Been out of the vintage bike scene for quite awhile now, recently i have started collecting a bit of gear, here's a 1982 SWM 320 TL i bought from Portland Oregon
Welcome back Adam. If your SWM is as good to ride as Reinald's SWM, it is quite a weapon. Also if there is anything a bit amiss with yours, Reinald is the man. He has been through so much getting his going well, he is now like a walking encyclopedia on things that can go wrong with them I love seeing those photos you are putting up on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#! ... 983026287/ David
More like what I do wrong to it?? Doesn't look like that one needs much work on it and except for stuff [cracked rubber and dodgy condensers] that goes wrong with any bike I reckon there exceptional - the handling and the engine - brilliant. Enjoy.
I'd rather be a D grade participant than an A grade spectator....
FM350 wrote:Try a 200 Fantic and see if still feel the same way.....................
Chris,yet again you are missing the point. Trials is a personal thing and riders want/hate/ignore/love different things about their bikes.I've always had a sneaky admiration for an SWM,esp the early red and white ones - lovely looking bike.Never ridden one,but the one Adam has just shown us looks extremely tidy,lucky chap ! BTW,not everyone likes a Fantic - I had a brand new 241 back in 1987,it never did anything for me.(Very harsh and revvy,big end let go at 18 months) Nor did the RTL250 that followed it.
It costs around $1000 to import a single bike from the US,Around $800 if you bring more than one, however there are a few things to consider, "location in the US" Most things are shipped out of Garden grove or San Francisco , if you buy a bike in Oregon for example it can cost $600 us just to get it to the container , bikes don't have to be crated, just drained of fuel,roll on/roll off, you need to supply the shipper in oz good photos of frame and engine numbers and bike,then there is the customs charge around 10% of the purchase price, receipts must be supplied, you need a good shipper to work out all the paperwork, most off-road bikes don't have a title, so it can be tricky, then you take a gamble on what you buy! pictures can be deceptive, what looks good in a pic, can look quite different in the flesh,there is a lot of emails back and forth to get it all right the Aussie dollar is real strong against US dollar and has been for awhile, i took advantage and bought 7 bikes over, these where all great buys "in my opinion" Lastly the wait....... don't be in a hurry!! it takes months to make it all come together , 45 Days on the water just the boat trip alone, you need to buy from trustworthy people, US folks are great people, most like us Aussies , Ive made some great mates from buying some of my bikes, some guys i wouldn't buy from again, there are some top bikes in the states, but you get what you pay for !!