Caught the senior TT on telly last night with John McGuinness riding the original Hailwood bike (replacement engine I believe as rumour suggests the original gave up at the end of the race?) - memories of why I always wanted a Duk. The missus didn't seem to think we could afford the £110k for one?? Might try some MHR stickers on the ST4 - or maybe not
Insured for around £1 million I believe they said - cost £5,000 to build in '78 and then sold after for £5,000 which was seen as a great deal at the time (getting money back) - hindsight is always a great thing.....
I dunno. A regular bevel engine sold at Made in Italy motorcycles for £9k recently. Given the craftsmanship and the bespoke parts, the £110k isn’t so far fetched. Look at a Superleggera at £75k, most of the parts there are regular production items from a £35k bike? Meaning that you’re paying £40k for the carbon bits? Or an HP4 Race at £75k... the Hailwood is going to be pretty easy to sell at £110k to exactly the sort of collector who pays £100k+ for a 750SS. Compared to the DB5 reissue they maybe just ordered or their electric E-Type it’s a steal...
Out of interest Fire, what would be considered a realistic price for yours at the moment over that side of the world?
It looks like somebody has seen some of the unrealistic prices being asked for classic (and not so classic) Ducatis at the moment and thought of a scheme to open up the wallets of the gullible. I mean, it's a nice replica, but £110k! Netting over £1.3m for the comapny building the 12 bikes.
Research Vee Two Bevel engines, they are a hand made modified update of the original, with completely redesigned internals for strength and reliability, increased capacity and higher revability. https://www.veetwo.com/
How reliable do they need to (a) be as accurate as the original so breaking down often and (2) sit in someones lounge never moving?
Veetwo make these copies so you can stare at the original in your lounge and rag the arse off the copy on the road/track.
I don't think anybody's denying it looks great and will be well engineered. But.........£110k. I'd rather have an original MHR, a 998R, GT-R and a couple of holidays for the cash. Just my opinion of course.
Here you go, http://veetwousa.com/. So a copy of a 2 valve engine that was never put into production and is manufactured and assembled using the original casting patterns and factory drawings. An exercise in engineering remanufacturing for a life long enthusiast. Admirable and laudable but do I want one ? No, I want the original just like I want an original Shelby Cobra and not the later copy or an original DB5 and not the planned recreation. Andy
I wouldn't know TBH. I think you'd struggle to buy any bevel twin in a good condition for under £10k, 900SS are fetching north of £20k fairly regularly and MHR seem anywhere from @ £16k - £30k depending upon condition and originality and which model it is. I can't get my head around the prices some models fetch TBH.
