BUYING CLASSICS & VINTAGE
Buying your dream bike means staying calm, not letting your heart rule your head and, crucially, knowing what to look for. Arm yourself with our essential knowledge and avoid ending up with an expensive nightmare...
‘THE BEST BIKES TO BUY
ARE THOSE THAT HAVE BEEN LOVED, BUT ALSO RIDDEN’
There are no specifics here because the bikes are so different. Buying an old British bike is as much about forensic science as haggling over an oil leak. Two £7000 Triumph Bonnevilles can be completely different bikes. Here’s how to tell them apart.
ORIGINALITY
Unless you want a special, this is important. The original engine and frame number, registration and parts that have been restored rather than replaced all add to the value. It will also be worth more if you come to sell it, and zero depreciation is one of the best things about classic biking.
DOES IT START?
Because it should. Cold or hot. British bikes got a bad reputation in the ’70s and ’80s when they became cheap hacks, abused and poorly maintained. When your BSA A10 was new it cost six months’ wages and was the only transport its owner had. Would ’50s man have put up with poor starting and unreliability if he’d been relying on his bike for everything? Definitely not. A wellmaintained, properly set-up classic bike will start easily, every time.
VIEW THE BIKE AS A WHOLE
And this includes the owner; how long has he owned it, how many miles has he done, what were the epic trips? The best bikes to buy are those that have been loved, but also ridden. Which means they might not be immaculate, but look closer and you won’t see any bodged wiring or mismatched fasteners, and you won’t find a worn-out clutch that needs a death grip to operate. Gearchanges will be slick and the brakes will work properly.
‘IF IT’S A FRESHLY-PAINTED WRECK, JUST WALK AWAY’
LEARN TO SPOT A BODGE
It’s easy to make a bike look immaculate. A lick of paint and a trip to the chrome plater is all it takes. Usually it’s the wiring that tells the true story – things like blue wire that goes into insulation tape and comes out white, tatty DIY junction boxes or loose wires that have been taped up. Bodges can crop up anywhere: badly repaired exhaust manifolds, damaged barrels, or poorly repaired cables where a £5 replacement would have sorted it.
THEY’RE NOT ‘ALL LIKE THAT’
British bikes have a bad reputation based on poor quality control at the factory and most of them being worn out after being ridden by blokes who never learned how to fix them. A properly set-up British bike will be easy to start, accelerate briskly, change gear smoothly, and steer and brake well enough to keep up with modern traffic (just). But you have to understand that they’re different to Japanese bikes. When a Suzuki goes wrong, you replace something and it works again. When an old Triumph goes wrong, you have to know how to replace that thing properly or you’ll make it worse.
This is part of the charm. You don’t so much own a British bike as enter into a relationship with it. And learning how to do things properly is part of the pleasure. Preventative maintenance is the key.
THE RIGHT ATTITUDE
Has the owner tried to turn it into a modern bike? Belt primary drives, electronic ignition and disc brakes are fine and give some extra peace of mind, but they won’t turn your bike into a reliable 21st century motorcycle. Only you can make it reliable and it’ll never fully escape the 20th century.
OIL LEAKS
These are part of the experience because of the way the engines are built. Felt seals were never designed to be completely oil-tight and engine cases that split vertically rather than horizontally don’t help. Don’t worry about it. Oil is cheap. Only be concerned if it’s really bad, in which case get it fixed by a specialist.
ALLOW SIX MONTHS TO GET TO KNOW IT
Especially if it’s a bike that’s just been rebuilt. Buying a bike that’s done 100 miles since a major restoration is fine, but it takes at least six months for all the niggles and breakdowns to surface. Don’t get angry or frustrated; treat it as a chance to get to know your bike.
CHECK AND DOUBLE-CHECK EVERYTHING
At some point in the early ’70s, chances are it was the first big bike for some loon-panted space cadet who rode it home, high on Watneys Red Barrel and smoked banana skins, and ended up in someone’s garden with the bike embedded in a wall. So check everything. Chances are that the seller won’t even know about some of these faults – it’s your job to make him aware before you talk money.
BE RUTHLESS
If it’s a freshly-painted wreck, just walk away. It isn’t worth it, however sweet the old fella selling it might be. There are plenty more around. Take your time – buy the bike you really want.