Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 Buying an antique vehicle shouldn't be a rash decision.

This rusted non running,VL was offered at 33,000.00.
Boy did I wish that I had the money!

Actually buying any vehicle shouldn't be a rash decision.

I have been fortunate (?) not to have a lot of spare cash lying around that would allow me to make an impulse buy.

Ever since I've been attending these antique motorcycle events I've seen bikes that have really lit up the desire meter. I have no doubt that I'd be writing big checks and coming home with some old bike if I could easily swing the cost.

Antique bikes aren't generally seen very much in public, or offered for sale on sites like CraigsList or Facebook, but they do show up occasionally. 

It's easy to get the idea that you have to buy the bike that you saw at the show, right now! Or you'll miss your chance. But if you calm down and keep your eyes open you might be surprised but what can pop up. I know that I was.  

A short time after attending the Dixon meet I'd been obsessing about old Indians, and what do I find listed on CL? An old Indian!

The bike was finished 20 years ago. It's a '41 frame with a '40 engine.

A 1941 Chief that is a twenty year old restoration, an up and running bike in good shape that claims less than a thousand miles on the clock after restoration. The bike looks really good in the photos, and it's registered with the seller holding the title, and they are asking a reasonable 25,000 dollars. 

Not that 25K is chicken feed, it's not, it is a lot of money, but compared to some of the bikes I've seen that are priced much higher, it seems reasonable.

Even more important, the bike is finished and is a running; rideable bike. Some of the sorry piles of parts, like those partial Indian Chiefs pictured below, had asking prices of 10,000 dollars. Imagine how much more you'd have to invest just to finish the bike.

This will not be looking like such a bargain in comparison to some bikes
 I later found advertised for sale.

There was a very rusty VL Harley that the seller was asking over 30,000 dollars for. It wasn't complete or currently running. But how often are you going to find another VL?

Surprisingly one showed up on CraigsList a few weeks later,

This photo is AI generated to portray the bike in a vintage surrounding.

Here's how the bike looked in the photo originally.

A complete, up and running older restoration that was selling for 31,000 dollars, again not chicken feed, but also less than the rusty bike that I saw at the swap meet.

Later on I found a Panhead Bobber for 22,000 on CraigsList,

Not a restoration, but very period correct.

 

I have become aware on the antique auto forum that I'm involved with, that there are a lot of older and pre War cars coming up for sale. Their owners are "aging out" of the hobby. I suspect that the same thing is happening with antique bikes. I think that bikes might appeal to a slightly younger cohort, and certain motorcycles have a lot of appeal to younger, more affluent buyers, like celebrities. This lends a real "cool" factor to old bikes.

These running bikes are being offered at lower prices than the project bikes that I saw at the swap meet!

One thing that I noticed at the meet, was that often only the seller's phone number was displayed on the for sale sign. I learned the asking price only by asking the vendor. Maybe there is more room for negotiation that I don't know about. Perhaps private discussions between sellers and serious buyers veil some of that process.

A bike like this 305 Scrambler tugs at the old heartstrings.
These were extremely desirable then, as they are now.

 

Harleys and Indians aren't the only antique bikes out there. Many Boomers like me went up through the ranks of imported bikes during our youth. Japanese bikes from the '60's and '70's are items of real nostalgia for people like me.

Further investigation on CraigsList displayed quite a few already restored Hondas from the 1960's; 160s, 250s, 305s, 350s, 450s and 750s. Quite a collection, and these were bikes that I'd owned and ridden in my youth. They were all pretty reasonably priced, and they would be an economical way for a newbie to get into the actual antique bike game.

While I think that having an actual antique bike is pretty neat, my interest is really limited to the American makes, Harley Davidson or Indian. I don't want another example of the Japanese bikes that I owned in my youth. I've got nothing against the Japanese bikes, they are good machines, and even back then, they were often technically superior to the old Harleys and even older Indians. But they just don't connect with me emotionally in the same way that an American bike would. 

But then again, "Do I really need an actual antique to be happy?"

An antique bike is quite expensive, and it's not something that I would likely ride on a daily basis, but then again, I don''t plan on riding any bike on a daily basis. 

Harley has built several retro bikes that strongly resemble actual antique bikes. The old joke that a Harley is just a modern antique has a lot of truth to it. The latest rubber mounted Road Kings and Electra Glides look a lot like classic tourers from the 1960's and '70's. The regular Heritage Softail mimics the look of a '49 Hydra Glide, with it's classic fat front end, big gas tank, full fenders, and rigid looking rear end. The rare Heritage Softail Classic with a Springer, recalls the even earlier mid 40's Panhead, and is even a nod to the first Knuckleheads of the late 1930's. 

Except for the Springer, the Heritage Softails are quite plentiful and the prices are attainable without a lot of pain. These bikes generally will not have a lot of miles on the clock, as many were infrequently ridden. Truthfully I don't imagine that I would be rolling up any high mileages in the future, so low mileage is not really a concern to me. However the bike would have to be well maintained and in good running condition.

Now that I've defined my goal, the fun part starts!