Retro: it’s a sham
To an old git brought up on fun-loving air-cooled RD250/350/400S your ‘retro’ group test (Bike, August) is a complete sham. Yamaha with the XSR have got closest to the essence of their own bikes of the period. Though popular, the ’70s Kawa triples were unwieldy so today’s designers turn again to the also wobbly but heady flagship Zed for street cred. Beemers were of high but portly quality, and robust with a cosmic price tag, so there’s nothing retro here. The Scrambler doesn’t really represent any bike in particular and is all the better for that. Why not just take a bog-standard MT-09 and put the 500 quid saving toward a fruitier aftermarket pipe, and build yourself an authentic future retro? Would anyone notice, except you? Will Foreman, email