brit bike for beginner
Discussion
Im gonna to doa bike test soon, rather then get a jap bike, i want an ol skool, in the vain of norton bsa triumph.
Any suggestion, to trouble free biking, at cost, currently my thought are with the new fuel injection Royal Enfield from india.
Are they any good?? , i know they are new as the orginal engine has benn replaced after 60 odd years in production!!!
How much would a 250cc+ bsa/triumph cost in full working order?
Any suggestion, to trouble free biking, at cost, currently my thought are with the new fuel injection Royal Enfield from india.
Are they any good?? , i know they are new as the orginal engine has benn replaced after 60 odd years in production!!!
How much would a 250cc+ bsa/triumph cost in full working order?
jagman21 said:
Im gonna to doa bike test soon, rather then get a jap bike, i want an ol skool, in the vain of norton bsa triumph.
Any suggestion, to trouble free biking, at cost, currently my thought are with the new fuel injection Royal Enfield from india.
Are they any good?? , i know they are new as the orginal engine has benn replaced after 60 odd years in production!!!
How much would a 250cc+ bsa/triumph cost in full working order?
I pressume you intend wanting to ride as a purely weekend pastime, rather than regular use...?Any suggestion, to trouble free biking, at cost, currently my thought are with the new fuel injection Royal Enfield from india.
Are they any good?? , i know they are new as the orginal engine has benn replaced after 60 odd years in production!!!
How much would a 250cc+ bsa/triumph cost in full working order?
I'm afraid there's no such thing as trouble free biking and an old Brit bike...
Even a totally restored bike will still needs lots of maintainance per riding hour. They are great fun and if you are very mechanically minded then I'd recommend it. I did my DAS 15 years ago with the sole intention of riding old Brit stuff.
If you are not very mechanically minded then don't buy an old Brit bike.
And don't buy a 250 either, even for just weekend riding you will be at the mercy of modern traffic and is not for the novice.
And for pete's sake don't buy an Indian Enfield......
If you want old Brit character and hassle free riding get one of the new Triumph Bonneville's, Thruxton, or Scramblers.
if your good with spanners buy a big old brit toy & enjoy putting it back together regulary as it falls apart under you. id suggest mid 70s onwards or the gearshift/brake will be 'wrong' which will take getting used too - nto good right after your DAS. the new trumpets etc seem rather good according to people who have them, just need new pipes to sound right.
ive got a custom '77 bonnie myself & its a great bike but it does take a lot more work to keep going for a lot less miles than a jap bike.
any excuse for a pic
that was in wales, as i exist (cant say live) in essex you can see it does do a few miles
ive got a custom '77 bonnie myself & its a great bike but it does take a lot more work to keep going for a lot less miles than a jap bike.
any excuse for a pic
that was in wales, as i exist (cant say live) in essex you can see it does do a few miles
I did the 'British bike' thing several times. The Triumph Trident drank more oil than fuel, or so it seemed, the Commando was a love-hate relationship like no other and the rest were unreliable, even though every single one was in vgc overall.
If you use the bike as a weekend toy, then many old British bikes will give you lots of pleasure, money really is the only limit. Just be ready to work on them!
A grand would buy you a British bike which needs lots of work, a few thousand will get you a pristine 1970s Commando, Trident, Bonneville or Lightning.
If you're very rich, any Vincent is a great bike. I bought a Black Prince for £1850 from Coburn and Hughes in London in 1980. That very same bike was sold for £22,500 recently at auction.
Some of the small ones can be ok with care. Tiger Cub, for one!
If you use the bike as a weekend toy, then many old British bikes will give you lots of pleasure, money really is the only limit. Just be ready to work on them!
A grand would buy you a British bike which needs lots of work, a few thousand will get you a pristine 1970s Commando, Trident, Bonneville or Lightning.
If you're very rich, any Vincent is a great bike. I bought a Black Prince for £1850 from Coburn and Hughes in London in 1980. That very same bike was sold for £22,500 recently at auction.
Some of the small ones can be ok with care. Tiger Cub, for one!
You'll soon be bored with a 250cc.
If you can stretch to it, a modern classic style Triumph or maybe a Ducati GT1000 should be good fun.
You could go down a s/h Harley Davidson route if you wish, like an 883.
Get through your test and enjoy trying them all out. Take your time and try them on all the road types that you'll generally use.
If you can stretch to it, a modern classic style Triumph or maybe a Ducati GT1000 should be good fun.
You could go down a s/h Harley Davidson route if you wish, like an 883.
Get through your test and enjoy trying them all out. Take your time and try them on all the road types that you'll generally use.
Hooli said:
I'd suggest mid 70s onwards or the gearshift/brake will be 'wrong' which will take getting used too - not good right after your DAS.
I didn't have a problem with a right hand gear gear change with 1 up and 3 down.....I bought this 1940 BSA WDM20 right after I did my DAS.....great fun it was.....
aeropilot said:
Hooli said:
I'd suggest mid 70s onwards or the gearshift/brake will be 'wrong' which will take getting used too - not good right after your DAS.
I didn't have a problem with a right hand gear gear change with 1 up and 3 down.....I bought this 1940 BSA WDM20 right after I did my DAS.....great fun it was.....i guess it depends on the rider etc, i know just after my DAS i had enough trouble using controls i 'knew' let alone new ones. i thought it was worth mentioning anyway as a lot of people new to old bikes dont even realise teh changeover occured.
took stroppy out today, christ its cold in a leather jacket. lovely ride in the sun though.
Mid nineties Triumph Trident; either 750 or 900 triples.
Fab looking bikes, proper suspension, proper brakes, decent engine performance (the 750 isn't much less than the 900 and revs higher too) and pretty damn reliable.
They're starting to get stupid-cheap on ebay and are often low miles/fastidious owner bikes.
Over ten years old and Carole Nash and Footman James treat them as a "Modern Classic" so the insurance is buttons too.
Fab looking bikes, proper suspension, proper brakes, decent engine performance (the 750 isn't much less than the 900 and revs higher too) and pretty damn reliable.
They're starting to get stupid-cheap on ebay and are often low miles/fastidious owner bikes.
Over ten years old and Carole Nash and Footman James treat them as a "Modern Classic" so the insurance is buttons too.
A unit construction BSA would be a good start- either a C15 or a B40. As long as you're sensible using it they should be quite reliable. A decent B40 would probably set you back £1500'ish. They can be made to go pretty quick, but normally at the cost of reliability!
Hooli- what kind of Norton you thinking? Overhead valve or sidevalve, or overhead cam?
Hooli- what kind of Norton you thinking? Overhead valve or sidevalve, or overhead cam?
srob said:
Hooli- what kind of Norton you thinking? Overhead valve or sidevalve, or overhead cam?
no idea at all, maybe not even a norton. just seen a few pics of a norton i liked of that age. something 30s & British though, i've decided that much.need a job/place to live etc first though.
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