Opinions On Whether To "Update" Old Sportbike Or Leave It As Is

[submaniac]

OK, I am in the States right now and picking up spares for the FZR 400. Those of you who frequent this forum will remember it is the one that left me with 2nd degree burns on my ass. Anyways, I had originally planned on updating the bike to the newer R1/R6 style. Yes, it can be done: http://heath.agdog.c..._tail_yzf_tank/ I have the subframe headlights, fairing stay, tank. What is left to purchase is the actual fairings/body work, and I can do the conversion.

Lately I have been thinking whether I should leave it alone. It's like this, the old 70's bikes were out of style for the longest time, and now are considered "classics". I can see that the vintage 80's 90's becoming classics as well. The FZR 400 as is is in great condition, and pretty much restored. The idea of hacking up something original to modernize is kind of disconcerting. It wouldn't be so bad, but to convert the tail requires grinding off portions of the rear subframe, which can't easily be undone.

bike currently looks like this

was going to do a fairing swap from the dual headlights to the single headlight unit (interchangeable without any problem) so it would look like this:

If I did the R1 swap, it would look like this:

Opinions? Thank you.

[Jim's_a_Thai_Fox]

Hi there,

my opinion is worth 'nada', but as you asked for it, I would go with leaving it in the classic style (and I love the twin headlights) - I had a '89 VFR400 over here in LOS for two years. Before buying it, I found a slightly beaten up FZR400 outside of Chiang Mai for 20k THB. Needed a heck of a lot of work body work in it but I wasn't able to do it... wish I had your skills OP!

All the best,

[thaicbr]

leave it alone. "modernised" old bikes are ten a penny here. BUT decent original bikes are hard to get.

just sort out the "roastaarse" feature that yours seems to have

[dec]

Definitely leave as original ! Those FZRs look pretty good ! better off spending the money on suspension refurbishment .

Edited January 2, 2011 by dec

[BigBikeBKK]

Yup, I vote leave it a "classic" and if you want an R1 or R6 they're getting pretty cheap second hand these days. Ride On! T

[submaniac]

Well, here are some more pictures. The bike is completely restored. Everything on the bike is factory original. The original paint has been resprayed to freshen it up. A new FZR motor was put in there to fix some 'green book' issues. Nothing wrong with it, and looks like it stepped ouf of the showroom 20 years ago. Wanted to go with the single headlight nose cowling.

[thaicbr]

well the single headlight nose is ok. TZM racing style. its still a classic look.

[katabeachbum]

Well, here are some more pictures. The bike is completely restored. Everything on the bike is factory original. The original paint has been resprayed to freshen it up. A new FZR motor was put in there to fix some 'green book' issues. Nothing wrong with it, and looks like it stepped ouf of the showroom 20 years ago. Wanted to go with the single headlight nose cowling.

stunning "classic', leave it as is

love the dual headlights

[submaniac]

well the single headlight nose is ok. TZM racing style. its still a classic look.

Wow! So you guys are even liking the old school dual headlights? I just liked the single fox eye light better because it just looks more agressive.

[saorsa]

Leave it as it is, the twin headlights look cool and anyway, if you want a bike that looks like an R6, buy an R6.

[LivinLOS]

Leave it well alone..

Dogged up old bikes with the R1 / CBR600 (doesnt look right, nose too sharp) tyga kit are 10 a penny and usually a sign of one thats been down the road the wrong way up.. Your looks a peach, keep it legit.

[HDRIDER]

Leave it for Christ sake, look so nice the old style, new bikes today plastic plastic and can’t see anything but plastic, new bikes, i call them disco bikes, dam_n do i NOT like new bikes, give me a naked bike anytime,,, OK guys start shooting

My last big naked Jap bike was a Eddie Lawson special with Yoshimura motor tuning and all the Kerker racing bits, nice bike

[saorsa]

Leave it for Christ sake, look so nice the old style, new bikes today plastic plastic and can't see anything but plastic, new bikes, i call them disco bikes, dam_n do i NOT like new bikes, give me a naked bike anytime,,, OK guys start shooting

My last big naked Jap bike was a Eddie Lawson special with Yoshimura motor tuning and all the Kerker racing bits, nice bike

I used to have the zrx1200R which was similar to the eddie lawson z

...was a great bike, but just didnt have the character of a V-twin.

[submaniac]

hmmm....it seems that the vote count is currently at 100% at "leave it alone". Since when did TV members ever agree on anything?

Anyways, I'll nix the update to R1/R6 idea, since I already have this as the "modern bike" in the stable across the pond