I'm a child of the 70's, and I've known what I wanted my motorbike to look like since I was about 5. This bike is it, but with a seat like the above! The guy I'm getting it off is going to give me the original steel mudguard too, which will support a seat better, and there's a chap on another site selling a suitable king and queen. All I'd need them would be a nice sissy bar and a pad. Of course, a fabulous one piece job like that would be even better, but this would get me on the road for cheaper, and quicker. Been drawing up a list of bicycles to sell.
This may not look like much, but it's a 1940 Bates BAR, and it was about the best bike in the world when it was made. The tubing is specially drawn 531, called Cantiflex, thicker in the middle, thinner at the ends, and those forks are called Diadrant forks, Bates claimed better handling and slightly better damping, but in reality, they were just a way round the club racing regs that forbid any logos - easy to identify a Bates! This one has a 4 speed Sturmey Archer FM medium ratio hub, top level club kit at the time, and the adjustable Major Taylor style stem is worth money too. I love it, but it's in need of restoration, and even then, it wouldn't fit me.
I'll be sad to see this go too, but it's also too small. It's a Nigel Dean road frame which I built up fixed gear, with a deep drop track stem, and it looks SO cool.
This is a Raleigh Gran Sport, used to be all Campagnolo, but I parted it out, and sold the Campy for more than I paid for the bike. Would have sold the frame too, but the seatpost is stuck at my height, so I kept it, and rebuilt it with Shimano Golden Arrow kit instead, with a vintage Wrights leather saddle, moustache bars, leather bar wrap. Again, I love it, but it's not getting any riding. I just hope the stuck seatpost doesn't hurt the price too much!
This little beastie is my Downtube Mini. It's a tiny bit too small for my 6'3, and my 18 stone plus luggage means I'm constantly popping rear spokes. Time for that to go, I guess.
If I REALLY have to, I'll also sell this. It's an unkown brand, chrome single speed. It's gorgeous, and fun to ride, and is the one I'll miss most if I do have to sell it.
Instead of the yellow tyres in the above pic, it now has white....
The first four ought to pay for my training, and getting ride of those plus a fridge freezer and leather chairs I've been looking after for a friend, and getting another bike rack up on the wall will create space to park the Honda. Then I've just got to figure out how to pay for insurance and gear......
You can see how bad my garage is here:
It's actually fuller than this now, and with different bikes, but you get the picture.....
This may not look like much, but it's a 1940 Bates BAR, and it was about the best bike in the world when it was made. The tubing is specially drawn 531, called Cantiflex, thicker in the middle, thinner at the ends, and those forks are called Diadrant forks, Bates claimed better handling and slightly better damping, but in reality, they were just a way round the club racing regs that forbid any logos - easy to identify a Bates! This one has a 4 speed Sturmey Archer FM medium ratio hub, top level club kit at the time, and the adjustable Major Taylor style stem is worth money too. I love it, but it's in need of restoration, and even then, it wouldn't fit me.
I'll be sad to see this go too, but it's also too small. It's a Nigel Dean road frame which I built up fixed gear, with a deep drop track stem, and it looks SO cool.
This is a Raleigh Gran Sport, used to be all Campagnolo, but I parted it out, and sold the Campy for more than I paid for the bike. Would have sold the frame too, but the seatpost is stuck at my height, so I kept it, and rebuilt it with Shimano Golden Arrow kit instead, with a vintage Wrights leather saddle, moustache bars, leather bar wrap. Again, I love it, but it's not getting any riding. I just hope the stuck seatpost doesn't hurt the price too much!
This little beastie is my Downtube Mini. It's a tiny bit too small for my 6'3, and my 18 stone plus luggage means I'm constantly popping rear spokes. Time for that to go, I guess.
If I REALLY have to, I'll also sell this. It's an unkown brand, chrome single speed. It's gorgeous, and fun to ride, and is the one I'll miss most if I do have to sell it.
Instead of the yellow tyres in the above pic, it now has white....
The first four ought to pay for my training, and getting ride of those plus a fridge freezer and leather chairs I've been looking after for a friend, and getting another bike rack up on the wall will create space to park the Honda. Then I've just got to figure out how to pay for insurance and gear......
You can see how bad my garage is here:
It's actually fuller than this now, and with different bikes, but you get the picture.....
