Prototype Posted April 18, 2015 Report Share Posted April 18, 2015 (edited) Hi Guys I am new to Pre-65 world. Just thinking what street bikes are good candidate for converting from street bikes to Pre-65. Good candidate in sense of below: Expense wise ? Time wise ? Person skills required ? My personal experience so far with BSA C15 , it requires lot of patience and bit expense . need to change forks/hubs/wheels/tyres/ignition/sprockets/ and offcourse engine mods etc , there are lot of good products in market but expensive . Is there any Poor's man guide to Pre-65 Cheers JH Edited April 18, 2015 by bsa4life Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzuki250 Posted April 19, 2015 Report Share Posted April 19, 2015 A bantam is probably the best choice, but the cost depends on how competitive you want it! the more you can do, the cheaper the project 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john b Posted April 19, 2015 Report Share Posted April 19, 2015 Hi there I tried the bantam route and despite the fact I have an engineering background and access to engineering facilities.... its just so expensive and time consuming to get something near competitive (and by that I mean finish a trial, not win the scottish !) . I ended up just selling on as a project at what it cost me and going down anotger route. I found a "less popular" pre 65 at a reasonable price , a sprite 250 for £1100. I then spent another £500, the main item being electronic ignition and its now a reasonably competitive bike for£1600 which to be honest you would struggle to convert a road bike for. my advice would be look for the less fashionable (sprite, cotton, greeves) which can still be good value. I did break the bank with my sons which is a greeves tfs250 which I paid £3000 for, but is absolutely immaculate, competitive and a credit to its previous owner - more popular james , bantam , francis barnett etc would be £5000+ Cheers John 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
totalshell Posted April 19, 2015 Report Share Posted April 19, 2015 converting road bikes is ALWAYS in EVERY WAY more expensive.... ALWAYS. so buy a bike already built as in the above post you might get something finishing trials for 1500 2k would be nearer the mark i honest reliable cub or bantam trials preped and ready to ride, by which i mean alloy rims electric ignition alloy tank renthals, proper levers etc etc will always be 3500 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy m Posted April 20, 2015 Report Share Posted April 20, 2015 Pre 65 has gone down a road where it is becoming ridiculously expensive if you get carried away, which is easily done . There are still some home built bikes out there which don't break the bank and are usually " work in progress" or you could go and buy an off the peg ready to ride 2015 pre 65 bike if money isn't an issue. Either depends on your ability or size of your bank balance 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
japes1275 Posted April 20, 2015 Report Share Posted April 20, 2015 You don't need to spend a fortune, you just need to buy the right bike. Starting with a bog standard road bike will surely be a lot of work and not cheap. Take your (and mine!) preferred C15, prices have shot up and a half decent road bike will be £1500 but a lot of what you are paying for will be binned. But buy a half finished trials conversion or an older tired pre65 and you will probably not pay much more but have something nearer to what you want. It's just a matter of finding the right one and being patient till one turns up. When I started restoring my bike a couple of years ago I guess it was worth £1500, over the last two years I've seen half a dozen come up on eBay that would have probably have been similar to what I've ended up with now for between £2k and £3k. I probably spent £1500 restoring and improving my bike so I could theoretically have saved a lot of time and just bought one though I'm glad I didn't now it's finished. When looking for a bike you should use the theory that it's better to add money to your purchase budget rather than hold money back for work after. What you want is a bike built by an experienced engineer and/or rider that has been used for a few years to iron out all the niggles and the owner is giving up riding or building something else - unfortunately bikes like that don't usually turn up on places like ebay, they get passed on to other riders in the owners club! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aawil Posted April 20, 2015 Report Share Posted April 20, 2015 you can still get a usable villiers powered bike for around £1200 you dont need to spend a fortune on loads of shiny fancy fashionable bits keep the steel rims , footrests and bars you will just need a pair of decent tyres,(i use hidenau trials tyres at about £80 pair ),and sort out the ignition system(another £225 )you then have a british classic trials mount ready to ride and win awards in the right hands for a total outlay of £1500, me i ride a 1958 greeves ta fitted with a homemade s/car,powered by a 197 villiers motor with a go kart top end and ajax head ,starts first kick dead reliable good enough to win a few awards , and with a few mods i will be riding the twinshock sammy miller rounds next year ,the total cost of my old greeves was about £900 on the road so keep it sensible and get out and enjoy yourself,if that dont work i can always give you a closer look at classic trials from a comfy sidecar , will. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rusty ken Posted April 24, 2015 Report Share Posted April 24, 2015 I've got to agree witha lot of thecomments above, especially in respect of the ever growing cost of getting a pre 65 bike together. I started with a pile of Matchless G3 parts that included a 54 frame and yokes, fork legs, tanks, non runner of an engine, road gearbox, and ods and sods. It took about 18 months and not much short of £2k before I had something that would get me around a trial. A lot of parts are easily obtained if you have enough money, and it can be cheeper if you are prepared to wait for the right deal. As others have suggested, what I have is still a work in progress. The biggest problem is that I'm still using a modified road frame. I've a full alloy engine, and trials gearing from Mick Ash. Whels are BHC from a Greeves with alloy rims, plastic guards, Ariel seat, Alloy tank, Domino bars and levers, decent back shocks and standard front end with allow top yoke. It would have been a lot easier to buy a modern or a twin shock, and for similar money I could have got a very clean bike. But there is a tremendous amount of satisfaction creating your own bike, and getting through sections the some struggle through on modern bikes. I intend to keep working on my project, (a special frame is next on the list) and to keep having fun riding it in any local trials that I can get to. I don't know if what I have is a 'proper' pre 65, or a ' Britshock' or whatever, or if I would get my money back if I was to sell her, but meantime I'm having great fun riding a bike that is probably 15 years older than anything else at my local events, and that seams to be appreciated by lots of spectators and other riders. As others have suggested, it's all about finding a bike that you can have fun on. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prototype Posted May 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2015 Hi Guys Thanks for your value able inputs. points noted. As engine is almost complete, I will just rebuild for learning and put bigger wheels or use it as it is. Regards JH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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