Classics at Stafford: Temptation
Pinging fins, direct sensations, the smell of hot oil. Grab the credit card and find classic bike bliss by bidding on these delights at Bonhams’ Spring Stafford Sale...
£6000-8000est Nortoncommando
If the long-suffering Mrs A released funds I’d buy this. Not only is the 750 the defining Norton, I reckon the Fastback version is the best-looking Brit twin. Norton needed a new flagship in the late ’60s, and came up with the vibe-killing ‘Isolastic’ frame with rubber-mounted engine. The old Atlas motor was canted forward to try and make the new bike look dynamic (so were the shocks) and designers Wolff Olins styled it. The new-for-’68 Commando was the result. This ’72 bike has the more powerful Combat motor and is in original nick with 11,000 miles and history to prove it.
£28k-38k est 1979Yamahatz750f
Imagine the crackling racket from those four expansion-chamber pipes. In the 1970s the Formula 750 race series was intended for production-based bikes, but the TZ was a full-on racer – Yam wangled their way in by making the required 200 bikes. Fast, loud, difficult to ride, the TZ was a big success (nine consecutive Daytona wins) and defines the era. This is a final TZ750F from ’79, with a 747cc, 120bhp two-stroke inline four in a tight 152kg bundle. Less than 80 Fs were built. Restored, but needs re-commissioning.
£12,000-14,000 est 1982Bimotahb2
Honda’s muscular CB1100R inline four engine, hugged tight by Bimota tubular art, in glorious period wrapping. What’s not to like? And it gets better, as this rare HB2 has been fettled for modern use: there’s a Maxton cartridge fork conversion, a Maxton shock attached to a new-old-stock linkage, four-pot Nissin calipers grabbing floating Spondon discs, and a fresh exhaust from Bimota Classic Parts. And to prove it all works it’ll be ridden to the auction. Twelve grand isn’t loose change, but imagine this thing round Oulton Park.
£1500-2000 est 1962 Ariel Arrow
Not the most sought-after of British classics, but the Ariel has charm. First seen in the late ’50s as the fully-enclosed Leader, the platform broke the trad’ Brit recipe by using a 249cc two-stroke twin in a fabricated steel frame with trailing-link forks. The stripped-back Arrow followed, with the Sports version launched in 1961. ‘Sports’ is stretching it – Arrows do about 75mph flat-out. But the Ariel has advantages as a first classic. It’s light and manageable, the motor is accessible and easy to work on... and prices for honest, usable bikes make it an accessible way in.
£400k-600k est 1964Ducati125gp
No, that isn’t a mistake. This Ducati is expected to reach half a million quid. Why? It’s the only one. Multi-cylinder Japanese GP bikes of the early 1960s made Ducati’s 125cc twin obsolete, so Fabio Taglioni built a 125cc multi – the first fourcylinder Ducati and their first with four valves per cylinder. Eight-speed ’box, too. Finished in ’65, it was never raced despite successful testing and became a show queen: it was at Earl’s Court in ’66-’67. Later disassembled, frame and four were reunited into a mint, running bike by the Morbidelli Museum. You literally can’t ever see another one.
£60k-70k est 1974Mvagusta750
When I was a nipper I had a toy 750S and thought the four-cylinder, multi-pipe MV must be the fastest bike in the world. The 750 was developed from 4C, a twin-carb 600cc tourer from the mid ’60s that did little to conjure images of the firm’s epic GP bikes. The 750S got quad Dell’ortos and a capacity boost to 743c (though kept the shaft drive), was handbuilt in limited numbers and cost a packet. This one has a fairing and later disc front, though the original drum set-up is included. It’s had one owner from new and is in good nick.
£4500-6500 est 1959 Triton
It’s the original two-wheeled hot-rod. Mixing Triumph power and Norton handling, nothing shouts fry-up, Brylcreem and roll-ups like a decent Triton. This is a 649cc parallel-twin Bonneville in the famous ‘featherbed’ frame, and probably (hopefully) sounds amazing with those swept exhausts and gulping carbs. Triton prices are usually reasonable. The world’s mad for originality and authenticity and, with values for most British bikes already flat or even in decline, a good usable example will be far less than the equivalent donor bike.
£60k-100k est 1959 Benelli 250 GP
Save a fortune on decor. Instead of hiring a pretentious interior designer with stupid glasses, buy this Benelli and park it in your lounge instead. Look at the gorgeous 35bhp short-stroke single with open valve springs, tank contours, extensive drilling... far better to look at than silly wallpaper and furniture. Originally raced by Silvio Grassetti it’s one of three known surviving 250s, bought from John Surtees in the ’80s and fully restored. º All these are in the Bonhams Spring Stafford Sale, April 25-26, Staffordshire Countyshowground–bonhams.com