Model Boat Mayhem

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length.
Pages: 1 [2]   Go Down

Author Topic: Triumph motorcycles.......& other things that nearly killed me!  (Read 9950 times)

sheerline

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,201
  • Location: Norfolk
Re: Triumph motorcycles.......& other things that nearly killed me!
« Reply #25 on: July 01, 2008, 05:11:06 pm »

Martin13, I reckon you need to speak to 'ripslider'! All those bikes hung up waiting to be screwed back together... the very thought of it has got me twitching as I can't resist a challenge. SWMBO would frown heavily if she thought I was remotely interested as we are about to rip the house apart and I already have a load of projects waiting in the wings. :(
Logged

funtimefrankie

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,259
  • Location: Birkdale, Lancashire. twixt the Mersey & the Ribble
Re: Triumph motorcycles.......& other things that nearly killed me!
« Reply #26 on: July 01, 2008, 05:20:05 pm »


Currently trying to work out what to do with them. Not really much demand for them that I can see,


Probably worth nothing at all, I'll take 'em off your hands for a fiver.............. O0 O0 O0
Logged

boatmadman

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2,703
  • Location: South Cumbria
Re: Triumph motorcycles.......& other things that nearly killed me!
« Reply #27 on: July 01, 2008, 05:40:38 pm »

£5.50 and I will collect!

Ian
Logged
if at first you dont succeed.....have a beer.....

sheerline

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,201
  • Location: Norfolk
Re: Triumph motorcycles.......& other things that nearly killed me!
« Reply #28 on: July 01, 2008, 05:48:10 pm »

ok, sicksquid!
Logged

funtimefrankie

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,259
  • Location: Birkdale, Lancashire. twixt the Mersey & the Ribble
Re: Triumph motorcycles.......& other things that nearly killed me!
« Reply #29 on: July 02, 2008, 08:13:14 am »

ok, sicksquid!

No reply... doesn't sound like he can afford to pay that much to have them removed......
I'll take away for freeeeee !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! {-)
Logged

Martin13

  • Guest
Re: Triumph motorcycles.......& other things that nearly killed me!
« Reply #30 on: July 02, 2008, 10:09:24 am »

Martin13, I reckon you need to speak to 'ripslider'! All those bikes hung up waiting to be screwed back together... the very thought of it has got me twitching as I can't resist a challenge. SWMBO would frown heavily if she thought I was remotely interested as we are about to rip the house apart and I already have a load of projects waiting in the wings. :(


Steve,

I think we need to have a serious chat (once more) Need to find out costs of container from UK to OZ.....P.S you can keep the goat O0

Martin doon under
Logged

RipSlider

  • Guest
Re: Triumph motorcycles.......& other things that nearly killed me!
« Reply #31 on: July 02, 2008, 12:26:50 pm »

Guys.

While I tank you for yourvery generous offers, and I must say it is nice to see that fellow Mayhemers will throw themselves into the breach like this for a chap, I do not wish to put you to any inconvinience. For example, I know that Mrs Martin13 would say bad words about me if I sent Martin13 one of the bikes, even though he has been SO good as to let me keep my own goat. I do not wish this to happen - I would only be making your respective wifes cross, and I wouldn't want that on my consoince - esepcially when you have been so generous in your offers!!

Don't worry about me. I'll just struggle on and leave them as they are for a few more years. You never know, I might one day get an offer for TEN whole pounds for one of them!

Actually, and more seriously, I am going to put one of them back together. I need something to toddle about on as car is getting a mite expensive. If I can find some decent rubber to shod it's wheels in, then I'll get one of the bantems out.

Steve
Logged

sheerline

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,201
  • Location: Norfolk
Re: Triumph motorcycles.......& other things that nearly killed me!
« Reply #32 on: July 02, 2008, 12:30:12 pm »

Nice one RS, enjoy! O0
Logged

Martin13

  • Guest
Re: Triumph motorcycles.......& other things that nearly killed me!
« Reply #33 on: July 02, 2008, 01:19:18 pm »

Guys.

While I tank you for yourvery generous offers, and I must say it is nice to see that fellow Mayhemers will throw themselves into the breach like this for a chap, I do not wish to put you to any inconvinience. For example, I know that Mrs Martin13 would say bad words about me if I sent Martin13 one of the bikes, even though he has been SO good as to let me keep my own goat. I do not wish this to happen - I would only be making your respective wifes cross, and I wouldn't want that on my consoince - esepcially when you have been so generous in your offers!!

Steve

Make Mrs Martin Cross ???  It was HER idea to keep her wonderful loving hubby happy - what a woman - does that mean you accept a tenner??

Martin A Born Again Biker :D :D :D
Logged

RipSlider

  • Guest
Re: Triumph motorcycles.......& other things that nearly killed me!
« Reply #34 on: July 02, 2008, 04:28:28 pm »

Maybe.

Are you allowed proper motorbikes down in Oz? I thought culture hadn't permeated that far down the globe yet???

 ;D ;D ;D ;D


I actually hadn't thought about them for a while. I might go and have a dig around and see what sort of prices they're getting at the moment.

I can't see something like a batem getting much more than a few hundred quid - there are so many about that the old man used to take them off people for free just so they had some garage space, but there might be a value in some of the rarer ones.

I'm not sure what to do for the best - I can't decide whether they will keep getting more valuable, or if their value will fall as all the old riders who have treasured memories of them stop riding.


The other issue is that if I can buy a brand new BSA Bantem for £750 on the road, and a brand new BSA Goldflash for less than £2000, why would anyone want an old 1950's original?

Steve
Logged

malcolmfrary

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6,027
  • Location: Blackpool, Lancs, UK
Re: Triumph motorcycles.......& other things that nearly killed me!
« Reply #35 on: July 02, 2008, 04:38:07 pm »

Quote
The other issue is that if I can buy a brand new BSA Bantem for £750 on the road, and a brand new BSA Goldflash for less than £2000, why would anyone want an old 1950's original?
Because it IS an original, and might have a bit of history.
Logged
"With the right tool, you can break anything" - Garfield

RipSlider

  • Guest
Re: Triumph motorcycles.......& other things that nearly killed me!
« Reply #36 on: July 02, 2008, 04:47:50 pm »

True.
But I can get a shipment of BSA Bantems straight out of the factory - using the original jigs and plans - delivered to the UK in less than 2 weeks - all the plans and jigs are now in India - you can't move in Mumbai ( bombay ) without seeing "classic" bikes which are brand new.

So is history worth that much?

These aren't copies - they are just as "original" as the bikes I have in the garage - even made with the same drop presses and welding casements. I know all of BSA's jigs etc went over in two large shipments quite a while ago. I also know that about 80% of the contents of one of the norton factories also ended up in a boat - they even took the braising forges!

On my last trip to India I had a quick ride on a Vellocette Vemon - which had been brought from the show room about 2 week before hand. Crazy.


So while I can see someone buying my Thruxton - as it has photo's and a load of history - that specific bike won quite a few races - the Bantem I can get shipped from Mumbai is just as original as the one I have. I personally wouldn't pay more for it.
Logged

Martin13

  • Guest
Re: Triumph motorcycles.......& other things that nearly killed me!
« Reply #37 on: July 03, 2008, 12:51:36 pm »

Maybe.

Are you allowed proper motorbikes down in Oz? I thought culture hadn't permeated that far down the globe yet???

 ;D ;D ;D ;D

The other issue is that if I can buy a brand new BSA Bantam for £750 on the road, and a brand new BSA Goldflash for less than £2000, why would anyone want an old 1950's original?

Steve

Ahhh,, Young Steven, your age is showing me lad. :(

Any old biker would gladly take an old beast than what is produced today. A Bantam built in India is not the Bantam of yesteryear. I would bend over backwards to get hold of an old Bonnie or Norton. Even the New Bonnie's have JAP in them whilst there counterparts were pure thoroughbreds.
You would be surprised by the popularity of old English motorcycles here in Oz. About 20 years ago, I used to frequently ride on the All British Motorcycle Rallies - about 3000 plus bikers would ride to some far off destination (and get horribly drunk) and the riders came from all over Oz.

The bikes may not be worth a lot in the UK, but here where their is a shortage...................$$$$$$$$$$$ ::) ::) ::)
How about posting some pic's - all I can afford now is to DROOL over them and reminisce about the good ol' days...and that includes the rest of you old bikers......please post more pic's..........pleeeeese :) :) :)

Martin doon under

Logged

RipSlider

  • Guest
Re: Triumph motorcycles.......& other things that nearly killed me!
« Reply #38 on: July 03, 2008, 01:29:26 pm »

Not sure I've got any to be honest - they're in the garage of my parents old house - which is the other side of the country.

I'll have a dig about and see what I have. I possibly have some "Work in progress" pics in the photo albumn, but fairly sure I don't have any of the finished articles.
I'll have a dig about when Mrs Steve comes home as I can't find the photo albumns at the moment, which means that they have been "tided" somewhere.   :-\ :-\ :-\


However, if I DO find some, there will contain pictures of me when I was about 13-14, so no sarcy comments please.....


The land lord at the local pub has just brought a Bonnie for about £300. Not in the best condition - probably about 80% - maybe less if the front forks can't be re-jigged striaght - the metal may well have gone brittle ( always the biggest issue with restorations ). You can still find plenty of these sort of things if you know where to look ( farmers seem to have a few of them and getting hold of the records of old motorbike clubs and doing a bit of tracking down on former members is always a winner -  1930's stuff is a LOT rarer though) . Getting something in 98% condition is a bit more expensive, and if it has a history then a bit more still, but still not a lot in the grand scheme of things.

Would Mrs Martin13 let you have one if the price was right?

Mrs Steve very against the idea of me riding again to be honest. I've tried to explain that you don't hoon classics about like you do modern Jap bikes, but she's not convinced.

Steve
Logged

Martin13

  • Guest
Re: Triumph motorcycles.......& other things that nearly killed me!
« Reply #39 on: July 03, 2008, 01:45:08 pm »


However, if I DO find some, there will contain pictures of me when I was about 13-14, so no sarcy comments please.....

The land lord at the local pub has just brought a Bonnie for about £300. Not in the best condition - probably about 80% -

Would Mrs Martin13 let you have one if the price was right?

Steve

After having peered over my shoulder whilst looking at an APS Models Catalogue, she now believes a Motorbike would be a lot cheaper...

As the saying goes...if the price is right - anything is possible

Martin
Logged

Martin13

  • Guest
Re: Triumph motorcycles.......& other things that nearly killed me!
« Reply #40 on: July 03, 2008, 01:49:43 pm »

Just for the sake of interest. A new 750 Jap content Bonnie costs about $14,000 or in UK terms - 6,700GBP

I prefer the 300GBP special

Martin
Logged

cbr900

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,857
  • Mayhem is the Only Forum!
  • Location: Taree New South Wales Australia
    • Roys Hompage
Re: Triumph motorcycles.......& other things that nearly killed me!
« Reply #41 on: July 03, 2008, 02:34:37 pm »

Martin13,

Mate if you want to drool over older bike pics I
can send you several hundred taken from various
rides all in Aussie, but from you a bit down south of you.... O0


Roy
Logged
I try not to be naughty but nautical

sheerline

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,201
  • Location: Norfolk
Re: Triumph motorcycles.......& other things that nearly killed me!
« Reply #42 on: July 03, 2008, 04:54:29 pm »

British bikes, most of them have a history of one sort or another attached to them and mine has a rather loose Aussie and international connection. If any of you are interested here is the story of my Triumph 500 T100c.
Back in the 80s I restored a 98cc Brockhouse Corgi, the road-going civvy version of the Paratroopers motorcycle. After owning and running it for a couple of years I had the urge for a Triumph twin, an urge which had been with me since I saw one as a lad. I heard of a basket case up for grabs locally and decided to do a swap. On inspection, the bike had its original frame and engine numbers but was in a horrific state and bereft of its engine, this item consisted of two crankcase halves and a bucket of junk!
On inspection of the paperwork, the bike had originated in Edinburgh and was a street scrambler version with the twin exhaust pipes up one side. The whole machine from front to back was totally clapped out and any chromework had long since gone and been painted matt black. It had bald tyres, a chain you could wrap around your neck edgwise and a swingarm which was a sloppier fit than a sausage in the Dartford tunnel!
I could just picture the previous owner in my minds eye and if you are old enough you will remember him.. long dirty hair, black worn out motorcycle jacket with dangley leather strips which hung from the arms, dirty jeans and winkle picker shoes. I imagined him to have a roll- up stuck out the side of his mouth and pictured him without crash helmet, giving this oily, dirty old smoking heap a fistload of throttle as he roared up Princess Street with his hair flailing and a big grin on his face! Well, that was the vibes the bike gave me anyway.
I rebuilt the whole machine  from front to back, took me a year, a load of money and everything was replaced barr the frame and the main engine components.. all the moving oily bits were scrap and some of the stuff in the bucket didn't even belong to a Triumph!
Thinking I was smarter than the Triumh designers, I balanced the engine thinking I was going to improve on the ubiquitous vibes but ended up with an engine which shook from front to back instead of up and down, needless to say, it failed dramatically six months later whilst warming the bike up in the garage when a flywheel retaining bolt sheared and smashed the guts of the engine.... good job I wasn't riding it at the time!
I scoured the bike mags for another engine and found one in Madrid in Spain. I couldn't go to Spain for an engine, that would be ridiculous and there was no way I was bunging off a load of hard earned to some bloke in a foriegn country for something I couldn't even verify existed. I phoned the chap up, he said he used to live in Australia, had bought a frame with and engine (reputedly ok) to build a racer, never got round to it and finally moved to Spain,where it now resided.
I had a potential customer in Madrid who, six months earlier had rather embarassingly for him, had to cancel an order for an Akula as he was strapped for cash This chap was so very apologetic at the time and struck me as being a very straightforward sort of person as I had had a few conversations with him. So six months down the road, I phoned him up and he agreed to check out the bike engine for me. I eventually paid a sum of money (not to be sneezed at) into his bank account and he paid the seller and collected my engine and frame assembly, this he took home and placed on his balcony of his flat in Madrid! His SWMBO was not overkeen as they were a bit pushed for room at the best of times.
He eventually arranged for a friend to stick it in the back of a van and bring it over to England on her next trip here. It ended up in the backyard of a bed and breafast hotel in Warwickshire and I drove down from Norfolk next day, met the lady driver, who spoke little English and offered to pay her for the delivery... she would not accept any money! When we got it all home, I phoned up a florist and arranged for a shipload of flowers to be sent to her and apparently, according to the Landlady, the woman was in floods of tears as she had never had flowers bought for her before!
On stripping the donor engine, it was found to be in superb condition but I decided to replace the barrels and pistons as they had a few scores. My engine was rebuilt from the donor engine, put back in the bike and has been running for the past eight years without any problems. At the end of the day I have to say it was worth the original swap as this bike has hauled me and SWMBO's bums all over Norfolk and we have loved it!

As footnote to the story, I phoned up the wife of my 'customer' in Madrid and found out when his birthday was. Months later and came the  day, he woke up to find a large wooden box standing at the end of the bed... he finally had his submarine!
Thanks Pablo....wherever you are now!   O0
Logged

funtimefrankie

  • Full Mayhemer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,259
  • Location: Birkdale, Lancashire. twixt the Mersey & the Ribble
Re: Triumph motorcycles.......& other things that nearly killed me!
« Reply #43 on: July 03, 2008, 05:52:18 pm »

. A new 750 Jap content Bonnie

????
Logged

Martin13

  • Guest
Re: Triumph motorcycles.......& other things that nearly killed me!
« Reply #44 on: July 03, 2008, 11:58:36 pm »

Sheerline,

What a great story and a very generous man although I think you may have been talking about me in paragraph 2, be it a long time ago.
Thanks CBR900 on the offer - did you ever ride on the British Bike Rallies ???

As much as I would like a bike I'm finding it increasingly difficult now. My ex- employer has a Honda 750 Shadow of which he loans to me whenever I wish. I can only ride for about 30 km's before I have to stop for a break as my fingers start to tingle and then go numb from vibration - probably eliminates most bikes on the road these days (at least the ones worth having)
and Pocket Rockets are out - never did like em.

So as Dicky has pointed out, forget about the bikes and get back to modelling.

Martin doon under :) :)
Logged

RipSlider

  • Guest
Re: Triumph motorcycles.......& other things that nearly killed me!
« Reply #45 on: July 04, 2008, 12:25:10 am »

You can cheat a bit though Martin.

There are a couple of firms in the UK that will re-engineer various bits of a classic so that it is actually usable.

My dad had a set of front forks done on an old Indian. He found it a massive pain to ride - literally - so he sent the forks away and they came back looking exatly the same - from the outside they were identical - but there was a more modern shock system with vibro damping inside of them. They offered the same service on the rear as well - but I seem to remember that you were talking about big money for that - something like half the cost of the bike.

You can get the same done with the brakes as well - same casings but better enginnered gubbins inside - although I never saw this in action.

I have to say though that the biggest issue I ever had with Pop's classics was the tires. I learned to ride on a modern bike, and when I went on his classics I had no confidence what so ever in the tires.

I had a fairly knackered a-10 that he lent me to get around town on at University for a while but got it shod in a modern "pocket rocket" set of rubber. Looks stupid but I felt a lot safer on it, especially in winter. You can get classic style tires with decent treads and much more modern compounds now. Look pretty close to the original, but it does mean that it's much safer to go out on a drizzly day - heavy classic bikes and slippy as hell man-hole covers do not make for much fun :(

Steve
Logged

Martin13

  • Guest
Re: Triumph motorcycles.......& other things that nearly killed me!
« Reply #46 on: July 04, 2008, 01:02:34 am »

Steve,

I know there are things that can be done but most bikes vibrate (except for a BMW that I fancy). The handling capabilities of bikes do not concern me as once raced Motorcross/Supercross, a time in off-road buggies and even competitive Trials. I can pretty well ride anything except a horse without problems.

It's just all too expensive..priorities change as life changes - I think I have just moved over to the slow lane. I have re-built more bikes than you can imagine which resulted in an empty bank account for many a year, mind you, I had a lot of fun in the meantime..

Just before I got married, I had a deposit for a BMW 1200 Independent Cruiser. The bike shop let me have the bike for a full day of test riding and rode about 350Kim's along the Great Ocean Road hear in Victoria (lots of bends). The bike handles superbly with no vibration at all - only ever stopped for a smoke and admire the scenery. The drawback - bike cost $27,000. So what did I do - I used the deposit to purchase an Engagement ring.

Whenever I stop and look at a bike now, Mrs Martin tells me that I made the better choice - she's right O0

Martin without 2 wheels Doon under
Logged
Pages: 1 [2]   Go Up
 

Page created in 0.108 seconds with 22 queries.