Ducati Sporting Club UK > General > Idle Chat > Would you buy a British Classic ?

[Loz]

Mate of mine has a ten year old Daytona 900. It's done 100k miles, I'd settle for that! That's as old a bike as I'd have, but only if I'd had it from new.
I liking riding 'em, bvgger the mechanicking bit.

[webbyc]

I've actually got a british bike - 1959 Norton Dominator 99. It doesn't leak oil and handles fantasticaly. If you've not actually ridden an old bike, some people can't anyway because everything is the other way round, don't knock them, some of them might surprise you. Not from a stopping point of view because that's absolute shite, more from a handling perspective - the wideline featherbed frame is excellent, even compared to a lot of so called superior new bikes. Like dukes, british bikes have soul, they are not some faceless, heartless, lifeless rice burner. Also it helps keep the insurance costs down on the duke!!!!

[Eamonn]

Interesting responses so far !

I have to make a couple of points though;

1) Brit. bikes leak oil - only if they have come straight from the factory or if they haven't been assembled carefully! I knew a chap who on getting his (new) 1977 Triumph Jubilee immediately took it all apart and reground the mating surfaces before putting it back together 'properly'. His comment was that the factory didn't have time to assemble the castings with the correct tolerances and that's why they leaked oil. In my experience, talking and looking any a number of old classics, only the ones badly maintained leak oil.

2) They don't stop - that's very true, the brakes cannot complete with the modern discs. There are conversions to hydraulic front brakes that can be made to increase the braking performance - but you still have to anticipate traffic conditions a long way ahead! However on quiet country roads it's not a problem (by the way, you don't need to slow for corners - you're not going that fast anyway and handling can cope with it!).

3) They vibrate -yep - all twins and singles vibrate, but a properly dynamically balanced crank can reduce the vibration to modern acceptable standards. Twin carb twins often vibrate due to the carbs not being sychronised correctly - but that's not specific to Brit bikes.

4) They break down more frequently. Many years ago I would have agred with this but now I don't. Modern engineering processes and materials mean that replacement parts are much better quality than the originals - for example electronic ignition systems and 12V electrics are common place on the classics and therefore eradicate the poor starting and continual adjustment/correction of the engine timing. When I was riding Brit bikes, typically they were already 20 years old, I had little money to spend on them and consequently the fact they ran at all was a miracle! If you took a Jap bike made in the 70's and didn't spend money on it to keep it up to good standard, would it be reliable?


I'm not trying to defend the Brit. classics here, just trying to offer a different viewpoint. There are many aspects to biking and many different ways to enjoy yourself on 2 wheels. I consider myself lucky to have been able to experience both the classic Brit bikes as well as modern Japs IL4 and now Dukes.

One thing's for sure - with a Brit bike you'll always get someone come over for a chat about '... I used to have one of those....' - will we be the same in years to come when we spot an old 916 parked up????

[Henners]

will we be the same in years to come when we spot an old 916 parked up????

... but you have to beat them off with a stick when you park up an MV

[Loz]

Originally posted by Henners...when you park up an MV

Having to park up your MV happens at the most inopportune moments, if a recent Bike magazine roadtest is anything to go by!

[moto748]

Pretty much wot Eamonn said.

I ran a succession of Triumph T140's, and, latterly, two TR65's (a much sweeter bike), which Triumph should have made years earlier, but didn't in their usual hopeless way. I used them as daily transport, and went from a TR65 to my 750SS, and then to the 748.

The brakes were awful, but they were still a pleasure to ride. Didn't have problems with vibration causing bits to fall off on the TR65's, which run a short stroke, and hence smoother engine.

My main beef was/is the quality of the cycle parts, rather than the engine itself. The looms were rubbish (even if you bought a brand-new one. I ended up making large alrts of it myself), the speedos lasted 6 months max, the indicators (until the latest models which used BMW(!) ones, were rubbish, as were the ignition switches, and anyway the alternator wasn't powerful enough to flash the indicators if you had the lights on (even with the "high-power" alternator upgrade - a massive 180W!).

The clutches were marginal, and didn't last long. Sweet enough with a brand new cable, plates, basket etc., but they made my 748 clutch look long-lasting.

Would I ever have another?

I might be tempted by a tidy Gommando :cool; but they're frankly overpriced; the way the market's going these days, I could buy a mint 916 for the money they're going for.

[Edited on 5-10-2004 by moto748]

[888heaven]

there seems to be hundreds of pairs of rose tinted glasses out there.
fact if i had relied on my triumph to get to work 25 years ago i would of been sacked thank god i had a jap to fall back on.
how can you say that you could spend £1500 on a 750 jap bike that with regular oil changes would last 50000 miles plus and the same roughly for the triumph and have to replace or upgrade the wiring loom lights brakes switches etc.
what utter tosh the reason brit bikes died out is down to reliabilty same nearly happened to ducati if you recall.
bikes may be a leisure item now 20+ years ago they where transport first.
I love my duc becuase i can ride it ,you cant ride character unless its running.