dwb5151 Posted November 23, 2016 Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 Are the older bikes more reliable and better made than the newer bikes. As my 2011 sherco seems to be always letting me down when compared to my previous bikes montesa 315r and sherco 2004 200 (which had piston slap). For example I never really greased the suspension on them and they seemed to last longer. On my current bike i seem to be spending more time working on it than i do riding it. It just seems to be one thing after another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnyc21 Posted November 24, 2016 Report Share Posted November 24, 2016 I would love to know what people think as well. I myself am not sure bout the other brands but the people I know with the new new 260 Montesa's seems to say they are just as reliable as the old ones and my 07 4RT is rock solid... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lineaway Posted November 24, 2016 Report Share Posted November 24, 2016 (edited) I find most problems are brought on by the owner one way or another. Check out any of the forums that actually give on honest answer on what the end result of the problem was. The exception might be the electronics as they are almost all made in china now and the new style connectors seem to have constant connectivity issues. This includes the 4RT as they have issues that other bikes would never have. Otherwise every time a new model comes along is when the most complaints happen. Back to the question, no. Most of the bikes in the mid eighties were built better. TY Mono, RTL`s, TR34, Fantics. Edited November 24, 2016 by lineaway 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel dabster Posted November 24, 2016 Report Share Posted November 24, 2016 yep definately better now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dadof2 Posted November 25, 2016 Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 With one or two exceptions overall I think bikes are not significantly more or less reliable than they were. However because more recent bikes are more complex they are more difficult to diagnose and fix "in the field" than the older bikes. Modern bikes also need more maintenance. The peak of reliability was probably the TY monoshocks. MX bikes are similar in that the 2 stokes of the late 1980s and 1990s were more reliable and easier to fix than the 4Ts that followed. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iconic558 Posted November 26, 2016 Report Share Posted November 26, 2016 Or you could ask "which make for a better second hand purchase, newer or older bikes".....I know which way my feet would vote Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breagh Posted November 26, 2016 Report Share Posted November 26, 2016 The riders are certainly getting less reliable. Most are that old buying a new tyre would be wildly optimistic let alone a new bike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2stroke4stroke Posted November 26, 2016 Report Share Posted November 26, 2016 I suppose it depends what you mean by reliability. The Japanese bikes brought in an era where you knew you were unikely to suffer a breakdown during a trial and they did not require an enormous amount of maintenance. The monoshock Yam was indeed the apogee. Watercooling (or rather the minimal capacity of the systems) has brought problems and frame cracking seems more common nowadays but is the price we pay for wanting the absolute lightest. Electrics are not as dependable as they once were seemingly due to poor quality components (cheapness again it seems). However we have now reached the point where definition comes in - is a clutch that requires (as seems to be the case) the overall plate thickness to be within a fraction of a millimeter a reliability issue? Or just complexity for the sake of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwb5151 Posted November 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2016 (edited) I look after my bike very well. But nearly every single time i go out on it something goes wrong. I haven't actually rid my bike properly in 4 months. The last time i took it out it just died on me and wouldn't start so I had to push it all the way back. The exhaust is now being cut open and repacked as it was sooting the spark plug. Then the time before that the bike was making a gasping noise and wouldn't tick over. The bike still is making the gasping noise i am hoping that by repacking the exhaust it will stop it. This is an example of the problems i am having. I ride a lot of grassy mounds and i would ride 8 to 10 hours a week Edited November 26, 2016 by dwb5151 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dadof2 Posted November 26, 2016 Report Share Posted November 26, 2016 The chances of sooting of the spark plug being exhaust related are very slim. Sooting plugs (assuming they are correct grade) is nearly always result of mixture (fuel:air ratio) too rich, ignition fault or gearbox oil leaking into crankcase. Back to the reliability topic. I have over many years trialling only ever retired once due to a bike fault (gear dog broke on well used 348 montesa). My other retirements have been: Broken handlebars (twice), water flooded (twice), broken rear sprocket, broken / damaged chain & or tensioner (twice), bent rear shock (on a twinshock) and footrest knocked off. Some of the apparent unreliability of modern bikes is probably due to the owners lack of mechanical experience. When I started trialling I had already had old motorbikes for several years and also had to regularly maintain my car, as did my father, brothers and friends. Nowadays people are generally get far less exposure to preventive maintenance and having to fix things. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnyc21 Posted November 26, 2016 Report Share Posted November 26, 2016 Sounds to me like it might be time to try a different bike... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony27 Posted November 26, 2016 Report Share Posted November 26, 2016 Sort of horses for courses, try attempting some of the stuff ridden now on even a early monoshock bike & all sorts of things will break Most problems people have with newer bikes are as mentioned caused by either the owner or a previous owner or lack of skill. Like everything there are some exceptions like failing stators which are pure bad luck & often a known problem with that particular bike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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