Hi all, recently I have been thinking about buying a pre 65 bike. I ride twinshock at the moment and would like a Tiger Cub bike to occasionally ride some easy routes on. I understand that some started life as a factory trials bike and some were converted from road bikes to trials. I think I’d rather get a factory trials machine.

Is there any advantage to either? And is there a definitive way to identify exactly what model the bike is, can you tell from engine/frame numbers?

Any help would be much appreciated. Many thanks.

i think you'd be disappointed to learn how standard a 'factory' or 'works' bike was.. there is an article in the contemporary press outlining the differences between a standard cub and the bike that had just won the welsh two day trial.. steel rims and all.

 

much prefferable to have a rideable/ useable bike..  wide swing arm, electronic ignition, c15 or hd forks, alloy rims and modern controls would be all that you d need to have a very usable classic motorcycle that was easier to ride and maintain than a period 'works'/'factory' bike...

Or a Bantam ...

I pretty much assume that most pre 65 bikes are not 100% original nowadays. I am ok with that. If it makes the bike more enjoyable and reliable I think that’s and good thing. I ride for my own enjoyment and I know I’m never going to be that competitive.

What I basically need to know is this. Is there any downside to buying a road bike which has been converted for trials? Are the frames and engines dramatically different to the trials cubs?

Or a Bantam ...

 

I do like Bantams, but I own 3 Two strokes already, so I’m really after a four stroke. Tiger cub, c15 etc..

Sam, have a look in classifieds, page 3, 4th advert down at moment, Tidy Cub with mods but not OTT.

If you are considering a c15 then Charlies site is worth a look .

 

http://www.bsaotter.com/

Sam, have a look in classifieds, page 3, 4th advert down at moment, Tidy Cub with mods but not OTT.

There's a Fred Hardy cub, which is beautiful but probably a bit too much for me, I'd be scared to ride it. There's another for £2995, which looks nice too, thats more like it.

 

You could always splash out £12 for a subscription to our digital classic magazine, ORRe. That would give you instant access to around 2500 pages (because all the back issues are included with no extra charge) of classic offroad sport, every page pure information, not a single page wasted on advertising - many pages full page side-on machine photos to give you, hopefully, inspiration as to what is possible.

 

Where else, for example, can you see a captioned image of every competitor that rode in the 2015 Pre-65 Scottish, and all the interesting machines from both sides.

 

Hope that helps - but whatever you do - enjoy yourself.

Thanks, I will look into that for sure.

 

If you are considering a c15 then Charlies site is worth a look .

 

http://www.bsaotter.com/

Thanks, great site with a lot of good info!