Despite the rise of the internet, there’s still something exciting about motorcycle brochures for a then-new machine. Their only purpose was to get you interested in whichever model was featured, whether you were picking them up at a dealers, a show, or a race meeting.
I found a whole stack of old brochures a few years back, all carefully stored in a boxfile at my dad’s house. It was like opening a time capsule into my motorcycling past as I could see what I was most interested in 20-30 years ago.
They cover mostly Japanese sportsbikes from the mid 1980s-early 1990s. Partly it’s because I left home in 1993, but more because I lost interest in dreaming about a new bike. To this day I’ve never bought a brand new motorcycle, and not even come close despite the many bikes I’ve bought, owned and sold.
But the assortment of old brochures still grab the attention. Many of the models are what fashionable people would call ‘back on trend’, seemingly fueled by 40-something bikers longing for the good old days. It’s like finding a forgotten photo album from the era before Facebook as I go through them – some I can remember picking up from local motorcycle dealers in Dagenham and Romford, others are still intriguing despite their forgotten origins. Will any of them make me yearn for the real thing again? I hope not.
The other positive of all this is some of these leaflets are now collectable, like the bikes they feature. So beside past emotions, now I’m also stirred to sort through them with the prospect of selling them too! I’m such an enthusiast!
The Suzuki GS750 was overlooked in favour of the GS1000. A decent 750 is rare as a result
I owned a few of these, the engine was the jewel, the rest was out of its depth. Shame
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