Bikes That I Have Always Wantd But It Never Happened!

This hunt for a nice Hinkley Triumph has brought old thoughts and dreams back to the fore and I have to be honest when the Hinkley Triumphs first appeared I was not a fan as they were not "Triumphs" from Meriden and looked more Jap than Brit yes I have mellowed out since then and the Hinkley bikes have established them selves well now. Here is a list of bikes that I always hankered after:-

Moto Guzzi S3 750
Honda CB77
BSA A7 and A10
Triumph TR5
Norton Commando
Ducato 900SS
Ariel Square Four
Harley Davidson Sporster
Harley Davidson 1340 Sturgis (Original pre EVO engine)

The S3 Guzzi I used to drool over at the dealers in Redhill Surrey when in lunch break fro Redhill Tech College when on day release doing engineering there it was a Black and Red one sat in the shop window.

Now the surprise in the Honda CB77 and in fact it was the first bike that I wanted and at the time I did not know it was in fact the CB77 model I just wanted a Honda 250cc because that was what won the Isle of Man TT that dad listened to on the Radio is was all of about 6 years old at the time and I never owned a Honda 250.

The BSA's were just nice bikes and again it never happened I did have a C15 250cc and a B31 350cc they just came along and I never searched for them. A friend had a 500cc Triumph TR5 and it was a lovely bike even in it's slightly shabby state it was in in the late 1970's and I really liked the styling the Norton Commando a close friend had a 1974 850 Interstae Mk3 that had been tweaked by Gus Khan's of London and it was a perfomer in fact I thought of buying a new one in 1979 as Carl Rosners of South London had several brand new ones in the showroom but they priced them out of my budget so I settled for the Triumph Bonnieville T14E UK spec instead and loved it. I also looked at buying a Ducati 900SS before buying the Triumph but the unreliable electrics of the Ducati made me think again as I needed it to ride to work on..

I was looking to buy an old classic British bike to tinker with and restore to use (not really restore to original just slightly cusomised and usable) and actually bought a project 1949 Ariel VB (600SV single) and the seller had a very nice Square Four M2 that might have been for sale but was a lot more than I had to spend it was a beauty though and sounded glorious.

Now the Harley Sportster has always drawn my eye even the old Iron heads and the EVO Sportster of the early 90's was just right to my mind the 883 and 1200 I really liked another friend bought an 883 in 1993 he wanted a 1200 but could not get insurance cover on one hence the 883 purchase and I went on it quite a few times. Now there was simply something about Willie G's original Sturgis that grabbed me which is odd because am not really a fan of Black bikes unless it's a classic Brit one as many of those were black in fact my Norton Jubilee 250cc was black and of course many Vincents were black then the Ducati 900SS came in Black and Gold the one I looked at was Silver with Blue markings.

I did in fact go to a Harley dealers at one point looking at the possiblity of purchasing one but the finace deals were not good and the job market at the time was a little rocky so it never came to be. I still look at Sportsters now and then but the prices are still too high in my opinion and have never been able to suss out just why are Harleys so darned heavy !!!

Plezier

 

Does the CB72 have the kickstart that goes forwards instead of backwards.

Plezier

 

Yes they really are sculptures more like works of art the Silver/Blue one I looked at was of course a bevel drive Desmo. My UK Spec (4 imp Gallon tank) that was Gold metallic with tan panels on each side and of course the standard hand painted pin stripes was a very nice looking bike.

Plezier

 

That is a lovely bike indeed and I am glad I helped drag up some old memories.

Plezier