- Okay I'm gonna give you a list of bikes
that I think are affordable.
Okay.
Simplicity. The Triumph Tiger 90.
Tiger 90 is the 350 Triumph twin.
Very underrated.
It's a 350 Twin.
It can be made into a 500,
changing barrels and pistons and the rods.
But as the 350 it's the baby Bonneville.
It's a great looking little bike.
That is one bike.
So there was another brother to that one
which is called the 3TA.
which is another twin.
Very nice little bike.
Slightly heavier mud guards on it.
But a nice bike.
The Tiger 100.
Was the 500 Triumph,
single carburetor.
Very good bike.
Now these bikes like the 350 and the 500,
they don't make the money a 650 or 750 Triumph makes.
So if you're looking for a Triumph twin,
don't be put off by the low capacity.
Okay. It's not going to be a road burner,
but you'll have a lot of fun.
It's as we said,
it's not all about speed.
But a Tiger 100 is obviously a 500,
that's got a bit more poke.
But a 350 is a great little bike.
And if you wanted to upgrade it to a 500 you can.
So going on to BSA.
More affordable is this model.
Which is the A65.
Or you go for the 850 to 500 twin.
Good range of bikes.
Again,
the various models as you know,
Thunderbolt.
Lightning. Spitfire.
There are several others.
But the Thunderbolt being single carburetor,
you can't go wrong with.
You've only got one carb.
And the difference in power between a single carb
and a twin carb is not a great deal.
So you have those two bikes.
Now A10,
which I do like and most people like,
are a more expensive bike to pick up now.
They're going for quite high money
because the pre unit is what everyone wants really.
They're are fifties bike really.
I say fifties just into the sixties.
So you had the A10. The 650.
The A7 the 500. Various models of that as well.
The Gold Flash. The 650 Iron Head engine.
That's a good bike.
Because it's low tech.
Iron engine. Iron cylinder head.
It's not like the Rocket Gold Star with an alloy head.
You can pick those up and they're a good work bike.
They will use the sidecar work as well.
But a good A10 you really can't go wrong with really.
Looking at single cylinders.
Four strokes. Affordable.
A B40. Military used those for a while.
It's like a bigger brother of the C15.
The C15 I started with.
It's my old uncle's bike was a 250 BSA,
1964. They were quite a good engine.
They weren't bad.
But later on they'd become a B25 and they weren't so good.
I don't think, the bottom end wasn't as strong.
But it's good on C15.
You won't go wrong with nice little bike. Light.
It's like I said you get a bit older,
you want a lighter bike.
Don't be put off by a little tiny 250.
Or as I'm gonna mention in a moment some two strokes.
So those bikes really,
I would say the Triumphs,
that range of bike is quite affordable.
Against an A10.
A10 you're gonna pay probably quite a lot more for really,
so look out for Triumphs.
They're so easy to work on.
Two strokes.
The Bantam. 125 to 175.
Various models as you know.
Good little bike and really that's a good bike
to cut your teeth on.
With all two strokes,
if you understand the two-stroke engine,
it's very little parts moving around inside.
You got a crank shaft the con rod and the piston.
It's really all there is to it.
But you have to make sure
that cranks shaft seals are in good order.
And you know if you're know anything about two strokes,
but you learn very quickly.
So BSA done the Bantan.
Francis Barnett.
Now Francis Barnett was another two stroke.
A lot of their engines were Villiers.
But they also used AMC. Were okay.
But the Villiers engine was good.
Another good bike. Underrated.
Pick them up quite cheap still.
So moving onto the James.
The James used really a lot of Villiers engines again.
Nice little two stroke. Lot of twins at that time.
And then we look at Ariel.
Now Ariel as we all know,
done a lot of single cylinders,
Arial Square Four. Some twins as well.
It's a good bike it's done some good single cylinders
like 350's 500's.
I had an WNG 1941. Ex-Nigerian Army.
That was great bike.
Got a forks ridge in your back end.
And then Royal Enfield.
Now Royal Enfield is as you know,
it's doing really well now.
You know it's carried on.
India took over the manufacturer
of the Royal Enfield from us.
And of course now you have the new model, the twin.
The Interceptor.
Really good model of bike.
But the old ones are good.
You know they've done some nice bikes.
You know.
A lot of 350's about.
The ones made in India there's nothing wrong with them.
Some 350's. 500's.
But the new twins,
if you want something,
maybe this might be a way to go.
If you're not always looking at an old bike,
why don't you go for retro.
Why don't you go for a modern bike
which has got the retro look.
So Royal Enfield I think is top of list there.
Triumph to do a few,
but the Royal Enfield I think is,
for it's value for money is good.
But I've given you a list there really.
And what I would say,
if you wanted a Bonneville and couldn't afford a Bonneville,
go for a Tiger 90.
It has the same look. Exactly. Just a little bit smaller.
But yeah there's a range of bikes if we'd have a look at.