Where did you acquire your taste for retro? Added: vintage.

[Pilgrim]

vintage stuff has personality..this new stuff is all cookie-cutter.

[CDNRatMan]

  lets not make this about me again....do't hijack the thread....why do you like old things is the question.....

[DC]

I find old things interesting perhaps that is why I like PC and DC......

Tell us about those pet dinosaurs of yours RatMan, and what was it like living on Pangea?

[CDNRatMan]

But now I'm confused!!   1500~800   1500~800      One of each?     What is top end on and 800? and more over what is the fastest comfortable highway speed for the 800?   I don't need to be fast moreover the sweet spot? Where is the 800 comfortable rpm and smooth wise when at highway speeds? 

Now I'll sit back and read what all the none 800 riders chime in and let you know about the 800's highway ability..........

[CDNRatMan]

 I find old things interesting perhaps that is why I like PC and DC......

[--Jerry S--]

I remember they tried to revive  Excelsior - Henderson some years ago.  I think they only made about 2,000 bikes before going out of business.

We will not talk about that              Once again (My Opinion)   Kawaski Did it right!

But now I'm confused!!   1500~800   1500~800      One of each?     What is top end on and 800? and more over what is the fastest comfortable highway speed for the 800?   I don't need to be fast moreover the sweet spot? Where is the 800 comfortable rpm and smooth wise when at highway speeds?

[jmbo]

Retro? they say everything that is old is new again....except me.  I'm just old.

[DC]

I remember they tried to revive  Excelsior - Henderson some years ago.  I think they only made about 2,000 bikes before going out of business.

[mittico68]

I guess my love for Retro style grew up following the evolution of my taste in playin' music with my guitar.
I mean, I started playin' heavy metal when I was 13 y.o., then I came across rock 'n' roll when I was 18. After, when I was 25 y.o., I started to play jump 'n' jive music and then, when I was 30, I kept playin' swing music...
I saw the Drifter for the very first time in 1999, when I was 31 y.o. and I felt in LOVE with her...
See, the perfect retro style for my retro music!
BTW, those Schwinn are beautiful.

[--Jerry S--]

Let's say vintage as well.   I should have included that in the OP.   

[Troll]

  I think that the first thing that needs to be done is to define exactly what you mean by "retro"...When I grew up, the normal motorcycle, and pretty much everything else was what you could call "retro". My first motorcycle was a '46 EL, and it wasn't until fairly recently that I owned a "new" bike....I bought an '80 TourGlide in '95...which I put 200,000 miles on and sold in '09. When I found my Drifter, I realized it was almost like having my '57 FL back, but without the headaches that come with them. I can appreciate "modern" designs, but sometimes they stray too far from what I find comfortable and familiar. What makes me shake my head in disbelief is people driving cars with antique or collector plates that I worked on when they were new....it all depends on which end of the telescope you are looking through...

[CDNRatMan]

  Not sure where my desire for the vintage stuff comes from but I just like the looks and sound of the older things.....

[greenbarn]

I guess my love for Retro came from my dad.  He's always restored old stuff, and was really into Cushman scooters. I wanted a vintage Indian for a long time but couldn't justify the price- cheapest thing I found was $5 bills, and it was a basket case- parts missing.   I thought to myself, "hmmm   the "missing" parts most likely aren't the "easy" stuff to find --- or it would have been found already"...    So then I saw a "Indian Drifter" for sale, knowing nothing about the Drifters....  the rest is easy to figure out.

[--Jerry S--]

Sorry if this is a bit wordy.

I do believe I have come full circle and the drifter completes the circle. I tried to take my black 1500 Valkrie and make it somewhat 40s or retro. The problem with that is the Valkyries engine is just not something from the past or at least prior to 75. Don't get me wrong, I like the results of what I've done but now that I've seen the drifter it's the answer I was looking for when I started that project. What this does is take me back to when I first started acquiring a taste for things in the past. Antiques, collectibles etc. When I was about 14 or 15 years of age I started working for a local Schwinn bicycle store just outside of Chicago, that's when I started getting interested in some of the older mostly prewar Schwinn bicycles. I also got involved with corporate Schwinn and was able to visit the museum downtown Chicago where it was just me and the curator who was quite impressed that such a young man had so much interest in his hobby. That is when I started collecting and most of the things I collected we're past the point where they had to be repainted so therefore take the spokes out completely dismantle repaint and bring back to life. I also got involved with Schwinn bicycles with Wizzer engines again only prewar. Here below is a slideshow of some of my bikes from that time and you can clearly see some of the pictures taken in the museum. I also took great interest in Henderson and Excelsior motorcycles which both companies were purchased by Schwinn, but could never afford to buy one.

Wikipedia,

Excelsior Motor Manufacturing & Supply Company was a U.S. motorcycle manufacturer operating in Chicago from 1907 to 1931.[1] It was purchased by Ignaz Schwinn, proprietor of bicycle manufacturer Arnold, Schwinn & Co. in 1912.[2] In 1912, an Excelsior was the first motorcycle to be officially timed at a speed of 100 mph.[3] The Henderson Motorcycle Company became a division of Excelsior when Schwinn purchased Henderson in 1917.[1][4] By 1928, Excelsior was in third place in the U.S. motorcycle market behind Indian and Harley-Davidson. The Great Depressionconvinced Schwinn to order Excelsior's operations to cease in September 1931.

http://s1370.photobucket.com/user/EBeybuzzard/slideshow/Schwinn

So how did you become interested in retro or vintage?