5 Affordable Classic British Motorcycles

This time we ask
do ypu need to be rich to own a classic motorcycle
or are the machines that remain relatively affordable ?

[@IgorM1170]

The Oily framed A65, appear to get universally 'slagged off', i rode one a couple of years ago and it handled better than most modern bikes. Fast enough for modern traffic, and looked great for 1971. Easily worked on and you can get any parts you like 'off the shelf'...nowt wrong with them😊!

[@bikerdood1100]

It’s a total mystery, dito the Triumph some guy epwhod bpnever actually ridden one tried to convince me they didn’t corner, we knew better because we owned one course

[@highdownmartin]

@@bikerdood1100they handle fantastic! A great frame!

[@Ian-xt1mb]

As a 14 year old I started with a 197 Fanny Barnett around the field. Loads of fun, apart from starting it! That was in 1964 and I paid 4 pounds for it.

[@bikerdood1100]

4 quid . Dam I often wonder why you hardly ever see a stroker with electric start not even Japanese

[@Shimshams]

I had a fran Barnet 197 at around 1968/9 for across the fields , wish I still had it

[@bikerdood1100]

@@Shimshams 👍🏻

[@rickh8380]

Another great collections of old bikes. Thanks for all of the time it takes you to make these possible. Cheers

[@bikerdood1100]

It’s great to have our work appreciated but we do it for the love of the bikes The real stars ⭐️of the show

[@jcnorth]

Yet again a good round up of affordable bikes with character. Thanks again.

[@bikerdood1100]

Thanks

[@richardparkersmith4810]

I love my 1971 OIF A65 Lightning. Easy to work on and very pleasant to ride in today's traffic. Spares are very easy to come by.

[@bikerdood1100]

They have a lot in their favour Even better they ain’t popular so are reasonably priced At the moment

[@dumptrump3788]

Oh how I miss walking down Deansgate in Manchester during the early-mid 70s, with motorbike dealer after motorbike dealer that had rows of fold Brit bikes lined up for ten or 20 quid. Exchange & Mart had pages of Brit bikes for sale, all dirt cheap even by the prices of the time.

[@bikerdood1100]

Not any more Biking is dying a slow death it seems

[@mikedowd2094]

Knott Mill end of course. That was always motor trade for many years (big Rootes Group depot behind Knott Mill..now renamed Deansgate railway station..towering high rise apartments now of course). Don't forget Jack Bottomley's too..originally Strangeways end of things he ended up just off Greengate on the Salford side of town..Garden Lane/John St?..anyhow all that too is now gone under..you guessed it..trendy apartment blocks put up by Chinese and Saudi speculating spivs for folk who prefer tofu to Triumphs and polenta to Panthers). And of course just a few miles north there was "Sid's Place" in Radcliffe. All gone as you say. Change indeed..but at the loss of so much identity and character.

[@markellott5620]

@@bikerdood1100 Yet as a motorcycle instructor, my diary is booked several weeks ahead and I'm constantly busy with DAS training. In Bristol, we are one of several schools covering the city and surrounding areas and we are desperate for new instructors to fill the demand.

[@charlesdouglas2877]

Brings back great memories as an ex BSA apprentice

[@bikerdood1100]

Amazing good to hear from you

[@buxvan]

I bought a 1970 BSA Royal star 500 in 1982 for £350 with mot & tax. I think the best looking model with chrome mudguards & 8” TLS Front brake. No problem with the timing side bush but wet dumping instead. Still have it & will get it back on the road soon. Great video.

[@bikerdood1100]

Wet dumping is a thing especially with multi grade oils On my A10 I leave the sump plug loose and pinch it it before I ride I leave a hug to catch the oil and if it’s clean it’s re usable of course Got the idea. From a bike mag

[@carlarthur4442]

One of my mates has just purchased a Royay Enfield 1962 , 250 cc to tinker with as a winter project , i still ride a B M W k75c 36 years old ive had it for 16 years great bike , but looking for a lighter bike now at 73 getting it in and out of the gate is a bit of an uphill effort . 👌 great video thanks .

[@bikerdood1100]

Nice 👍

[@Lanes-Explorer5733]

You've been busy BD. I had an A65 for 10 years and it was very reliable. Easy to work on with a good design of frame. It did vibrate from 55 to 65 but smooth enough either side. I rather fancy a T140 Triumph Tiger - perhaps I need to keep a lookout...

[@bikerdood1100]

Got a bit of a backlog at the moment following our trips to Normand and Scotland

[@georgemorrison6689]

Great video love the Triumph 750, I would like to find one like you have in the video, keep up the great work

[@bikerdood1100]

Thanks Glad you enjoyed it

[@-old-school-motorcyclesltd]

Great set of bikes 👏 My a65 star twin has plenty of power and pretty reliable no oil leaks Another cracking video 👌👌

[@bikerdood1100]

Thanks 🙏

[@chrissmith2114]

I had a Matchless G12-CSR in late 1960's and that thing could vibrate, hence the thick rubber footrest covers... Used to turn my fingers white in colder weather.... Riding a Suzuki SV-650 now and smooth as butter all through rev range - right up to 10.5K red line.

[@bikerdood1100]

Had two SVs one the years Not quite as smooth as butter but pretty good all the same Electrical system isn’t great quality and gets dodgy with age That said considering the budget they are very good bikes

[@williamnethercott4364]

Full marks for mentioning the AMC twins. They are usually overlooked but they're good machines.

[@bikerdood1100]

As if I’d forget them 😂

[@williamnethercott4364]

I felt sure I could rely on you but don't go thinking I'm obsessed with AMC, I'm very fond of Ariel and Triumph too (although I've never been lucky enough to own an Ariel).

[@icooper5236]

I had a 1966 A65 Thunderbolt 12volt electrics the headlamp would have brought down the Luftwaffe my mate hated being in front of me as it was blinding. Unfortunately due to circumstances I had to sell her,said mate now owns the bike and he was with me the day I purchased it 30+ years ago.She had 8000miles when I bought her and she was used as every day transport lovely thing to ride

[@bikerdood1100]

😂 Non ironically my old 2002 Triumph had a rubbish headlight

[@alexanderpotts7308]

I'm 5 foot 8 inches and had no problem with either the 71 oil in frame BSA or Triumph Bonnie. People at the time were used to the earlier bikes which had a lower seat

[@bikerdood1100]

Was definitely over played seems

[@SSV-i-c-e]

I’ve always liked the o.i.f Beezas but been put off by the bush problems.my first British bike was a triumph tiger tr7rv .i took it to the drags and run a13.4. 92mph quarter on it!.i rank the Brit’s ive owned as Norton commando 750mk11 then mk111 then the tiger over the Bonnie as it was easier to tune and no slower than the Bonnie’s i run with.i still have a 55 James captain i hope to restore and my 1st m/c memories are on a mid 50s sun.good video hi from New Zealand 🇳🇿

[@bikerdood1100]

Bush problems Just keeping changing the oil

[@borderlands6606]

Later Thunderbolts with American styling are very nice.

[@bikerdood1100]

Hmmm🤔

[@velocettedude]

A good analysis of the bikes, one thing i would disagree with is that the unit 500 Triumph vibrate a lot. I run a 1973 Triumph Daytona which was a re import back from the USA and they were sent there lower geared than the u.k. bikes. I upped the gearing to 19 tooth from 18 tooth and it made the world of difference. I did fit map billet rods and had the crank dynamically balanced and the only vibration is lower down the rev range which isn't at all bad, as you get faster it really smooths out and almost zero vibration. I also for my sins have a 1970 BSA Firebird Scrambler with the hi pipes and i have yet to put that one on the road. I have also just subscribed. Cheers.

[@bikerdood1100]

We had a Uk bike At 70 very buzzy Above that worse Chatted with a couple of 500 owners who made the same observation

[@jonny46ba]

wow...4/5 on this selection.. well nearly... My first ever motorcyle memory was riding on the tank of my dads 650 Bonnie.. but it was actually slighly earlier than the ones you featured.. and it started out as a Tiger, but dad Bonivilised it.. he was quite the amatuer mechanic.. actually had my first motorcyle accident in it... Dad put a sidecar on it so we could use it as a family of four.. made beds for me and my older brother in the sidecar and Mum would go pillion. Apparently, on the way down to cornwall on holiday, a car pulled out in front of us in Bodmin and we hit it.. I say apparently,because I slept through the entire episode. Then there was the LE. NoddyBike. Dad had one of those too, I can't remember being on it though, and eventually he gave it away to a guy from thhe AA, because they wanted to put it in a museum.. in return all they gave him was a slightly out of date road atlas. A villiers 197 was my first ever bike. It was £25.. started out as a James Captain, but you would never really know by looking as it was completely stripped down, leaving just tank and a home made seat... My first go on it was a run up the lane near our house onto a bit of Dartmoor. After bimbling around on it Dad suggested I try a little jump.. I mis understood what he was saying and rode up a hill and came back down as fast as I could get the little bugger to go.. Full throttle in third (top) gear, I hit the jump and flew.. what I thought was about 50 feet.. but was probably only about 10.. scared myself a bit and rode back to Dad beaming.. He was freaking out.. he only meant to go over the jump up hill in first or second. When we got home and stripped the bike we found the top frame tube was completely in two pieces! Later in its life, Dad got his trusty old "tuning for speed" book, and filed away the ports a bit and welded a beautiful motocross style expasion exhaust for it.. I don't really think it increased the performance much.. but it wasn't slower either and it did sound better. Lastly the A65.. Dad bought one of those when I was in my late teens. Dad let me take it out quite often, and although at the time, I was into LCs and X7s, I did find it surprisingly enjoyable in a ploddy sort of way. It was a 1965 one I think,, Had single carb and 2 into 1 exhaust, not entirely sure on actual model, Think it was a Rocket, Dad had put one of those DIY electronic ignition kts on it, and electrics were actually OK.. Dad owed me some money some years later, and since he hadn't riden it much he gave me the bike. I ran it for a while, but it wasn'treally my thing, so eventually traded it for some central heating with a plumber mate.. This selection brought back some great memories. Thanks

[@bikerdood1100]

One of our first old bikes was the Excelsior in the video £126, a bargain All gone a bit crazy these days though

[@simonsadler9360]

Great remembering your dad's bike . My first experience aged 8 was with my lovely dad on his Douglas Dragonfly, now try finding one , he never did a thing to hurt me , both my elder & younger sisters now tell me they were jealous. , with Simone & Susan , we were all S S . Fancy me pasing my test first time in Chelmsford Essex on a grumpy Piatti scooter, then onto a cheap ( year 1963 ) Gold Flash , lie there ,an Indian apprentice at Cromptons in Chelmsford gave me a Rayleigh moped that I tuned up by replacing the standard head gasket with a thin sheet copper one , on the flat well over the top mark of the speedo, the same on a Mobylette I have in Spain, Heat mounted on my 85 year old L5 Harrison lathe, to skim @ 30 thou off ! At Cromptons the photographer Peter Glaser , always swapping one bike for another , last was a Norton 600 cc single , paid £ 10 . He gave me a Velocette KTS 350 , no wheels , sold it £16 , tomorrow if the weather is good my Spanish companion MariCarmen & I go to the next village east Beniarres . Always loads of bikes there , when it's safe they overtake us ( 2004 Suzuki Alto car) at high speeds , never seen an accident , always have a chat with them in Spanish. If you can afford the insurance look at the price of a Hayabusa , 20% of the price of the latest 450 kg Hardly Worthit !

[@bikerdood1100]

@@simonsadler9360 it’s a tough old life 😂

[@gvinrad]

Wow ! You threw a curve ball in there with the LE, having worked on a couple of those & one of the fully faired versions as well I have to say how gutless they are. Especially so with the 150's, but they are very smooth to ride. I have a brace of 1955 Francis Barnett Falcon 70's which have the Villiers 8E 197cc engine, I also have amongst my fleet of 11 a 1975 MZ es150/1 & a CZ 175 Trail. These have all been purchased as part of my ability to keep riding into my dotage when my big bikes are too heavy to be hauling around, have you made a video yet of small capacity single cylinder 2-strokes that won't break the bank ?

[@bikerdood1100]

Well fast they ain’t But it’s essentially late 40s tech remember

[@jasonhill4094]

You have got to love the madness of Velocette and the LE(I am seriously thinking of buying one), Velocette built an air cooled version called the Valliant, supposedly to give it more street cred. However they basically built a new bike in the process. Now for the money this would have cost they should have built the bike as a 350cc, then used the old stroke and bore trick to make a 250cc, effectively giving Velocette 2 bikes in both the learner and senior markets. Nobody wanted an expensive 200cc bike, bit 250cc was top of the shop in the learner bike department and 350 at this time were popular, they could also get away with charging more money in the higher cc categories

[@JR-bj3uf]

I love the t140 bikes. They got the steering right and the styling right after the T120 disasters in the early 70s. The t140 has great brakes, good carburation and the later versions had Lucas EI.

[@bikerdood1100]

Definitely a fan then 👍🏻

[@SirBeauJangles]

The AMC twins had quite a name for a while for snapping cranks. That's not an easily shed rep. The nodular crank supposedly cured it, but that issue should never have made it to production. Might be the reason for reluctance in allowing mags to test ride them.

[@bikerdood1100]

The crank fracture reputation is largely from competition And I’d really to do with the G45 racer. Their relationship with the press was nothing to do with the twins and went much further back

[@martinburke362]

If you can get hold of one the very late model 82/83 short stroke TR65, 650s are the rarest and the smoothest Triumph twins ever made you just won't believe how smooth they are at 70mph

[@bikerdood1100]

Those late short stroke 650s are lovely but not exactly common Think I’ve seen one for sale in the last few years

[@ducatobeing]

Lovely! I must admit to being an admirer of the A50 and A65, they were such good looking bikes.

[@bikerdood1100]

Tue Much under appreciated

[@shingerz]

Good video 👍

[@bikerdood1100]

Thanks

[@iandusud]

I rebuilt a Matchless G12CSR engine for a client. Quite a job to set up the crank properly but the end result was a very fast and smooth engine. I've also rebuilt a G11 for another client. I really like AMC bikes but those twins are seriously underbraked and therefore unsuitable for modern traffic IMO. They use the same front brake as the 350 singles (which are lovely bikes BTW). There's no point in having the sort of performance that the G12CSR offers, along with it's weight, without decent braking. You either potter around at speeds that are more suited to a 350 single or you scare yourself witless. My pick of your selection would be the TR7 and the LE.

[@bikerdood1100]

It’s hard to find a 50s bike with good brakes My BSA has terrible stoppers Just have to plan ahead 😂

[@iandusud]

​@@bikerdood1100 Whilst I certainly agree that you have to ride within the limits of the brakes it really makes riding something like a G12CSR very frustrating. You can have a lot more fun and go faster on a lighter bike that brakes better. I am singling out the AMC twins here as being particularly bad in this department. The later ones with Norton Roadholder forks had much better braking. I had BSA M21 with a single sided 7" front brake that was fantastic, so not all 50s bikes had poor braking.

[@whiteonggoy7009]

Villiers engines started at around £15 in the exchange and mart about 1968... those was the days.

[@bikerdood1100]

No longer unfortunately 😂

[@theatheobhv]

Hej, I noticed hefty flickering in several videos as soon as you go inside and the room is lightened by flourescent lamps. You might want to get rid of this. Flickering light often occur when the frame rate of you camera and the frequency of the power line aren’t the same or at least a multiple. This means, if the power line works at 50 hz and your camera operates at 30 or 60 frames per second the image will flicker. Try a frame rate of 25 or 50 if possible and the flicker will disappear. Btw: Again a great and interesting video.

[@bikerdood1100]

Yes bloody museum Definitely try it

[@theatheobhv]

@@bikerdood1100 works with most LED as well

[@simonsadler9360]

Very few brit bikes in Spain , now not published we had a magazine Motocyclism Classicos , lots of free ads at the end, throughout my reading of it , probably 3 years 2 Velocette L.E 190, € 1,000 . Will look at the last few I had & see if they are still for sale , the Douglas Dragonfly like my dad had years ago , incredible price . Now at 79 my nearly complete Suzuki gsx600 f too heavy for me , the now retired garage owner ( has a Suzuki rotary ) is finding me a 250cc as a swap.. He has a completely restored L.H.D Mini . & some really rare cars , he used to play the Tuba in the Gaianes village band .

[@bikerdood1100]

Shame there’s so few as the climate there is perfect for biking

[@Honkawsuzyamal]

What about the sinclair c5 in the background of the Triumph video?

[@bikerdood1100]

I know Would be kind of cool to try one Scary though, those things are properly low 😆

[@philipbrackpool-bk1bm]

When it comes to old bikes and cars the one word guaranteed to piss me off is investment.

[@bikerdood1100]

Agreed

[@josettevaljean6557]

Nah, that's OK; I can't stand "original" as if any old bike still had the original tyres, brake shoes and clutch...

[@highdownmartin]

A few months back there was a T110 engined triton in a wide line frame on eBay. All there , dark green, bit scruffy ,needed recommissioning but judging by the pics it would have been an enjoyable, inexpensive few days. It was assembled as a triton mid sixties so was absolutely not a chrome stunner but the sort that could have been on the cover of motorcycle mechanics in 1969. Three and a half grand. Now that seems like a bargain, just because it’s technically a bitsa.

[@bikerdood1100]

Who cares if it is a bitsa if it rides well and looks good Biking is supposed to be about individuality after all so nice one You should video it

[@highdownmartin]

@@bikerdood1100 a match ing numbers pre unit bonnie would be three times that , so it’s those kind of bikes that are super good value.

[@jasonhill4094]

Villiers made good little engines, but I know some of the manufacturers wanted them to develop their engines to make more power, but Villiers wouldn't, this and the cost of the engines led AMC to build their own 2 stroke engines for a while before returning to Villiers. Those last of the line BSA's are my favourite bikes, love the power set bikes, just a pity BSA was beset by production problems in 71 and the bikes were too late to the US market, lovely bikes the B25 and B50 bikes were stylish enduros. BSA were bang on the money with them imo

[@bikerdood1100]

There’s no doubt the break down in relations with AMC was disastrous for both ultimately and the time coming at the end of the 50s and into the early 60s collapse of the Uk bike market could not have been worse

[@clangerbasher]

I wanted to get into AJS as that was the brand dad rode back in the day. But an inability to change gears means I don't think it will happen. I happy in the scooter world.

[@bikerdood1100]

Alas

[@clangerbasher]

@@bikerdood1100 Bless

[@willieckaslike]

Thanks for sharing. To an old fart like me, they bought back many memories !

[@bikerdood1100]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@michaeltruscott9443]

When I was fourteen I had a hi Kawasaki and a Honda cl100

[@bikerdood1100]

Different 👍

[@ianrichards4907]

never mind the content , reading the subtitles had me in fits !

[@bikerdood1100]

It’s all relative Like your comment for some would be relatively humorous but for most people. Less so 😂

[@wasfu2194]

how about showing a 1963 triumph cub.

[@bikerdood1100]

Planning a video on sub 250 Brit bikes soon

[@nickcoppard5335]

A65 1962 ?

[@bikerdood1100]

Yep The star came out in 1962 and ran along the the a10 series

[@patriotofgod9827]

Isn't AMC the new Harley?

[@bikerdood1100]

Nope

[@vanman6368]

I'll take a T140/TR7 over any of them any day.

[@bikerdood1100]

We liked our TR7 a lot

[@peterparsons3297]

Oil in frame BSA what happened, did they have spare engines and stick them in a triumph frame, neither triumph or BSA

[@bikerdood1100]

Developed the frames together as a sensible rationalisation but then the The triumph engine didn’t fit and BEEZA was a bit tight Not their finest moment A good frame however

[@martingardener7747]

I very much enjoyed your video , and so civilised in its presentation! No ghastly music, so loud you cant hear the commentary - probably a good thing. No histrionics or hysteria from would- be celebrities, what a refreshing change. I could have happily listened for a couple of hours at least. My favourite bike of all time, and ive had some very exotic, powerful stuff, was an M21 BSA. It was intrinsically satisfying even at 25mph. Theoretically it could do 62mph but at the risk of numbed fingers, hands, wtists, elbows - your whole body actually. As always accept it for what it is and dont exceed 45. I regularly did 200m runs down the old A30 to Cornwall at night, with the road to myself. Yes, of course it was slow, but it didnt matter! And it was uttetly, utterly reliable, if a little small for me frame- wise. Best wishes to you for firther films; i am now an official addict. Very well done!

[@bikerdood1100]

@@martingardener7747 well sometimes I use music if the engine sound hasn’t come through Oh I don’t drink enough coffee for all that nonsense nor am a presenter on kids TV 😂