What cheap 35+ year old bike would be the best?

[peter-denmark]

I am unfortunate enough to live in Denmark. This is a nice enough place if you dont like motorcycles, but with a 180% tax on vehicles it is hell if you do.

shitty bikes from the 80's are the cheapest at around 3000 euro for a not very good one and dont even get me started on the never bikes.

I prefer cheaper bikes for travelling but I simply can't get one in my country and if I have one that is registered in another country I am risking getting the state on my neck (they see it as tax fraud).

I have different options ofcourse, but one of them is (as the title states) to get an old bike from another country and register it under the veteran motorcycle rules. Then the import tax is very low. But it has to be more than 35 years old.

So can I get a good, fun, reliable and cheap bike that is that old and what am I looking at?

Enfield bullet from the british isles?

Old beemer from germany?

Which models would be good?

I am more for dirt roads than tarmac and high speed is not as important as versatility. Reliability or easy of repair is important. I am not a good mechanic, but I enjoy trying (-:

I would prefer not to pay more than 2000Euro.

[tmotten]

I would try and find a R80 GS and rebuild it. Should go for ages. There is a heap of info on the Enfields, but aren't they meant to be very unreliable? Not sure.
I've seen piccies of a Kiwi (New Zealand) bloke on a fifties or so Norton Pantera who was a few months ahead of us. He needed a heap of oil for that one.

Crap, I just read that the R80 is about 10 years to young. Might have to go to an older boxer.

[Sam I Am]

An R80 GS was exactly what I was going to suggest as well. More on-road I'd probably go for an R60 or R75 /6 or /7. Spend some time learning the rather simple mechanics of it and you'll find it very reliable. There is more information on the internet about the "airhead" models than you can possibly absorb. Lots of helpful advice and information. I find parts to be readily available and surprisingly inexpensive. Besides, they will hold their value or only go up in time.

[peter-denmark]

well the R 80 GS's are very nice, but they are too young!

The R 60 / 5 is old enough but not alot of ground clearance.

[Flyingdoctor]

A late Triumph Bonneville can be a good steed. Especially if it's used every day, it can be quite reliable. The parts are available, in the UK at least. Go for a late 750. Earlier bikes are way too expensive but I don't think you'll find anything for 2000 euro's that doesn't need a rebuild. Otherwise you're looking at late 70's Jap bikes which are starting to get expensive now as people are reliving their youth on them. Good luck in your search I know the first time I met a Dane and found out about your crazy tax I nearly fell off my chair!

What about a Nimbus outfit? I met a load of them in Norway a few years ago and they looked great!

[Threewheelbonnie]

Totally agree with all the above. I have a Hinkley Bonneville and that works great, so I assume the older ones do too. I am also an ex-Bullet owner and would say they will go anywhere so long as you have the time and a bike that's had certain tweeks. How about an XT? Too new/expensive? There used to be a lot floating round in France that could be bought up for decent prices.

My other suggestion would be an MZ. Very cheap to buy, simple and reliable with enough ground clearance and lightness to go pretty much anywhere.Parts are highly interchangeable, so can bring something like a late 70's ETZ 250 up to late 90's standards if you feel the need. My 301 cruises about 10mph/16 kph faster than the 500 Bullet did which means you don't feel like you'll end up as a hood ornament on a truck if you go on the motorway. The downside is you need stroke oil and will only get 50-60 mpg while the Bullets turn in 70+. The last UK MZRC mag has an article about a chap who toured South America on one.

If you buy in the UK, don't forget you'll need to buy a headlamp glass and maybe a speedo. I'm pretty sure the Danish police won't like our left dip beams or MPH clocks.

Andy

[backofbeyond]

35 years old = pre mid 1973.

Virtually everything from that period (in the UK at least) has either been rebuilt at least once or is rusting quietly in the corner. The rebuilt ones are now "fast appreciating old classics" with a whole industry dedicated to selling them / supplying parts for them at suitably inflated prices. Think of any 60's / 70's bike and you'll find a dedicated website somewhere where owners are complaining that parts you couldn't give away 15yrs ago now sell for national debt levels on ebay.

I'm guessing that the rebuild from a pile of scrap option is not a route you want to go down.

I think you'll struggle to get anything British that's pre 73, usable and under €2000. Perhaps stuff like BSA Bantams but to me that wouldn't count as usable!
With BMW's I think you'll only have the /5's and certainly here they would be more than €2k
I'd consider MZ's from the early 70's. They're still cheap. You could probably buy a whole fleet for your budget. Were Russian Urals available pre 73? It must be about that time I first came across them in the UK.

Plenty of Japanese stuff around but most pre 73 is either a "project" (= you'll spend two years searching the world for parts and still be missing the left hand silencer) or you'll be buying someone else's finished project and priced accordingly. The latest UK VJMC magazine has plenty of cheap(ish) late 70's bikes but only a couple of pre 73ers under €2k (eg a 72 500/4 Honda -£1850 (ok, that's more than €2000 but it won't be soon!)).

I would have thought you should have been able to find a reasonable 750/4 Honda in Germany though or if you can wait a year or two how about a 75 400/4 Honda. My last suggestion would be an XS1 /2 Yamaha 650. I bought a pretty good one a year or two back for less than €2000 and there is a good parts specialist near Kiel.

[Max Dongo]

Yamaha XS650. Great motor, easy to equip for long distance travel and very reliable. If I could find a clean one, I'd buy it in an instant.

[Max Dongo]

Originally Posted by Max Dongo

Yamaha XS650. Great motor, easy to equip for long distance travel and very reliable. If I could find a clean one, I'd buy it in an instant.

And it's got a lot of places you can hide a gun.

[peter-denmark]

hehe, that was an interesting angle Max

[Max Dongo]

Originally Posted by peter-denmark

hehe, that was an interesting angle Max

The Yamaha XS650 really is a great bike, and if you can find one from 1974 you can change over to an electronic ignition. A lot of them were used for flat track racing, so they hold up very well.

If you want to get an idea of what's out there, go to google and run a search like "Yamaha XS650 site:craigslist.org"

You can do it for whatever model tickles your fancy and all the ones being sold on craigslist in the US will pop up.

[peter-denmark]

yup, I know craigslist.org, very nice site.

Thing is that I am mostly looking for +35 year old bikes in europe, and I haven't really found any xs 650 that are old enough there.

But will keep looking.