Is anyone into Antique Motorcycles

[elmo]

I like old and new....



I am currently redoing my 1972 Harley x-90...bought a parts bike and now I have everything to finish it. Hopefully by spring. This was my first motorcycle. It was my 5th birthday present.



Also currently looking for a old school Honda Scrambler or Harley SX 350.

[grant whipp]

O.K., what I wanna know is ...

... when did '60s & '70s anything become Antique?

If I were a 1952 vintage Harley-Davidson Panhead (instead of a 1952 vintage FarNorCal Butthead ... ...), I be considered a Classic ... nothing post-WWII is considered antique ...

Go ahead ... call me a dinosaur ... I know it's true ...

That said ... yeah, I'm into antique motorcycles ... just can't afford 'em anymore (not that I ever could, but I certainly tried ...!) ... but I prefer the classics (less hassle to find parts and keep 'em runnin', plus you can ride 'em at highway speeds if ya want).

CHEERS!

Grant

[Gary and Cheri]

6 months ago I got rid of the 79 Yamaha 750. Always wanted a Triumph. When I first started to ride, back in the late 60s, it was always the 650 BSA or Triumph. I hadn't ridden for 30+ years before first getting the Yamaha. But then an 01 Triumph Sprint 955i in British Racing Green came up for sale and I needed it. They definately made improvements in the 22 years between bikes. Not going back.

Gary

[Grumpeyyy]

Grant

Going by the Antique motorcycle club of America any bike 35 years old is an antique. So that makes anything 1973 or older an antique.

I am into old Harleys. I have 2 old harley servi-cars from the 40's I also have a 1980 FLH Classic that I bought new. Not an antique by AMCA standards but I put antique license on it last year.
I am in the process of buying a 1947 Harley Knucklehead that needs restored.

Thats why we enjoy going to the swap meets. I always can find something that I need.

Gene [Grumpeyyy]

[Alphacarina]

I have a 1979 Honda CBX - The first production motorcycle with more than 100 HP. It's an inline six, crossways with 1047 cc's



This one isn't mine, but it's just like mine

In Mississippi, any motor vehicle more than 25 years old is an 'Antique' and we pay one time for an antique tag and then there is no charge again, EVER - No matter how long you own and ride (drive) it

Don

[grant whipp]

Grant

Going by the Antique motorcycle club of America any bike 35 years old is an antique. So that makes anything 1973 or older an antique...

Oh, Cripes! Is nothing sacred any more ... ... ...? By all rights, they should call themselves ACMCA - Antique & Classic Motorcycle Club of America ... IMHO. But, what the hell do I know ... I'm a dinosaur, remember, a biker from the old school, an outlaw (not a 1%er, but damn close ... ...)!

So, here's a question for ya, Gene: I'm building a VW-powered trike (Swedish-style, with the engine up front [like a real motorcycle ... ...]) ... the engine & trans are '73 or earlier, the wheels are widened '32 Ford 18" wires, the brake drums are '60s Buick finned aluminum, the backing plates are '56 Ford F-100, the "body" between the rear wheels is a '23 Ford Model T pickup bed, and the front end is an extended Harley VL springer with a '50s vintage Harley hub ... will the AMCA consider it an Antique Motorcycle ... ... ...? I don't think I could stand being parked next to a powder-blue & white Honda Dream ... ... ugh!

jes stirrin' the pot a little ... ...

CHEERS!

Grant

[Grumpeyyy]

Grant

It seems like every thing on it will be old enough[including the driver] so it might be an antique.
How do you get something like that titled. If the title says 1973 or before then its an antique.

I rode a VW powered trike once along time ago and could not keep the front wheel on the ground.As soon as you hit the throttle it would pick the front end up about 4' in the air , kind of hard to steer that way. It had the engine in the back.

I never seen a VW trike with the engine in the front but it will be alot more stable that way.

It sounds like you have it all planned out. Do you have all the parts for the build?

I went to an AMCA meet 2 years ago and they had a bunch of old Harley servi-cars and the Indian trikes there. I had only seen maybe 2 Indian trikes in the last 30 years but we seen about 8-10 at that 1 swap meet.

If your looking for old parts that is theese swap meets are a good place to find them.

Bye the way wern't most of the Honda Dreams red and white not powder blue????

Gene [Grumpeyyy]

[kartvines]

I don't ride anymore since California pass that stupid helmet law, but I can not give up my prise bike, that I have put over a million miles on one I use to have rebuild the engine every year, my 1949 Harley Davidson EL Panhead. it has a 61 lower and a 74 upper. A classic American chopper, which I rode for over 30 years

[grant whipp]

Grant

It seems like every thing on it will be old enough[including the driver] ...

Man ... if I'm an antique, what's that make my 85-year-young father ... pre-historic ...? Actually, he comes from a long line of dinosaurs, so I come by it naturally. My younger brother missed that gene, so I think I'm the last of the breed ...

... How do you get something like that titled ...

We call 'em Special Construction and have to title 'em the same year as you first title/register 'em ... at least, that's the way it used to be ... this is the first 'cycle I've built from the ground up since the mid-'70s, and I've got the feeling that a few things have changed ...

... I never seen a VW trike with the engine in the front but it will be alot more stable that way... It sounds like you have it all planned out. Do you have all the parts for the build?

Here's a pic of the trike that inspired my vision:


Combined with some inspiration from Hank Young's Flying Pan and my old school hot rod roots, yeah, I've got a pretty good handle on the overall plan. I don't have all the parts, yet, but the list is getting shorter.

You'll like this, though ... back in the early '70s, I built a Harley Servi-car trike with a 45 WR engine and a suicide-shifted 4-speed tranny (yup, no reverse ... that was fun!), 12"-over UL springer front end, 5-gallon 'bobs, and it, too, had a '23 Ford T pickup bed (upholstered in red crushed velvet, it was just big enough to hold a couple of petite rearends ...) ... I had two sets of rear wheels for it that I swapped depending on my mood: a set of wide Indy-style steelies with caps & rings, and a set of custom-laced 15" wires on Harley hubs. I wish I still had that ride (along with the '67 shovelhead that was it's stablemate), but I was just 20 'bout that time, and try as we might, we still end up doing some pretty stupid things when we're that young ...

... Bye the way wern't most of the Honda Dreams red and white not powder blue????

Yeah, I believe they were, Gene ... but I remember seeing one done up like that, complete with blue & white leather fringe & streamers, so that's what prompted that! I mean, the guy did one helluva job, and it glistenend like it was brand new, but I could've thought of more deserving machines to give that kind of attention to ... even back then ...
(O.K., Honda lovers ... don't bust my chops over that! Remember, I'm old school, and some things just stick with you for life ... ... ...)

'Til later ...

CHEERS!

Grant

[doug hodder]

I only remember Dreams being 1 solid color. They did have chrome inserts for the tanks and tank pads. I know they were available in black/white/ red. Dunno about other colors. Made in 150's and 305's Doug

[Alphacarina]

That would be neat Grant, if you used a turbocharged Corvair instead of the VW engine

Don

[D.J.]

I had a 1970 BSA Starfire from 1974 until last year when a new owner adopted it . I too stopped riding when the helmet laws came in in the 80s . But I newer sold the BSA . It was my first street bike .

Speaking of trikes

I am awaiting delivery on this one . It is a 1948 Cushman Package Kar . I plan on upgrading the drive train and changing the nose to look like the one on the 1939 (B&W photo) . The photo of the yellow one is a restored one from a Cushman site . ............... D.J.

[Grumpeyyy]

Grant

I realy like that trike your going to build. That picture is the first one that I've seen like that.


D J

Those old cushmans are cool. What kind of drivetrain did they have in them? Also how do they handle with the 2 wheels in the front? I know the old Harleys are a little wicked in the turns, but I think they have alot bigger engines than the cushmans.


Kartvines

It sounds like you have a real nice old bike also. But giving up riding because of a helmet law I do'nt understand. We have had to where helmets for years untill about 4 years ago when they repealed the law.
I don't usualy where one anymore but I would never give up riding because of a helmet. I enjoy riding to much!!!! I hate helmets but enjoy riding.

Have a great day

Gene [Grumpeyyy]

[Alphacarina]

I'm not real fond of helmets either . . . . but I really like my head, so I've never in more than 40 years of riding ever ridden anywhere without wearing one . . . . and there was that one time in the Philippines when my helmet certainly saved my life (and got cracked in the process) so if I hadn't made that a personal 'rule' . . . . I wouldn't be here now

There are lots lighter, better ventilated, more comfortable helmets nowadays than we had in the old days, so wearing one isn't that much of an ordeal

Don

[Oregonian]

Gene, the person that puts on the Carnation Wa gathering on the fourth of july, has quite a few antique motorcycles, side cars, trikes and some old army ones.
His name is Ken Masden e-mail [email protected] He most likely would love to talk turkey.
Bruce Jefferson State Chapter