Views - collect, ride or speculate.......
Surely the club is big enough to accommodate people with different views and objectives. If someone wants to ride it, that's fine with me - if they want to polish it and look at it, that's also fine. If they want to speculate on it as an investment then whilst that's not my motivation, who am I to stop them so long as they are operating honestly and with integrity (unlike, it would appear on what is known to date, the man who bought Roy's White Shadow). Some collectors aren't lucky enough to be able to ride any more, despite the fact they would like to.
I've only had my Vincent back for a few weeks after a 30 year break and I love it to bits, I love riding it, but I also like to have it sat in the garage where I can admire it. I'm also very fortunate in being able to own more than one bike, so it won't get used as often as it might.
But surely the club is big enough for almost all of us to rub along together...........
It surely will go for a lot, there's only one like it, there will only ever be one "first one" and there are a goodly number of people out there who are in the very fortunate position of not having to worry too much about what they spend. What's something worth - well it's worth what someone is willing to pay for it, and I guess someone will be willing to pay quite a lot to have it, whether they ride it or polish it.
The best news is that, whatever it sells for, the money goes back into the club and the spares company and that helps preserve any and all Vincents, regardless of whether they are in a pampered, dehumidified collection or run ragged on the road.
OK - so the publicity, the magazine front covers, the articles and the laws of supply and demand impacted as a result of all that will likely mean that the prices of any/all Vincents is likely to continue to rise -that's a fact of life and we're not going to change it.
What we should do, I think, is publish the name of the man who bought Roy's White Shadow and doubled his money - then allow him the right of reply for him to put his side of the story and for people to make their own minds up. If what actually happened is anything like the way Roy tells (and right now I have no reason to believe not), then I for one would rather not be in the company of someone who behaves like that.
Honesty and integrity are the things which underpin my thoughts about who I'd choose to spend my time with, not whether they have £1 or £1000 in their wallet and certainly not whether or not they choose to ride the bikes they collect.
Stuart