It’s 40 years since Carole Nash was founded and a lot has changed in that time.
It was an exciting era, especially with regards to technology. Motorola launched its DynaTAC 8000X, the world’s first commercially available mobile phone. It cost several thousand pounds, offered just 30 minutes call time before the battery went flat and was nicknamed ‘The Brick’ in light of its not insignificant size and weight.
Computing and communications were being transformed. Back in 1985, public internet wasn’t a thing – being the domain almost exclusively of academics - but behind the scenes things were starting to come together. The first .com domain was introduced that year and AOL (America On Line) one of the first pioneers of the World Wide Web was founded. Microsoft launched its first version of the Windows software, used by almost every PC today, and satellite TV was just around the corner.
And in the world of motorcycling things were exciting too. Suzuki’s GSX-R750 and Yamaha’s FZ750 were launched and redefined sports bikes, paving the way for an exciting period of rapid motorcycle development.
But how do the motorcycles from four decades ago stack up? These days, bikes from 1985 are classed as historic – meaning they are exempt from paying road tax and don’t need to undergo an annual MoT test – yet at first glance they seem ‘modern’ enough.
To test the theory, we went for a ride on a pair of retros built with the same objective, but 40 years apart.
When Honda’s XBR500 was launched in 1985, retro bikes weren’t really a thing. Inspired by classic British singles like the BSA Gold Star, the XBR certainly wasn’t cutting edge, nor was it considered particularly cheap (costing around £1749 when new, or around £5500 today). While Honda’s idea of recreating the vibe of classic British bikes seemed odd to tech loving ‘80s motorcycle buyers, it does feature technology of the time, making it a good gauge on how far we’ve come in four decades.
Despite its dowdy image at launch, we reckon if Honda launched the XBR today, it could possibly be right on trend. It doesn’t look out of place against a modern retro, like a Royal Enfield or Honda’s own GB350S, which has been a popular model since arriving in Europe at the start of the year. While the XBR may have been seen as a bit pricy in its day, its most modern day equivalent (in our opinion at least) is the £5699 CL500. On this most important of metrics, it looks like motorcycles are slightly more expensive in 2025, although as a percentage of average salary, and in comparison to average house prices, motorcycles still appear to offer excellent value for money.
The bike we’ve chosen to compare our 1985 Honda with is the modern day BSA Gold Star. This Indian-built retro is a 650cc single, claiming a similar power output and costing £6399. As you can probably gather, it’s also inspired by the 1949 Gold Star. Two bikes, both paying homage to the same iconic machine, but born 40 years apart. Just how do they compare?
Performance
While the bike industry has progressed and regularly turns out 200bhp flagships, there has been a recent trend towards smaller and lighter machines. With a claimed 44bhp at launch (and we’d not take that claim too seriously) the XBR fits into an A2 licence category machine these days although, back then, the graduated licence scheme was still over a quarter of a century away.
And against today’s A2 bikes the XBR can still hold its own. Although technology has improved, much of the focus has been on efficiency and reducing emissions. With old school carburettors and no catalytic converter, the Honda breathes freely and was reported to have a top speed of 108mph.
That’s a little faster than the Gold Star although, 40 years on, the new bike definitely feels fresher and faster. Where the Honda is raw, the BSA is super smooth. One could argue the BSA feels just a bit too refined but, conversely, the XBR feels a little bit too rough by today’s standards. The BSA represents a trend of increasingly large capacity engines, which are no longer constrained by the traditional capacity classes. With emissions laws to be met, increasing the size of the engine is often the easiest/cheapest way to maintain performance which reducing those emissions.
But, to ride today, the XBR still feels lively, thanks in part to that peppy engine and also the light weight, which is another benefit of not having loads of emissions reducing tech. To give an idea of how much reducing emissions has blunted the performance of engines, we can look at the Mash 500, a Chinese built retro with an engine which is a virtual copy of the XBR’s unit. With fuel injection, catalytic converters and other gear, it makes a claimed 29bhp – 5bhp less than a 1980s Honda using the same 397cc version of the design.
That said, clever engineering has seen high end superbikes almost double their peak power over four decades. Witness 1985’s ultimate powerbike, the Kawasaki GPz900R Ninja, against today’s fastest bike, the BMW S 1000 RR. Years of R&D, better materials and improved manufacturing capabilities mean the BMW is capable of delivering a mighty 210bhp at a screaming 13,750rpm – compared to ‘just’ 115bhp at 9,500rpm which seemed so impressive when the Ninja ruled the world. We took these bikes for a back-to-back ride earlier in the year, and you can read our feature here.
But with our humble retros, performance progress hasn’t developed all that much. We do think modern day manufacturers are more honest with their brochure figures today though!
Economy
While the XBR holds its own against similar bikes today in terms of performance, it can’t hold a candle to them on running costs. The XBR500 was feted for delivering 50mpg when new but, today, most A2 category bikes will be expected to return at least 70mpg thanks to their more accurate fuelling, with many capable of more than 100mpg.
Service intervals have also been stretched, with the Gold Star (which isn’t the most modern design and can trace its basic engine block back to a 1990s Rotax design) enjoying 10,000km (6200 mile) service intervals, while the Honda needs an oil change every 3000km. Triumph’s latest series of 400cc singles enjoy service intervals of 16,000km (10,000 miles), over five times more than the more modern designs.
The XBR is a simple enough machine for the home mechanic to tackle, although the semi-dry sump makes oil changes a little more difficult than most and the cylinder head design makes access to the spark plug quite tricky. It’s all do-able though, and you won’t need to plug in a laptop in the way you do with a more modern bike.
In its favour, a 40 year old bike qualifies as a historic vehicle. That means there’s no charge for road tax and it doesn’t need an annual MoT inspection (although it still needs to be roadworthy). It also qualifies for a vintage motorcycle insurance policy, which brings a number of benefits.
Ride and handling
Modern motorcycles have really come on in leaps and bounds when it comes to chassis technology. The latest sportsbikes would be incomprehensively good to riders from the 1980s and although the XBR rides solidly enough it certainly feels dated.
Since the early 1990s, most street bikes have run 17” front wheels, although these two both have 18” items. Likewise, most of today’s bikes also have cast alloy wheels, but that was something reserved for only the most high end models 40 years ago. Our Honda runs period Comstar wheels, two-piece alloy wheels which facilitated the use of tubeless tyres but were quickly phased out in favour of cheaper and lighter cast wheels.
The BSA runs spoked wheels, to create the traditional look, but modern technology now allows this type of rim to be fitted with tubeless tyres, which are lighter and promote better handling. The BSA feels much lighter to ride too, the combination of that Comstar front wheel and narrow handlebars makes the XBR flop into slow speed corners, where the Gold Star feels almost perfectly balanced.
The modern day Goldie is no speedster and not particularly renowned as a great handler, but it is very light and composed. Ridden on the same roads, the XBR feels skittish although how much of that is through developments in engineering and how much is due to 40 years of wear and tear is open to debate.
The XBR wasn’t that cheap when new and it’s got typically strong Honda build quality. We’d argue that we’ve been on a bit of a journey over the years, with cheap bikes of the 1990s (think Bandit, Hornet and so on) falling apart after a few years. Today’s bikes have nicer detailing than our XBR, but it feels unlikely you’ll find as many in nice condition in 2065 as this Honda is today. This is, in part, down to the importance of price to customers, meaning costs are often cut to meet a certain RRP, although you can’t help but think the XBR’s dowdy image meant it will have attracted a more sensible customer over the years too.
That said, one thing even cheaper retros have 40 years on is more refinement. The engine and gearbox feels quite agricultural when ridden today, while modern tyres, suspension and brakes have taken a big step forward. Disc brakes were pretty much universal by the 1980s, and the Honda has a disc at the front and drum at the rear. They’re very poor compared to the excellent stoppers found on the BSA, although a fluid and pad change should see the ones on our test bike regain a little of their bite.
Specifications
There are loads of little details which show how far motorcycle design has come. Much of it is driven by regulations. Fuel injection means that fuel can be metered more accurately, helping to make more power as well as cleaner engines, but it also means the old fashioned fuel tap and choke are no longer a thing.
The analogue clocks of the XBR (and everything else in 1985) have been almost universally replaced by TFT dashboards, although the reverse sweep analogue dials of our BSA are very much the exception to the rules these days. These digital dashes are relatively new technology even today, with LCD instruments becoming common in the early 2000s and full TFT dashboards only really becoming the standard over the past few years.
The XBR’s instrumentation is very basic, with just a large speedo and rev counter, aided by a few ‘idiot’ lights to remind you that indicators are on, or that you are in neutral. There’s no fuel gauge, or even a fuel warning light. Start spluttering when it runs out of fuel and you simply turn the fuel tap to Reserve and head to the nearest petrol station.
Other mandated changes include the lights, hardwired on modern bikes but manually operated through a switch on the right hand switchgear 40 years ago. There’s no anti-lock braking on the Honda (a legal requirement on new bikes over 125cc since 2016), nor a cutout to prevent riding off with the side stand down. The XBR’s switchgear does also include an electric start button. It’s unthinkable that there wouldn’t be one today, but back then an ‘electric boot’ was still a real selling point on the spec sheet. Our XBR has a kickstarter too, which is fun if you’re feeling nostalgic!
On the upside, the XBR does have a centre stand where most modern bikes don’t. Removing it reduces weight and manufacturing costs, and theoretically increases ground clearance too. With the prevalence of paddock stands, and the fact that most riders don’t do their own maintenance, it’s no big loss to most riders – and for those who do like having a centre stand, putting one in the accessory brochure gives a nice little upsell opportunity for the dealer come purchase time – another way in which motorcycling has evolved over the years.
Conclusion: While our technologies like mobile phones, computers and the internet would be completely unfathomable to our 1985 selves, motorcycling today isn’t really so different to how it was back then. Almost everything about our bikes are different today, even on something as simple as our second hand Honda 500, but actually a 1980s classic motorbike is still modern enough to be usable 40 years on – and that’s not something you can say about your Motorola.
Because they are usable, a new generation of classic bikes are enjoying their time in the spotlight. You could argue that 1985, with all the groundbreaking new models it brought, was right at the start of motorcycling modernity… and we can’t wait to see what the next 40 years bring.
