Classic bike vs vintage bike

[Dodgyiti]

With 1970 now classed as vintage as far as rego (cheap!) is concerned, this makes the choice of bikes out there a whole lot more tempting. This has made me rethink my bike collection because $600 + a year for rego stinks I could have 5 vintage bikes on the road for the price of one classic bike!
Can we have a collective point of suggestion for reasonable options for vintage bikes you can actually ride and enjoy- as opposed to loungeroom w*nk items. Open to any and all suggestions but keep in mind the criteria will be;

Under 10 grand
Parts must be avaliable either repro or otherwise and affordable
Reasonably reliable
Able to sustain 100-120km/h
Have usable performance and brakes
And why you think it fits the bill.


I would like to start off with my latest aqusition- Moto Guzzi V750 Ambassador 1970 that i am using as daily transport all weathers.

- can sustsin 90mph all day
- can do big miles between rebuilds
- reasonable brakes
- all parts except tinware cheap and avaliable
- totally reliable
- electric start
- comfy
- easy to maintain and repair


Over to you lot...

[Dodgyiti]

To be a little bit realistic, bikes that maybe in their day could not match the criteria but with modern engineering, lessons learnt and aftermarket parts can therefore make the criteria- that's fine.
eg: late 60's 500 Triumph with 750 Morgo and 5spd cluster etc..

And to those who would state the completely bleeding obvious late 60's BMW- where can you get one, and if it's under 10 grand I will have my cash ready

[toycollector10]

Yamaha XS650
Honda CB (any cc rating is handful'ls of fun, it needn't be a 750)
Waterbus
Suzuki Titan 500


Or non of the above as you seem to like the European stuff!

[Voltaire]

I could have 5 vintage bikes on the road for the price of one classic bike

.....but not on any one given day...

BMW R75/5. Great when I toured in Europe in the late 80's, I think its now behind the Kenyan tea chests....
Easy parts availability
Easy to service
Way cheaper than a Brit bike,
Will hold 140 all day on the Autobahn. ( unlike a British bike).

[Dodgyiti]

Yamaha XS650
Honda CB (any cc rating is handful'ls of fun, it needn't be a 750)
Waterbus
Suzuki Titan 500


Or non of the above as you seem to like the European stuff!

No, I'm open to anything really.
Has to be cool though..
Have not seen any pre '71 XS650's for sale in ages, but definately a contender and parts to keep them running are plentiful. Plus the spoke wheel ones IMO were pretty.
Things may have changed with the Honda CB. I needed to recon the engine on my '76 750cc and some of the undersize bearings were not available so I stripped it for selling parts. That was about 17 years ago though.
See, that's why I posted this. You guys who have these bikes and ride them regularly, will know if you can get all the bits for them and how they have aged generally as well

Volty
Way cheaper than a Brit bike,
Will hold 140 all day on the Autobahn. ( unlike a British bike).

Cheaper? It would have to be in good condition. One thing I have picked up on is BMW's cost a lot when they need freshening up, but a good one will not need it for a long time if cared for.
I have a saved search on TM for BMW up to 1970. Any size/any location/any price. Not one since the bike that required the chrome helmet

So that is R75's off the list, but there is rumoured to be a man in the Waikato..but we won't go there...

[Motu]

There are plenty of bits to update a Triumph,BSA or Norton to make them usable in today's world.And seeing as we don't have any rules in NZ to make a collectable stay original and collectable,disc front ends,electronics,belt drives etc are doable upgrades.The XS1 will be eligible next year (not many 1970 ones made it here),and although there are a lot of bits around now for the XS650,the XS1 is a bit different here and there,but not enough to make it unusable.Having had all of the above - I'd go for another XS1 - when I had mine,I enjoyed it so much I said that if I won Lotto,I wouldn't buy a new bike,I'd just rebuild the XS1.

[Flip]

I had a 63 (First of the unit construction) Dayton 500cc (Triumph tiger 100 with twin carbs). It was set up as a café racer.

I'm still kicking myself for selling it. I would just not like to ride it all day because it was a bone shaker and vibrated.

Really any big bike made after the 2nd WW would be fine. I was going to say a WL45 but it would not be under $10k. BMW, Matchless, AJS, BSA take your pick.

[Paul in NZ]

I had a 63 (First of the unit construction) Dayton 500cc (Triumph tiger 100 with twin carbs). It was set up as a café racer.

I'm still kicking myself for selling it. I would just not like to ride it all day because it was a bone shaker and vibrated.

Really any big bike made after the 2nd WW would be fine. I was going to say a WL45 but it would not be under $10k. BMW, Matchless, AJS, BSA take your pick.

I'd respectfully disagree....

The first unit construction 500 was 1959 (the similar 350 was 1957).

The first unit 500 sports model was the T100 in 1960 (59 T100 was still the old pre unit all alloy job from memory)

The Daytona 500 (T100T) appeared in 1967

1963 was the first year of the unit 650cc models

We need to remember that the first section of the M1 motorway opened in england in 1959. Post war bikes were essentially dusted off prewar designs and motorways never occured to their designers. Very few british motorcycles of the period could reliably hold 65 to 70 mph for any length of time and certainly none that are affordable now. Most bikes were 350cc and 500cc models and even cars like the Mini (850cc) could not handle a modern motorway with any ease.

A 500cc or 650cc Triumph can be modified to do the job once you get a feel for them and they are relatively simple to maintain. BSA's are harder but not impossible and the club is great, Nortons are 20% or so more expensive and harder to find.

Its a rolling date (40 years) so start looking for a 71 or 72 jap bike and get rebuilding ;-)

[Voltaire]

Heres something that might interest you Dodgy for your vintage bike....

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-304468943.htm

[Flip]

I should have said I had a 63 tiger 100 with a daytona top end. It used to go fast for a tiger 100 but it vibrated badly.

A triumph would be my choice because parts are easy to get.

[Paul in NZ]

Heres something that might interest you Dodgy for your vintage bike....

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-304468943.htm

His Guzzi will never tow that

[Paul in NZ]

I should have said I had a 63 tiger 100 with a daytona top end. It used to go fast for a tiger 100 but it vibrated badly.

A triumph would be my choice because parts are easy to get.

Yeah - I'm a pedantic git I know...

[KiwiGs]

I know they are not vintage, yet, but I think that any of the early UJMs are classics.
At the time they were fast, handled well and for the most part they have proved to be reliable.
You can get a good one for under 10 grand
Parts are available and (almost) affordable

In fact by the time my GS is finished it may well be a vintage bike as well ......

[Dodgyiti]

On ya Kiwi
But you know that I know the prices you GS guys pay for bits
For every year waiting to get into vintage rego (and insurance!) it will cost an extra $700 or more depending on your insurance. For example my 78 bike will cost $5,600 over and above what a current vintage rego bike would over that time until it becomes a vintage too.
That's a fair whack of coin for a motorcycle only 8 years newer. And it has been bugging me, bloody ACC- I'm loathed to pay top dollar for every bike, gotta play the system and win!!!

And the late 60's and early 70's held good all round improvements in bikes making some of them good prospects for decent regular runners. Also, as Motu & Paul has said; lessons have been learnt about how to improve the poor things so they can function in a modern world of motorways, traffic and nutty drivers.

Tea Chest Volty
Heres something that might interest you Dodgy for your vintage bike....

Ha! Already got a 3 bike trailer better than that heap of sh*t and 2 utes mate.. ready to go

[Voltaire]

Uncapped Leaky Guzzi Wrote:

Tea Chest Volty

Tea Chest Shanty:

4 timing gears in a timng chest
Yo ho ho and a puddle of oil...

Old magneto with a feeble spark
Yo ho ho Lucas in the dark

Way hey and up she rises,
ACC costs she despises
thanks to Nick her value rises
Early in the morning....