aceaceca,
another member of the forum that doesnt sit on his brains and understands what is going on in the states but is I fear an optimist
clamp007
go ahead by the freakin thing by your posts I think you have aready decided to do so. you seem to want to by this bike for large bucks because it was/is owned by a well known old actor. Big freakin deal. For this reason you are willing to pay AT LEAST 50percent premium for what WILL turn into a money pit. (You got more money than me thats for sure.) Listen to what people on this forum have to say re the value of this bike not to some guy in Hollywood. Just cause you had a couple of Hinckleys dont mean you gonna get along with an old Triumph. By the way double whatever price you have at the end of the week.
if it sat for a while it might not be as bad off as you think...
the smoke.. did it clear after a bit?
perhaps the bike had wet-sumped due to prolong storage..
often a dead battery would give marginal spark, and thus idle problems...
was the fuel fresh? oily points?
if the bike had all the work claimed, including a fresh top end, it ought not smoke.. (unless wet sumped from storage)..
i'd take it for a second opinion to your fella who knows english bikes...
but all said and done this bike sounds to me like a $2,500-4,500 project.. -j
From my experience Kadutz is right. It will turn into a money pit no matter what condition it's owner claims it's in. An old Triumph is a labour of love. I'm almost at the $10k mark on mine...after much kicking, screaming and hair pulling. It'll be worth it in the end but you need to understand what you're getting yourself into. You yourself said it wouldn't kick, smoked out the head and pipes, kept wanting to die, lights don't work, speedo/tach not working, etc... Sounds like a project bike but I could be wrong. All I'll say is buyer beware.
I had a 71 Tiger 650 that I put 30 or 40 thousand miles on. While I enjoyed the bike at the time I could never get over the feeling that it could quit on me at any moment.
I know that feeling well but I'm finally starting to get over it.
Before even reading all the other posts, I'd say i want to at least see detail pix first.
Regardless of whether it looks really good, it doesn't sound like a $10K bike to me, maybe $5K if the carbs clean up and the smoke clears.
If the seller won't come down on that price, his widow may end up selling it for $3k later. This is not meant disrespectfully, but for $10K the bike should be a great runner and nearly totally original.
You should be able to find a decent condition 60's or 70's Triumph for around $3500. I paid $1200 for my 72' Bonneville but I probably spent $1500 on it in parts and plenty of my time.
Here are some pics. That's my buddy sitting on it. I took it to the vintage dealer today & paid him to do a compression check & look at a few things. Needs about $1400 worth of work, like valve adjustment, a full tune-up, clutch cable, instrument rebuild, fork seals & carb service etc. The dealer says it's worth about 6K, & then less the 1400 I'm gonna spend on it, so I'll offer 4600.
Oh & it's a TR6 C!
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