“Rat Bike” is not entirely accurate, just a start.
I’ve a mate looking for a cheapish bike that he can hack from Epping to Greenwich each day, pretty much all year round, and leave street parked without much fear of it being stolen. You know the sort of thing. The Cat D write off that’s been fightered, the shabby but sound middleweight universal Japanese machine, the unpopular oldie but goody.
Reliable, easy home maintenance, cheap with enough b*lls for the journey are the main criteria.
A few year back, I’d have had no problem finding him one. Now I don’t know where to start. all but one of the bike “breakers” I knew have gone and the insurance companies will not deal with Joe Soap public. So:
I recently found out my loving reproduction of a 70 s tracker is a rat bike :blink: … I aint quite accepting it yet but forum has spoken :P:crazy: . Ebay is the best place to look … I currently have 5 or 6 potential next projects on the watch list If you find one and start bidding check to make sure we aint bidding against each other haha.
NumNum I think you are a bit more adventurous than Chris. He’s looking for something that needs almost no work (though he’s a reasonable mechanic) and probably has the money to pay for that.
By the way. I owned a Z400 back in 78/79. What a sweet bike for it’s time. Pity the bike was better than the tires available then.
I must be really old because the £££ they want for the oneslisted I’d expect a near concur second hand runner, not a wreck. I bet theynever gave the insured that much.
for a fazer 600 there ones on ebay for £500 needs new radiator £130 barnd new on ebay when i just looked and forks probly like £100 when they come up XD
Cheers guys. With your feed back, plus making contact with a friends brother who runs a yoof motor cycle scheme in SE London, I think we have given Chris all the help he needs.
Time for him to stop polishing his immaculate Triumphs and nicely restored '60’s scooters and get off his fanny and start doing the rest of the work himself.
Rootling around the darker corners of fleabay, their is some interesting stuff out there, just a question of choice, but as someone said, there’s some “optimistic” pricing.
Pussyhorse In truth it’s not even as good as Greenwich, it’s the arm pit of London, Woolwich. I reckon that lot would even steal a ratbike unless well chained down with an Almax round the frame to a lamp column. Mind you, even then they might then take the lamp column as well.
If you find one and start bidding check to make sure we aint bidding against each other haha.
