Sentiment has a lot of power over emotions or for that matter monetary matters, many people lavish lots of both on old motorcycles and the results can be mixed take for example the Indian above you could just leave it alone after new tyres and some fuel/oil, exhaust system etc and your off, the question is for how far or for how long. I had a similar 1921 Scout to this about 25 years ago and did just that it lasted under 12 months and used oil I decided a “tear down” would help but unfortunately it had “tram tracks” that were worn deeply into the rear cylinder, hence the oiling problem and lack of power. I decided it was to much hassle and sold it to a chap that restored it, of course now I regret that and it wouldn’t be so daunting a problem in 2016 but one cannot dwell on what could have been I never regretted buying it but I do a little selling that Scout. So if I would have kept it I would have restored it and these days that’s very out of fashion I would have spent lots of money and even more time on it but then because it’s such a early model limited my riding on it because of today’s traffic, not very sensible, a practical person would just spend the money and buy one already finished and restored in the long run much,much cheaper way to achieve a sensible outcome I think. Needless to say many still restore and end up very over capitalised on a machine I have recently noticed a $50,000 741 army Scout in Bike Sales .com these sell for less than half that figure and a good Chief would be available any day for the same amount, I think a little more sanity is needed and a level head these days as sentiment is to expensive

I am starting  another page called News this will be for more general items like Harley Friday and such things as the Stop Press Area is fairly diluted now with everything and needs to go back to its roots. With over 1.25 million hits on our site in 6 years its the most popular page only followed by the Calendar and then the Contacts Area, so be prepared for the changes over the next few weeks.

There are lots of accessories on the market when you buy a new bike, genuine or aftermarket a hard choice but sometime the aftermarket parts are better and cheaper, other bits the genuine is best. When I bought my Scout the genuine wire wheels and handlebars were reasonable, the genuine windscreen was worse value and not as good quality the same as the standard saddlebags. The same with the rear shocks and a number of other items all those were aftermarket and I’m happy and surely that’s the main thing, funny thing about motorcycles is that the accessories area are a big market item quite the opposite with cars, most people get things fitted with cars on the assembly line or maybe a tow-bar later, but in bikes it’s a whole gamut I know H-D have a catalogue the size of a phone book, one item is pictured above I suppose when you have reliability problems it would be handy

Its getting easier to find this stuff, what with the “wanted warrenty claim” scandal, shares falling, home market sales in decline, and Indian sales and profits rising weekly I’m almost feeling sorry for them, well not really. There is talk of 115 and 130 cu inch motors but they don’t go much better than a “shovel head”as of pollution restrictions and weight, still that’s what Triumph did first in the fifties with a 650cc then in 1973 with a 750cc but it still got more un-reliable, vibrated and was dated by the mid sixties. Harley need to learn their customer base is dwindling, as the “biker’s” are in their late sixties or seventies, and 1% outlaws can ride a USA motorcycle alternative, young guys want 2 wheel cars that is, ones that require no “wrenching” and that’s what Harley have done since 1939 Knuckleheads just redesign or a rehash. The V-Rod was a small sign of thinking outside the square but stupidly they kept making the old range, so people just bought them (the old versions) and V-Rods have never sold well, if the old “boat anchors”were deleted then they may stand a chance appealing to a larger market, they won’t and Ronald Reagan won’t “bail them out” this time so inevitably they will fail