scotts
Hugo,
I knew I would be wrong ! drat ! absolutely right Hugo, but I was trying to stay in the realms of machinery a youngster could afford, Scotts now are at a price level way above the AMC products and I am sure you would agree are an acquired taste ( as are Vins when all said and done) and need some sympathetic treatment. I got into old bikes by reading PEI tuning for speed with the idea of wringing a bit more performance from a Bantam. In that famous tome he mentioned Rudges and I then overheard of a good runner for sale, went for it and at £35 was way over my apprentices budget. I was obviously so crestfallen at this the vendor took pity and said as he pointed to a leaky old shed." There is most of an Ulster in there. Give me ten pounds (still a lot of money even then) and help yourself", and hurry up, I leave for OZ in a fortnight! The long restoration process started there and I learned that beautiful quality Brit bikes with plenty of go in them were made in the thirties.
The restored machine took to the road in the mid eighties after loads of expensive restoration (for me anyway) and I loved it.
But what the hell chance does any such interested youngster have of following that path now? Sorry, I've had it with all the lectures about market values, I do have a grasp of basic economics after all, but the whole 'wots it worth' caper makes me puke, Its an old motorbike for goodness sake! I fear our young enthusiast will ultimately depart from a realistically unattainable goal, and if he persists with bikes (after all the test rigmarole) stick to the stuff obtainable at realistic and achievable values and his MGB's