fightering!!

[ninja1981]

hypothetically,if you had the funds....what bike would you streetfighter and what would you like to do to it?
me personally ide like to fighter either a fazer thou lol, zx12r, zxr750j1,99 r1,zx9r 02 with a turbo and allsorts!!
paint would either be murdered out in high gloss and matte black or it would be painted chrome just like this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9mh6t0ILvE

will be interesting to see what peoples ideas are as there must be some innovative thinkers out there!!

peace!

[Stikley]

Well apart from what I got a B - King would be nice, I'd remove the exhaust ans put a go away big turbo or supercharge it like they intended to do in the first place, not alot is needed after riding one.

I'd personally like my GSXR 7/11 finished, then turbo'd or supercharged and NOS, but then I'd got so much planned for that I'd need a whole thread on it's own.

[TLS-Moose]

A TL1000 ........... oops

[graham22]

Streetfighters - hate the term and hate most of the bikes - usually an old generation sports bike that's been crashed and bodged together with an enduro headlight & butchered race can.

Don't get me wrong, but I appreciate the work & bespoke engineering carried out on good specials - whether they be chops, 'streetfighters', race bikes or even classics but I feel the streetfighter term is used too much for something with headlight bulbs from B&Q, straight bars for 'comfort' together with a 916 style seat with 4mm of padding.

If I had the money to make a special bike, I'd rather spend it on a couple of normal bikes I can use and ride well.

[Stikley]

I hate it when people hear the term streetfightered and just think Renthal bars & bates lights on a crashed sportsbike! To me the term streetfighter is just making better what the factory give you without turning it into a chopper, after all that's a step in the wrong direction!

[graham22]

I hate it when people hear the term streetfightered and just think Renthal bars & bates lights on a crashed sportsbike! To me the term streetfighter is just making better what the factory give you without turning it into a chopper, after all that's a step in the wrong direction!

Unfortunately the reality is the Renthal/Crap Headlight combination = Streetfighter rather than a quality built & improved machine. The amount of people, usually with a camo jacket, who I hear are building a streetfighter & it's just as above.

Search Streetfighter on e-bay and see what it gives you - there's even a K100 Streetfighter FFS.

Anything which improves performance/handling is good by me but it doesn't always have to be a Streetfighter.

Perhaps it's a sore point with me as I get fed up with people referring to my KTM as a Streetfighter.

[tickertyboo]

hay ho some strong oppinions on this steady on its all personal choice !
my 54 plate (uncrashed !) fazer thou has R1 rear shock mod havin R1 5 spoke rims (in paint now) front and rear,6 pott calipers front,custom rear brake disk, upside down 08 R1 forks,custom yolks, has been ivanised that is a special yam tuning,custom paint,custom exhaust.
must say its quite quick looks good sounds sweet and is my choice.
i love it you may hate it hay ho

Boo

[badgerKDD]

'A rose by any other name is still a rose',

I agree with graham about calling any bike with flat bars and twin headlights a streetfighter, unfortunately its become a term thats ill used and been picked up by manufacturers as a selling point. but then look at the choppers you can buy these days, some are mass produced, some are fantastically expensive bespoke items and some are made in garages by guys who love to chop and customise.

But a quick look through Streetfighters mag and Old skool Suzuki website shows some gorgeous examples of 'Streetfighters' done really well. I like them personally but couldn't pick a modern bike to 'fighter'. I think the best ones are done when they evolve, you find the bike and then it becomes more and more how you want it.

[Reaver]

Best 'fighters are the oldies IMO,ie old muscle bikes with some judicious frame bracing and modern running gear...with a wee bit of breathing on the engine of course,cos the old brutes respond quite well to a tickle.
All the plasticless sports bikes out there leave me a bit cold,apart from possibly the early blades. They can look verr nice with a bit of fettling.
Just my tuppence worth.

[graham22]

Boo - FZ1 sounds great, get some pics up. Reaver - I agree, old bikes with modern running gear & performance mods are brilliant.

But why the 'Streetfighter' name, I would think someone who's spent alot of time modernising a GSX1100, GS1000, Z1000, GPz1100 would get a little annoyed that their hard work is being lumped into the same genere as a crashed/cheaply repaired (insert virtually any bike name here) .

To me,
Streetfighter:




Tastefully Modified/Modernised:



Perhaps it's because I remember bikes like this Katana being the best when they were 'current' and don't think it's appropriate being labled the same as this FZR600.

[graham22]

Here's another picture of the Katana, just fo the hell of it:





ps: I found the Kat by Googling 'modernised Suzuki' guess what I Googled to find the FZR600?

[TLS-Moose]

The term "Streetfighter" has always been claimed to have been coined by Steve Myatt, the original owner/publisher of Streefighters magazine. The original streetfighters to which the term was was applied were chops/lowriders that had a more performance slant - many were still hard-tails but had a more drawn forward riding position, wider wheels, and more up-to-date suspension and brakes. Some even had small handlebar fairings. The key point they were designed to be ridden hard rather than cruised.

Over time this has evolved into anything from lairy paint and chrome finished trailer-queen barges to crashed Gixxers with lashed up crash repairs and renthals.

Variations on a theme:

[graham22]

Look at that one, it's still crashed and someones left it in the hedge



With all this fondness of Streetfighters, does anyone want to make a silly offer for the first ever issue of Streetfighters Magazine? Like Moose said, the original bikes are nothing like whats around now.

[TLS-Moose]

You know Graham, I can't find the copy I had of the first edition (a special issued with BSH if I remember correctly) but I do have from No.2 into the hundreds pretty much consecutively

[Reaver]

I like this thread.....
Good example of an early-style fighter....


And I think this was responsible for a large part of the explosion of tricker fighters,lunatic machine...


I drooled when I saw the article in Performing Berks all those years ago......