Retro Goodness.

Dale.

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Dale.
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I indulged in some retail therapy on the weekend, not often I do that, I'm a bit of a saver. Anyway, years ago, I would've been about 10, for Christmas I asked for a "cassette hi fi". It was a Bush cassette radio that my parents bought me, together with War Of The Worlds, on tape. I loved that thing but it broke not long after and had to go back. They couldn't fix it so I got a different one but it wasn't the same.

I've been searching for this model for years now and I did manage to find a few but they were in sorry states and not cheap. On Sunday, I Googled the model number again and one turned up and was listed as being in good condition and it wasn't expensive either.

I had to have it and today it arrived, made even before CDs became the thing. Now to find War Of The Worlds on tape. I have it on CD but obviously, can't play that on this.

This thing is almost 40 years old and all working. (IPhone pic)

(War of the Worlds now sourced and purchased on tape.)


I like retro things, I'm already thinking of my next aquisition, possibly a Raleigh Chopper, the real deal, not the newer version, or possibly a Honda Superdream.

Anybody else like retro things?

IMG_0529[1].jpg
 
I had something very similar myself and I'd forgotten all about it, thanks for the reminder. I wonder what happened to it :thinking:
 
I still have my War of The Worlds tapes and CD and Cyril and the more recent rehashed album. Seen the show about 4 or 5 times now. Contemplating the WOTW experience in London too.
Nothing to do with Jeff Wayne but the BBC have dramatized it and should be aired before Christmas.
View: https://youtu.be/r-yas0yPbLU


Someone has set the trailer to the music and it is quite fitting
View: https://youtu.be/1ndceyXOlBM
 
Superdreams are stupid money these days. Not that easy to find in decent nick, either.
 
My old man still has cassette players like that from the 70s & 80s. We call it retro but he just calls it sh1t that still works perfectly fine and you can stuff your MP3 thingammies.
 
I still have my War of The Worlds tapes and CD and Cyril and the more recent rehashed album. Seen the show about 4 or 5 times now. Contemplating the WOTW experience in London too.
Nothing to do with Jeff Wayne but the BBC have dramatized it and should be aired before Christmas.
View: https://youtu.be/r-yas0yPbLU


Someone has set the trailer to the music and it is quite fitting
View: https://youtu.be/1ndceyXOlBM

According to IMDB, the 1st episode has aired so I'm guessing the US is getting it 1st.
 
This was the first cassette player in our household, although the one I had was in a creamier colour plastic.
Philips-EL-3302-05.jpg
 
Remember the piles of spent D-cells you used to see on pavements everywhere when boomboxes were all the rage?
Someone I knew used to call them ghetto blaster s***.
 
Superdreams are stupid money these days. Not that easy to find in decent nick, either.
Yes I used to have one it was our only transport for a few years after we got married
 
CX500 anyone? Actually I'm considering outing my 2015 Triumph and getting something old to repair/mootch about on.
Replaced my record deck a couple of years back with one made by PROJECT but still running it through my 70's amp and speakers.
Bought a Fuji xt cos it looks like my old AE-1, which I still have.
And an original Workmate from the early 70's (what a fantastic bit of kit they were)
 
Maggots are getting popular with the hipsters and caff racer crowd so can be expensive.
 
Yes I used to have one it was our only transport for a few years after we got married
I bought a 250 superdream brand new in 1980 for £930.
Did 18000 miles on it in 10 months then passed my car test and got a car.
Got a 1981 Superdream in my garage, which was a runner with 16k on the clock when I bought it about 15 years ago.
I've got boxes of spares, a new 2 into 2 exhaust system and new shocks for it.
I started stripping it down for restoration then changed jobs, moved house etc, so it's still lying there in the garage.
Will get it done one day :)
 
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I had a Superdream 250 back in '80/81 and it was a gutless heap of crap. I traded it in for the 400 and that vibrated so much that my hands were numb after thirty miles. I gave that back too and saved for another six months and bought a CB750KZ - I kept that for about five or six years; it was perfect for commuting. (y)

Why anyone would want a Superdream now is beyond me. :facepalm:
 
I had a Superdream 250 back in '80/81 and it was a gutless heap of crap. I traded it in for the 400 and that vibrated so much that my hands were numb after thirty miles. I gave that back too and saved for another six months and bought a CB750KZ - I kept that for about five or six years; it was perfect for commuting. (y)

Why anyone would want a Superdream now is beyond me. :facepalm:
It's called nostalgia.
Lots of 17 year olds bought them.
Most 250's were gutless unless you got an x7 or an RD but they were too small for my needs.
I bought my Superdream for commuting, not racing.
It was bigger than most 250's and cruised all day long at 80.
As a 17 year old I couldn't get anything like a 500 or 750cc.
My next bike a few years later was a CB900F2.....a giant superdream :)
 
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A 250 Superdream would be for nostalgic reasons for me too, long story short but my Dad's friend had one and I loved just sitting on it, aged about 11. I also loved that unique sound they had. It would probably be an ornament if I'm honest. I have seen a few on Ebay turned cafe racer, they look very nice but I would want it original.

I have a CBR 600 for riding. ;)
 
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I
Most 250's were gutless unless you got an x7 or an RD but they were too small for my needs.
I was in a garage in Orkney last year and the guy had a whole showroom of his old bikes, all mint, just sitting there. Star of the show was definitely the X7
 
I was in a garage in Orkney last year and the guy had a whole showroom of his old bikes, all mint, just sitting there. Star of the show was definitely the X7
The day I picked up my Superdream, there was a guy collecting an X7.
Don't think he'd ridden a bike before as he revved the are off it then let go of the clutch.
It wheelied for about 2 seconds before he fell off.
Bike was a right state. He was actually crying.
 
The day I picked up my Superdream, there was a guy collecting an X7.
Don't think he'd ridden a bike before as he revved the are off it then let go of the clutch.
It wheelied for about 2 seconds before he fell off.
Bike was a right state. He was actually crying.


OMG, I'm a boy again. :D
 
I was in a garage in Orkney last year and the guy had a whole showroom of his old bikes, all mint, just sitting there. Star of the show was definitely the X7


In Bridge Motorcycles, Exeter (I wanted a part and they're the local dealer but the parts man was a total numpty and insisted that locking fuel caps weren't an aftermarket part so I ordered it from Total Triumph in Taunton for next day delivery...) there are a few classics with push only mileage. A waste IMO but it's his money sat on a plinth!
 
My pal had a 400-4. It sounded amazing.
Quite a small bike though. Was smaller than my superdream
yeah , they were rather small,bloody price on them these days..same as the gs 250 could buy these for peanuts
in my youth, same as the escorts, we used to run these to the ground then leave them on side of road...
Ha, the good old days.
 
@ancient_mariner , can you remember if the red record button on yours was round or square?

I think it was square, but that was more than 40 years ago and I don't recall clearly any more.

My pal had a 400-4. It sounded amazing.

I've owned or ridden a few of the bikes mentioned.
400/4 - tiny, gutless, overweight and generally horrible, even though it looked and sounded so good. It's hard to believe they were ever a classic despite the looks.
Hired a Superdream in Crete in '87 with shot swing-arm bearings so that it would fall into corners - the wife was 4 months pregnant at the time and we had a 70mph rear-wheel blow out while passing a bus. By the grace of God I did not drop the bike. :angelic:
Maggot - I bought a grey-import GL400 with full fairing & panniers in late '89 for a daily commute from Thornton Heath, London to Cowley, Oxford and back. Brilliant bike that made the commute bearable even on bitter January mornings, it eventually suffered overheating problems & then I got ripped off by some guys selling a used engine & it was flogged.
I had a number of 250s starting with a CB250K4 (really good handling, drag the undercart everywhere) then a Kawasaki S1 triple (pre KH) that was completely barking mad and left everything behind me covered in a thin film of 2 stroke oil. Later I had a CB250G5 that was both less powerful than the K4 and handled like a drunken camel.

The only bike I really wish I still had was a Suzuki GT550 triple, and even though the handling could get 'exciting' in a bad way, it was just a lovely thing to drive. It got nicked. :(
 
This was the first cassette player in our household, although the one I had was in a creamier colour plastic.
Philips-EL-3302-05.jpg

i had one of those it was my first cassette player
i bought it second hand for £10 in the early 70's when i was 13/14 years old which took quite a bit of saving and wheeling n dealing considering pocket money was 50p a week at the time
the biggest problem i had was feeding it batteries so ended up making a 7.5v ( it took 5 c type batteries ) power supply for it
next problem was i wanted better sound and made a small mono amplifier using a sinclair z12 amp module and concocted a speaker together out of bits i was given and made the cabinet in woodwork class at school
i kept and used it for a few years i was quite fond of that little cassette player back then
 
It was a dull, wet, Sunday here so no gardening or photography... but the ideal day to find the missing power lead for that reel to reel. After some rummaging in cupboards I found it and plugged it in for the first time in what must have been about 14 years and threaded up a tape... but would something like that from the early 1970s still work?

Of course it did, it's a Sony! Sorry for the slightly poor smartphone video recording quality (click on the image to watch the video in Flickr):

Reel to reel by J White, on Flickr

I spent a very pleasant retro hour listening to a recording of one of Alexis Korner's old shows from Radio 1 in around 1979. I was amazed by how good the recording quality was and how well the tape had survived; I could hear the scratches and dust on the records he was playing, and that was on some of the latest releases he played not just on the historic blues stuff! It's amazing how well it's all stood up to the test of time.

Oh, and in case his voice sounds familiar, I believe Alexis did the voice over for the 'Keep it with Kodak' adverts back in the early 80s... so a retro bonus there! :)
 
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I still have an original workmate!!

My Hifi separates system is around 25 years old, has a CD player, also a cassette deck and analogue tuner. It's all boxed up until we find somewhere to put it in the new place, along with the Celestion 5 speakers.

I still have an Atari 1040ST, with a load of games, I just can't part with it..... It was my entry into computing & IT. Haven't fired it up for ages, must do that....
 
Taking of cassette players, I've still got my Nakamichi somewhere. Was worth more than the car it was in!
 
Love my nostalgia! I have excellent replicarsof racing cars, in my hallway I have a fully restored Yamaha 350LC, in the living room a Troy Corsa Ducati & Forgarty Rep.
My HiFi is front ended by a Linn Sondek LP12 turntable and my collection of film Cameras is growing!
 
Love my nostalgia! I have excellent replicars of racing cars, in my hallway I have a fully restored Yamaha 350LC, in the living room a Troy Corsa Ducati & Forgarty Rep.


I hope they get the occasional run out.
 
What next collectible 8 track players , or my first CB radio ...
 
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