Fuel Tanks

ah_sprite

Forum User
VOC Member
Thanks for the quick reply.

Yes, Cubs and Bantams could be a good choice, seeing as parts etc are easily available andh there's a big following for them!
I also love the idea of a Daytona, again, beautiful styling and a great sound!

Not a huge fan of the Ariel Arrow, its styling doesn't do a lot for me to be honest.

Not sure about the Velocette LE, though! :p Not really my thing..!
 
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Tnecniv Edipar

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Non-VOC Member
Ok , got an idea of your preferences now. Will post up some more suggestions later. As you like the Daytona though , a cheaper option would be the Triumph 21 , almost the same machine but cheaper to buy as the London West End lot don't like them !!
 

Tnecniv Edipar

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Non-VOC Member
£1500 should get you a nice one. Another Triumph option would be a Tiger 90 twin , again 350 like the 21 but styling closer to the Daytona , and price similar to the 21.
 

Len Matthews

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VOC Member
The fact that AH Sprite is only sixteen and owns two sports cars which presumably he will drive under supervision when he reaches seventeen on a provisional licence highlights the situation facing novice motorcyclists. At sixteen, one can apply for M/C provisional licence but are restricted to a 50cc machine. Twelve months later you are allowed a 125. You can't go beyond that until you have taken a training course (CBT) for which there is a charge and the DOT Driving Test. I have nothing against that;training must be good thing. My point is why aren't novice car drivers required to do the same?
At present there nothing to stop a seventeen year old from taking to the road in something very powerful provided he's got a qualified driver with him and displaying L plates.
Having had a moan about that, I hope AH Sprite will keep up his enthusiasm for Vincents-I wanted one from the age of eleven!:)
 
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Tnecniv Edipar

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Non-VOC Member
Practically there is a restriction on the type of car a learner can drive , insurance cost !! Unless he or she has very wealthy (and stupid !) parents they won't be able to insure anything pokey !! Agreed though , there should be a formal limit on the performance of any vehicle a learner or recently qualified driver can use.
 

ah_sprite

Forum User
VOC Member
Yes, insurance is a real worry for all youngsters.
However, I've discovered that Footman James can insure me on my two MGs for a very reasonable amount, on classic car insurance.
It's so cheap for a number of reasons:

1) anyone with any interest in historic or classic vehicles is likely to respect their car, and therefore drive it more carefully

2) Someone that's my age with a car like the ones I've got are unlikely to make a claim if they write it off, as when the insurance came around the next year, it'd be ridiculous!

I know many people who pay up to and over £2k to insure their 1.2 Corsas and Saxos for a year, while I'll be paying in the region of £800 for two cars, under my own name.
 

johncrispin

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VOC Member
enthusiast

Hang on in there young fella ! Stay close to your fellow club members and get your bike test sorted. Heartwarming to see one so young, in the club. I did not think a twin Vin was achievable but managed to buy one, and not at a silly price.( I will tell you about it if you send a PM) Much of the above advice I would agree with and the AMC motorcycles are well provided for spares wise and are as undervalued as Vins are overvalued. My only dislike of the AMC products from the 60's is the unit singles, a total disaster of a motorcycle. I speak from experience of a Model 8 AJS, although I suppose they can be sorted, a decent set of flywheels might make a good start. The non unit singles are excellent, sound as a bell. Personally I would steer clear of two strokes especially British other than perhaps the Bantam which has DKW lineage.
 

johncrispin

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VOC Member
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
 
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