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a good used and reliable (not show quality) Bonne these days?


Is there such a thing? The old ones need a lot of TLC to keep running. Sure, there are nice ones but most everyone I know with old Trumps is a good wrench, for a reason.



Exactly. It isn't that good wrenches beget nice old motorcycles - Old motorcycles beget good wrenches.

There may be clean, well maintained, old motorcycles out there - Actually there are plenty. But they ALL break with consistency. It’s completely an AGE issue - It's part due to the actual age of the motorcycle, but a big part of the equation is the age in which they were built. So much reliability has been built into motorcycles since the end of the 70’s. No matter how you look at it, or, how you feel about it, the rush of Japanese motorcycles, primarily beginning in the 70’s, killed off most of the competition that could not provide reasonable dependability. Those manufacturers it did not kill eventually got better but – not before a near death experience.

None the less, if you want an old bike as a second, and you want that old bike to be American, British, or Italian, be sure you don’t expect to ride your ‘second’ as much as you care for it. Make sure that wrenching and admiring are your main objectives. Make sure you stock oil absorbent. And, make sure you have a network of parts sources.

On the other hand – If you want a second to ride. My suggestion is to get something both nice, and cheap from about 1990 up. Anything that’s well maintained, from any manufacturer will do the trick.

This 'newer' old motorcycle may not be so unique, but you’ll generally be able to ride it all day, most any day you care to.