Today I paid my money and pays the price…for a Velocette MAC, late 1940s, so with a rigid back end and telescopic front forks…a bit more comfortable than the springers on the wrists, but with the upright sitting-position, not an issue at all! This bike is an oily-rag, sort-of-runner, mostly complete. What’s missing is the electrics to use it on the street, so the dynamo, ampere-meter, headlamp and speedo (which I have already on the way from England). What else is missing and inoperable, I will soon find out!
The bike will arrive next week sometime, and the story will then unfold. What I paid? A reasonable AU$5.500 and another $330 for the transport here (Adelaide) from Melbourne area…using ‘Bikenut Transport’ (no relation!). I am excited to see what it looks like when it arrives! The one photo I have, I have posted, more tomorrow, I hope!! The Bike is pretty complete, the restoration will not be a ‘phoenix out of the ashes’ job. I could have done that, but for the start, I wanted to show that despite appearances, there is still a lot to be done, even on a bike that is running. The rusted-to-b*gg*ry heap of chicken-shit-bike is definitely more effective, advertising-wise, but is not what most people will take on, realistically, as a first project. I run the risk, with the type of restoration I prefer, of people thinking that there is little or no difference between the bike at the beginning and at the end (despite the cost involved) of the restoration. This is not tragic (from my point of view). The bike is, as I said, mostly complete, so, importantly all the nuts and bolts, engine, gearbox and ‘tin’ parts are present and, for the most part, serviceable. In fact, I would probably run the bike without any due attention to the paintwork and tinware in this condition, without any qualms at all. What needs attention is the mechanics, for which I cannot vouch until the bike is properly ‘vetted’…
©peter gouws 2011