EB and Plug will be experts on this.

What are the pros and cons of owning a classic bike. I suppose there will need a look more spannering but you get the joys of biking with a bit of nostalgia.

I've had a yearning to purchase a classic for a while. I suppose if I went the jap classic route, it'd be a bit more reliable but an old BSA sounds appealing.

Is it constant spannering and do you end up paying a small fortune, just to keep them on the road?

Depends what you want(& who you know)
the classis world is roughly divided into 2, cheap n cheerfull, & classics sir?, that will be twice as much as is reasnoble to charge normally-oh & 10 percent on top just in case!

My m8 runs both Jap & Brit classics-the insurance is a laugh(read cheap), parts are plentiful,usually good prices, but there are one or two dealers who milk the classic market.
However if you want the last non leaking crankcase for a C15, you're gonna have to pay for it.

Old brits are easy enough to work on & have a wiring loom with (gasp) about 5 wires max.
the most expensive things are usually chroming & painting-but you know a guy that paints bikes dont you?

The classic would need to be in reasonable nick and I'd still need a second bike. I'd keep the classic for long sunny days diuring that week in July and head over to the Lochs an not have to worry about folk thinking I wanted to race them.  :buttrock: I could go for some of that.

go for it Davie

pretty much what dp said

dead easy to fix if they go wrong.. normally..

cheap as you can get insurance

most bsa/triumphs/nortons etc post 1960 still have good spares back up. alot of pattern stuff available and most are  surprisingly cheap compared to modern spares.

downside is the cost of buying a good classic .. anywhere from £1000 to £10000+ depending on what you want

id go for a pre oil-in-frame twin from triumph or bsa

bsa A65 or triumph bonneville are good bets but expect to pay £3000 - £4000 for a good one

of course, you could buy a "runner" and restore it yourself. by the time its finished youll now it better than the back of your hand

chroming can be very difficult and very expensive.. thats where triumphs score over the bsa's which have chromed petrol tanks and any dent has to be knocked out..no filling with primer and painting over the top, chrome has to go straight onto bare metal.. ( that not exactly true, best done as copper/nickel/chrome but you still need a mirror finish on the bare metal before you start)

dont expect a classic to handle anywhere as good as a modern bike. you might stop somewhere..sometime.. on old drum brakes!  and tyres with edges on them rather than a nice rounded profile.

but.. everytime you stop somewhere some old bloke will come up and tell you how he used to have one just like it!  :cool:

Hi guy's, just a quick question, my mate is looking to sell her BSA, its' only a little un and needs a bit of tender lovin care and she asked me how she would go about selling it, i said the best probable place would be the BSA owners club, so if any of you have any pointers i'm sure Bell would be most greatful for any assistance. PC

PC tell her to try out "old bike mart"  she can use it to get a rough idea on price and i dont thin kthey charge alot to advertise.


what model bsa is it and wherebabouts?
might be interested myself  :D

Thanks for the tip EB, i'll find out what it is when i see her tomorrow, she lives in Petts Wood, near Orpington, i went and had a look at it myself and its' quite diddy really, its' even got the old fashion horn, like you'd find on a vintage car,awwwwwwww. I'll post again tomorrow when i have more info. PC

Dave if you fancy a jap classic a fella i work with is flogging a z650 on a w plate about a grand i think he said.
well looked after and very well turned out.

also just remembered there's a classic brit shop near where i work i'll have a look in the windy and see what he's got. :p

Something like a z650 would be nice.  :buttrock:

I'm just thinking out loud at the minute. I've got some dosh coming, hopefully sooner rather than later and I'm wondering what I can do with it.

I just wish it was a enough to buy a new bike.

I hear they've just dropped the price on the CG125 mate, and it's got leccy start now

I didn't like them even in 1984.  :O Sign of the holy spanners indeed. I'd rather have a screaming stroker.  :eyebrow:

Right EB, i asked my pal for the info on the BSA and its' a D1 model aprox 1952, 125 cc (papers say 127cc) doesn't need much doing to it apparently, Bell paid £850 for it and is looking for £650 ono, i told her about the old bike mart and she said to say thanks for your help. PC

ah! a old bsa bantam!  yeah thats a reasonable price for one, they were used in there thousands by the post office back in the 50 and 60's.

either old bike mart, or stick it on ebay, if she has a computer

ES, is about spot on with his classic discriptions 'n' mechanics, but after all its what joy or thrill you get out of owning a classic that matters.

I rode just about all the bikes that are now called classics in the days when they were an eye turner and a modern day wonder, 38/9 years later and having owned CBR1100 -CBR1000-BMW K100rs-ZZr's just to mention a few I am now in my late 50's and still riding bikes albeit a CLASSIC but to me its reliving my past at a less speedier pace and being in control as age catches up faster than you think it can, so owning a classic can mean many things and can be viewed in many different ways as to owning one and the tinkering and keeping one running and road worthy is a bit of a chore but to me gives me some thing to do apart from going senile earlier than I should.

So if its in your blood, biking will always keep you active and interested in mechanical or electrical conundrums that will catch you out at some time with the old coil to spark via a magneto or a set of points that alot of modern bikes dont now have but all in all Im very happy to be back in the so called CLASSIC era when cafe racer,dresda tritons,Gold stars,and of course MY TRIUMPH T100T  and the like ruled the roads.
]So if a classic blows ya bulb or it lights ya rear light.........



GO FOR IT....better still have one of each!!!

Thanks Plug,

One of each would be ideal. The thought of experiencing a classic bike really appeals. Since I've had the viffer, my speeds have got faster but there are times, when I just can't be bothered. The thought of just riding for the sheer hell of it appeals and doing it on something special just makes it all the tastier.

In a world of plastic rockets, maybe getting back to an old hands on machine is what I yearn for. My old xbr was registered in 1985. Not a classic by any means but being a Jap copy of a cafe racer, it introduced me to a world of biking without needing out and out top speed to enjoy myself.

I had hassles with it on a regular basis and often worried about getting home late at night, with the threat of the headlight bulb blowing at any minute because of the vibs from the single cylinder engine. I've had the copy, now I'd like a taste of the real thing.

I can only hope that the wait, won't take to long.

see dp, i've got a classic and i have to say it is giving me an enormous amount of pleasure hacking and slashing huge chunks of flesh out of my hands loosening corroded bolts,
replacing bits that are absolutely fecked.




I will get the ghost, just don't know when!

Funny you should say that as someone at work came to see me the other day asking whether I knew where they could advertise his dad's bike as he's thinking of selling it.  He wasn't sure but he thought it was a z650!

I'll ask him tomorrow if he's got any more details.

You could try a Bandit...

I have to say that I have a fancy for one of those 70s/80s Kwacking triply things... can't recall what they're called though but they made a god awful noise

Plug, the problem with having one of each, surely, is the cost of insurance.

I asked my insurance co. about this... could I have two bikes and one insurance policy. Would one be "discounted" or anything?

Err, no. Feck off and pay us double was the reply

Anyone else running two (or more, you show offs) bikes got any suggestions about insurance?

Well mate the real answer is ....OLDER IS CHEAPER TO INSURE its a fact of life, my Blackbird cost me about £174 F/Comp the classic Triumph T100T costs £98 F/comp inc Recovery so at 58 years old, old is cheaper, and my heart goes out to any younger one's that ARE held to ransome on there bike insurance but as history states young'uns and bikes are a risk even in my early days of riding we were heavely loaded.

But remeber as time goes by and the classic bike WILL at some time increase in value so if you could afford one go for it and slowly restore it for a future security or as I will hand my classic down to my grandson as he's into bikes at an early age..

BW the triples you speak of are KH, 250, 400, 500, 750.
Manic & the worst handling bike in the history of bikes!
Bloody lovely noise mind.
As for nsewerance, The bigger companies will give you a policy covering 2 bikes-you just have to earn the privelige
(i'm about to grovel to Carole Nash about one for the bruiser & cruiser.)

That sounds like the one, M8! I just lurve the look of the damn things... I think t'was the 500 that I hankered after.

So you can get that sort of insurance then... still, I'm only 22  :blush: ... I'll just have to wait

Or you can insure them separately but more than likely only one will qualify for no claims so the other will be full price.  Unless of course you can persuade them that they made the mistake when quoting and you definitely told them that you were keeping both (not that I as a responsible insurance person would ever pull such a stunt) .