thanks to the design of the inbuilt mini panniers.

2.

Kawasaki’s GPz750 tops the list because it was the best ride of the four, is arguably the most handsome and had the best bragging rights with a horsepower claim around 110. It was the only one of the group that, on paper at least, was a performance match for the current 1100s.

In reality, it could hit just shy of 240km/h while US drag ace Jay “Pee Wee” Gleeson managed to get one across the standing quarter in 10.71sec – a remarkable time for the day.

Running a Hitachi turbo unit just in front of the head, the injected machine suffered minimal turbo lag and seemed to be a reasonably robust unit – though Kawasaki’s injection of the time had a questionable reputation for reliability.

Originally intended to be a 650, this was the last of the T-bikes to make it into the showrooms and was built from late 1983 through to 1985. However the market was by then deeply suspicious of turbos on motorcycles, when there was little evidence the technology provided any significant advantage over a normally-aspirated design.

3.

Honda had designed the humble CX twin engine for forced induction from day one, and the IHI unit itself was mounted in front of the vee. Complexity was a feature of this design with Honda plucking up the courage to trial new computer-controlled injection and ignition.

Power was 82 horses for the 500, boosted to 100 for the 650. Performance was hobbled by weight at 235kg dry (actually no worse than the other entrants in this techno race) and more significantly a substantial lag before the turbo kicked in. In reality, a 900 Bol d’Or was easier to ride fast and less scary when it came to diagnosing dramas.

Even so, history has treated the twins kindly and they’re now very desirable as a classic toy.

4.

For many, the XJ typified what was wrong with these early attempts at turbocharging a motorcycle. It was only a few tenths quicker than a stock XJ650 over the standing quarter, with the real benefit from the 85-horse power claim failing to kick in until you were doing stratospheric speeds. In between, you had to juggle a power lag as the puffer got up to useful pressure.

While now looking dated, the angular lines of the machine were cutting edge and attractive at the time, however it wasn’t enough to convince many people to empty their wallet.

5.

All of the turbos had at least a couple of new features to boast about, though the 85 was fair bristling with them. It was the first time the company used the Full Floater rear monoshock design on a road bike, there was a 16-inch front wheel (mimicking the GP bikes of the day) and the under-piston oil-cooling jets used in the later GSX-Rs were being trialled on this machine.

Only 1153 were made, which might make it a contender for the lowest production number but it also says a lot about how hard it was to sell one.

FIVE MORE FIZZERS

6.

With a respectable 70 horses and enclosed chain drive, it ticked a lot of boxes when it came to a handy, slim and appealing road bike. So much so that it won a number of magazine awards for its refreshing design.
However, locally at least, we were hooked on multis and if it was a V-twin it had to have Ducati on the tank. There were some occasional mechanical issues with this one (the odd head gasket and starter-sprag clutch) but overall it was a good thing.

Never a big seller, they’re now very thin on the ground, though versions of the 75-degree twin went on to power the very successful XV cruiser series.

7.

It barely whimpered into the sales charts and, for reasons we’ve yet to understand, Honda gradually detuned it to 50 horses over the rest of its life. There is no rational explanation for how this one went wrong, but let us know if you find a good original as we wouldn’t mind a ride…

8.

Performance was stately with just 60 horses pushing a 310kg package, but good tuning and gearing meant it had a solid mid-range just perfect for highway riding. The fairing and pannier package worked well and this was a comfortable motorcycle that was far more nimble than the full-house Electra-Glide tourer.

Surely there’d be a market? Nup. Progress out of the showroom was glacial while used values were poor. In fact, you were probably better off removing all the touring gear and selling it as Superglide look-alike.

Finding one today won’t be easy, but for the period it’s a terrific travelling companion.

9.

The specs stacked up reasonably well and this 1985 machine lasted in the market for a few years and was a joy to punt. However it’s longevity in the showrooms was not reflected in sales, which were low for a bike that cost about the same as the much quicker VFR750 Honda.

And there was the problem: mid-sized Guzzis were being overwhelmed by the new breed of liquid-cooled designs, leaving the ‘small-block’ powerplants to be dropped by the end of the decade. Today, it would make a terrific restoration project.

10.

Some folk bought them for a song, promptly giving them the proverbial make-over with proper SL sports clothes -- suddenly you had a machine that people couldn’t get enough of.

So why did Ducati go down this path in the first place? They sold a few to the local carabinieri, but even they must have wondered at the styling. Ducati’s 600TL – a nice bike dressed up in the wrong suit, perhaps.

So should you tackle an orphan of your own? Low sales volumes mean that parts and repair knowledge can be tricky to find, depending on how radical the bike really is.

Engines often present far less of an issue than bodywork and sometimes sophisticated electrical equipment.

In many cases, buying a good clean one at a considerable price premium will ultimately be cheaper than the restoration of a sad example.

One thing we can recommend is do a little research before handing over the cash. A good starting point is searching online for parts and seeing what’s out there.

If resale value is a concern, keep in mind that rarity does not necessarily mean a rich profit years down the track. Something that was deeply unpopular in the 1980s may still be as desirable as deep-fried broccoli on a stick, decades later.

A quirky eighties transport of delight can be a hell of a lot of fun to play with and, with these things, there’s not much chance of striking matching T-shirt syndrome down at the local coffee stop.