[ducmon]

I have noticed that quite a few us have a little collection of Classical vehicles.

I am always interested in these vehicles and have a Morgan F4 registered in 1948. Every owner is known along with their address.

I am now going to restore a Harley Davidson WLA which I have owned for a number of years but never had time or money to finish it off. I have to totally restart.

 

[BOB.T]

Hi I can't wait to hear about the WLA build I am sure it will take a while to complete....

 

[NM_OLDER]

You might like this
Harley Davidson WLC time-lapse restoration - YouTube
Henry Cole and chums also restored a WW2 Harley on "The Motorbike Show" a couple of years back.

 

[JimboV8]

Certainly a interesting thread to watch. Good luck with the build.

 

[flyingfish]

We have a '72/73 Bay window VeeDub camper and a '64 Pontiac rag top.

 

[ALUCAN]

Henry Cole

Sorry, but Henry is not a source that I would rely on. Plenty of info on Harley Sites.
For example harley-davidsonforums

As for the WLA, I have always wondered how HD managed to get a v-twin the wrong way round 😜 (Guzzi owner....)

VFR800 - nice, but Honda also made the mistake of dropping the Pan (v across the frame). Spose that they are relying on the revamped Gold Wing - again nice, but expensive and losing some of the original Gold Wing appeal. I must be getting old.

PS - found a photo of HD's 180 degree v-twin across the frame - nice!

The WLA was far more successful.

 

[NM_OLDER]

Sorry, but Henry is not a source that I would rely on. Plenty of info on Harley Sites.
For example harley-davidsonforums

As for the WLA, I have always wondered how HD managed to get a v-twin the wrong way round 😜 (Guzzi owner....)

VFR800 - nice, but Honda also made the mistake of dropping the Pan (v across the frame). Spose that they are relying on the revamped Gold Wing - again nice, but expensive and losing some of the original Gold Wing appeal. I must be getting old.

PS - found a photo of HD's 180 degree v-twin across the frame - nice!
View attachment 60698

The WLA was far more successful.

I wasn't recommending Mr Cole as a source of any information , just thought the OP might like to watch his program.
As for the 180 degree V-twin I assume you were saying that very much tongue-in-cheek!

 

[ALUCAN]

As for the 180 degree V-twin I assume you were saying that very much tongue-in-cheek!

As always - HD's answer to a beemer. Side valve (flathead) of course. "High Compression" in the blurb. At 5:1 it is perilously close to the valves hitting the pistons. Always fit the correct gaskets. The WLA was very successful though, especially on low quality fuels common at the time of production. Apparently they are all "1942" models as this was the year of design; regardless of when they were actually built. (Myth?)

Don't take my Honda comments seriously either. I was once the proud owner of a GL1100 Gold Wing - my wife's all-time favourite. In the end the bike's weight set me on the Guzzi path.

 

[NM_OLDER]

Don't take my Honda comments seriously either. I was once the proud owner of a GL110 Gold Wing - my wife's all-time favourite. In the end the bike's weight set me on the Guzzi path.

I decided to get my Aspencade back on the road at the end of last summer but the sheer physical exertion of trying to push it in and out of the garage scuppered that. My eldest son came round and just wheeled it and out almost like a pushbike!!. He's pencilled in to help me once the better weather arrives but I'm pretty sure I'll end up selling it once it's back on the road, if I happened to park it up even slightly downhill I doubt I could paddle it backwards. Shame they didn't fit a reverse gear earlier! don't think I'll ever sell the VFR but I do fancy something light and small to have instead of the Gold Wing. An old Ducati single would be lovely but far too rare and expensive these days.

 

[ALUCAN]

An old Ducati single would be lovely but far too rare and expensive these days

You may be overlooking how physically small they are: even the "big" 450. Super-nimble bikes though. Of course I am assuming that all bikers are 6ft 3in like me, but the mini-duke may suit you. What we both need is a "barn-find".

 

[NM_OLDER]

You may be overlooking how physically small they are: even the "big" 450. Super-nimble bikes though. Of course I am assuming that all bikers are 6ft 3in like me, but the mini-duke may suit you. What we both need is a "barn-find".

I'm just under 6' and remember riding a desmo 250 my friend had in the 70's and yes it was very small. I'm more likely to end up with something like this
1987 Honda XBR500 H 499cc for sale for £2,477 in Godstone, Surrey (autotrader.co.uk)

 

[piman]

Hello all,

I have a 1968 Triumph 2000 which has a 2.5 litre injection engine fitted, 4 speed manul and overdrive.

Many other modifications and up dates.

I'm working on my MK 2 Jagaur, engine part reassembled at the moment , aiming to get it back on the road this year.

Alec

 

[ducmon]

If you have a few spare pennies hidden under the bed mattress.
Then you could consider buying this car from JLR classic.

The Only One Of Its Kind: A Jaguar XK140 Special Equipment By Michelotti

This is the Jaguar XK140 as you may never have seen it before – re-clothed by Giovanni Michelotti with a unique, one-off body after the original was

silodrome.com

I am sure that we could set up a crowdfunding page and I offer to look after it.

🤓😹

 

[tmwsccsh]

What are we taking as the start point for a classic?

29 years sounds a lot to me, but 1994 doesn't...

I shan't post my other until I know the range

TMW

 

[NM_OLDER]

If you have a few spare pennies hidden under the bed mattress.
Then you could consider buying this car from JLR classic.

The Only One Of Its Kind: A Jaguar XK140 Special Equipment By Michelotti

This is the Jaguar XK140 as you may never have seen it before – re-clothed by Giovanni Michelotti with a unique, one-off body after the original was

silodrome.com

I am sure that we could set up a crowdfunding page and I offer to look after it.

🤓😹

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I think this is rather ugly.

 

[ducmon]

What are we taking as the start point for a classic?

29 years sounds a lot to me, but 1994 doesn't...

I shan't post my other until I know the range

TMW

Here in Germany a classic car is one that is 30 years old but we are not sticklers for the exact age because if you consider my Morgan for example.
It was made out of bits that were lying around the factory from before the war. It was put together in the factory in 1947 and registered in 1948.

THe classification of classic cars and motorcycles has been decided by governments to ensure that there is not too many as environmental zone laws are not valid.

So if you live in London buy a classic car such as a Ford prefect and you don't have to pay Khan any thing to drive there.

 

[BOB.T]

This.... From the web
Typically, how old is a classic car?
The age of classic cars can vary considerably, and there are several definitions regarding how old a car must be before it becomes a classic.

HMRC defines classics as being over 15 years old with a list price of at least £15,000, but to be tax exempt, the classic must be at least 40 years old. The Antique Automobile Club of America notes classics must be older than 25 years (with cars over 45 years old known as antiques), whereas insurance providers have a wide range of classifications.

As such, answering how hold classic cars are is an imperfect art, although generally, a classic can be any age as long as it’s older than the majority of cars on the road, was built after 1946 (prior to that, a car is in vintage territory), is no longer in production and has been deemed a classic by the motoring community.

 

[piman]

Hello Bob,

I know governments have their range as that is the only way it can be administerd.
My personal, view having driven 'Classics' since they were current as being older cars with no electronics, which I guess is up to around the mid seventies?. Cars after that gradually did improve but as time passed became less and less distintive. Rember, if you are old enough, to tell what car it was by the sound without seeing it?

The vintage era as coined and as administered by The Vintage Sports Car Club is about 1913 to 1931. Vintage didn't mean old (e.g. a 1928 car would be considered vintage in 1931 by the VSCC) when the VSCC was formed and the rationale was that cars of post 1930, 31 were not as well made or considered as worthy, with the exception of post vintage thoroughbreds, i.e some cars of. the top end makes. The classic 'they don't make them like they used to'.

Alec

 

[orsom weels]

As always - HD's answer to a beemer. Side valve (flathead) of course. "High Compression" in the blurb. At 5:1 it is perilously close to the valves hitting the pistons.

Ermm, valves can't get anywhere near hitting pistons in a side valve, they are beside them, not above?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I think this is rather ugly.

I totally agree! The XK140 was/is my favourite of that era XK's, but that doesn't do it for me. I'd always rated Michelotti's designs as well

What are we taking as the start point for a classic?

Typically, how old is a classic car?

The eternal question .
I notice the increasing use of terms like 'Modern classic' or 'emerging classic' to describe stuff that perhaps isn't so old, but has that 'something' that stands it out from the crowd. I would include my XK8 in one of those categories, but must confess I do get wound up when there are rows and rows of BMW Mini's, Smart cars and nearly new VW Golfs etc at 'Classic car' shows, especially when that means there's not enough space for things that better fit the description.

Back to the "What classic car or motorbike do you have?" question,

I have noticed that quite a few us have a little collection of Classical vehicles.

I'm afraid I'm very guilty of this. I have a modest collection of cars and bikes, most of which were purchased when they were just 'old' vehicles that no one else wanted, and as a self confessed hoarder, I still have them.

Motorcycles now consist of a small collection of 6 Nortons, a 1958 Model 99 600cc Dominator, a 1956 Model 19S 600cc single with Watsonian side car, 1973 and 1974 Commandos, both 850's, a Roadster and an Interstate, a 1962 350 Navigator and 1964 400cc Electra. I did move on a Triumph Tiger and a couple of RD Yamaha's last year as a start to trying to reduce the collection, but that just resulted in the purchase of the XK8 .

Cars consist of the 1972 Lotus Elan plus 2 that I've had since 1987, and I'll probably be buried with, a 1969 Elan series 4 drop head, the Capri 2.8i (1986), which my daughter insists is hers, a 1966 Morris 1100, 1967 Ford Corsair 2000E, 1972 Triumph TR6, and of course, the afore mentioned XK, if we accept that into 'Classic' status.

Conditions range from near concours to 'needing a bit of TLC', but all are, or could be used on the road. It's really too many, as there just isn't the time to enjoy them all, but I find it difficult to bring myself to part with any .

 

[ALUCAN]

Ermm, valves can't get anywhere near hitting pistons in a side valve, they are beside them, not above?

Yes - being dumb. 😜