Vintage Bike Advise

[Howley]

Hi Everyone,

I'm in the market for a vintage motorcycle in Australia. On has come up for sale, it's a 1938 BSA M20 (girder forks, hardtail) with a more modern (40's-50's) B33 engine in it. The only thing turning me off slightly is the engine, but I'm wondering if I should take the chance to pick up a late 1930's chassis that is close to my price range but would otherwise be way outside it. What should the newer engine do to resale value or general value in future? Should I be turned off?

Pearls of wisdom gratefully accepted.

[Ducatamount]

Well, I was going to say if it's not engine / frame matching numbers it would not be as valuable but after reading this thread I linked, it looks like some came through with non - matching numbers. It also appears you can look up info on that bike through the BSA ledgers. If you are looking at it as an investment, I would do some research first. If you are looking at it as owning a piece of history at a reasonable price then do what you feel in your gut.

http://pub37.bravenet.com/forum/static/show.php?usernum=3155626639&frmid=16&msgid=1236979&cmd=show

[PhilB]

I'd say get it if you like it otherwise.  Of course the later engine strongly affects the value.  That's why you can afford it now.  But that's a known issue, with it, so you won't lose the current value.  And if you can find a proper engine for it, you might be able to increase the value quite a bit.

PhilB

[Speeddog]

Paging RAT900 to the white courtesy phone....