Selecting a Veteran or Vintage Bike

---- Original Message ----

From:David Di Rado
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Subject: Selecting a Veteran or Vintage bike

Hi,
My name is Dave, I work for Two Wheels magazine. I am currently putting a story together about purchasing a second-hand Vintage or Veteran motorcycle. I was wondering if you could give me a bit of advice as to the direction to steer our readers in when it comes to getting into the scene.

I was particularly after what make and model of bike (pre 1915 and pre 1930) you would recommend to someone who is just starting out and any other hints and tips you may have for them.

Part of the article will be aimed at directing new players to clubs like yours as I feel that is their best resource for knowledge, so any help you could give me will be very appreciated.

Regards,
Dave Di Rado
staff writer

---- REPLY ----
From: Peter Toet
Fri, 21 Aug 2009

Hi Dave, Well, there would be about three pages to put together anything reasonable about decision making on the Make /Model/ etc, of pre 1915 and pre 1930 bikes. I don't have time to do that, so here are a few points for consideration.

Basically the main issues are:

PRE 1915: .....ABOVE ALL......MENTAL AND PHYSICAL TOUGHNESS:
Before anyone contemplates purchasing and riding a pre 1915 Motorbike I recommend that they should talk to someone who owns and rides one, and have a test ride on a very quiet backroad, if you are able to do so.

Most riders will find that pre 1915 Motorbikes are very dangerous to ride at any speed. They have very little in the way of brakes and suspension, none have front brakes and the rear brakes are very minimal in effectiveness.

Many bikes have no clutch or gearbox and you have to decompress and stop the engine at every set of lights or stop sign. The rider will then have to push the machine up to approx 10 km/h, release the engine decompressor as you swing onto the machine and hopefully the machinewill restart. There is no wrist throttle and the rider has to mix the engine air/fuel with two levers to control engine speed. There is also an advance and retard lever to control the engine timing, which acts as a secondary speed control for the engine.

You may also have to inject oil into the engine with a handpump every 10 miles or so, if the bike is not fitted with an engine oil drip feeder. The rider may also be required to assist the engine on steep hills by pedalling on some of the pre-1915 machines.

The machine is generally capable of around 80 km/h although the brakes can handle about 40 km/h, depending on the nerve of the rider.

IN SUMMARY THE RIDER OF A PRE 1915 MACHINE WILL NEED TO BE FAIRLY FIT AND VERY BRAVE, PARTICULARLY IN ANY MEASURE OF TRAFFIC: PUSH STARTING AN ALMOST OR OVER 100 YEAR OLD MOTORBIKE WITH TRAFFIC RUSHING PAST, 250MM FROM YOU AT 60-80 KM/H IS NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED.

MAKE AND MODEL OF BIKE: I would recommend an early Triumph 3.5hp for the beginner, (say someone with more than 10 years dirt and highway riding experience), mainly because they are reasonably priced at between $10K and $15K for a going bike, which should give reasonable service. A recently restored one would be around $A20K. Makes such as Indian or Harley or any other V Twin are generally much more expensive $A20K to $A40K and cost a lot more for repair parts, if you can find them. The Triumph single has lots of spares available and is a good reliable bike to start with.

PRE 1930 BIKES: The average pre 1930 bike has a front brake from 1925 for English and 1928 US. There is still not a lot of brake effectiveness but you are able to get the brakes working reasonably well, with softer linings etc. There is still very limited front and no rear suspension on these bikes. They have a hand throttle in most cases although some makers continued to offer air and fuel levers well into the mid 1920's. I would say that most motorbikes past 1915 have a clutch, some hand, some foot. The ability to keep the engine running when stopped at the lights is the biggest plus. The clutch dragging and gear selection clashing at the lights can be interesting as many gearboxes are not easy to operate. Clutch/gearbox operation is something that the rider has to develop a knack for. Most pre 1930 bikes have hand selection of gears, some on the left, some on the right.

MAKE AND MODEL OF BIKE: On the basis that Joe Average has older kids and a mortgage, I would recommend an English make of around 500cc. One can expect to purchase a good running older restoration BSA, Ariel, Triumph or Matchless for around $A10K to $A15K. If you start to look at any V-Twin bike of English or American make then you will start at around $A25K to $A35K for a reasonable machine. The pre-1930 bikes should cruise comfortably at around 80km/h with solo gearing and around 70km/h with sidecar gearing.

IN SUMMARY: My understanding of the risks in riding a modern motorbike is that the a bike rider is three times more likely to have an accident and eight times more likely to be injured than a car driver. This potential risk is probably greater for Veteran and Vintage motorbikes. However accidents with these machines are very rare, most probably due to the fact that anyone riding these machines is very cautious, highly motivated and generally a very experienced dirt and highway rider. I would urge anyone contemplating riding a Veteran or Vintage motorbike to be extremely cautious, possibly start with a Pre-1930 Vintage machine before trying a Veteran machine.

Best Regards,

Peter Toet,
President, VVCMCC of ACT Inc.
Fri, 21 Aug 2009