Triumphrat

Originally Posted by Gob-ny-geay

I did.

I was looking very seriously at 67-69 Bonnevilles, as well as a nice 75 Norton Commando. I was trying to convince myself that the rebuild would be "fun", and a "nice hobby".

Then I clearly remembered the 3 MGB rebuilds I had done over the years (one I still have). Fun, but mucho $$$ thrown into the wind, with a huge loss in $$$ on resale. You certainly don't profit from restoring old British cars anyway. Guys with seemingly endless amounts of cash that turn these cars into Trophy Trailer Queens are also destroying the hobby.

Then I also remembered the '67 Triumph I had in College during the early '70's. A four year old bike that was temptingly cheap to buy, and totally shot. I was stone broke during those school years, so duct tape, plenty of discount K-Mart Oil and coat-hanger wire were the main repair methods. I repaired it at least as often as I rode it.

Then I realised that the roads in the USA, particularly around Northern Illinois, are no longer forgiving to vehicle breakdowns, or pull-offs anymore, and one needs to maintain 80-85 MPH or get run over.

Vintage bikes are also getting out of control price-wise. Too few decent bikes anymore, and an over-abundance of guys wanting to restore 'em. Supply Vs. Demand = Big $$$ for a good running example.

I instead bought a new Bonneville Black, and have nothing but 100% praise for it. Zero problems, starts, runs, goes over 100 MPH with ease, much more than I had hoped for.

Now, having said all that, if you HAVE a reliable, modern bike, you could always pick up an older Triumph, like my old '67, as a basket case and have at it. This way, at least you've always got a guaranteed runner in case of emergency.

The old Meriden bikes are definitely great icons, and can be made into wonderful, reliable bikes what with todays sealants, upgraded ignitions, oil filters, better gasketing and machining, better modern materials, etc. Love'em! But...

My fault really - at my age you prefer to just push the start button and ride. I had enough black grease under my fingernails when I was younger buck. The philosophy is, I COULD do that... but I don't want to anymore!

But I secretly scan the Want-Ads and Ebay when the missus isn't looking!

Originally Posted by WetSparks

Not sure if this is going to work but here goes!

I couldn't post an image of me Tiger 90 before, I was in hospital and the Patientline console was just c**p



Hoping to get some work done on it this year, strip down and repaint frame and convert it to a proper bike colour (Black)

Originally Posted by Keith G

Wye aye, bonnie lad - thass loovly, that is!

(Leave the colour alone, btw....)