Hitchcocks Forum

Hi. A question for you knowledgable lot. Item number 190797763743 on e-bay. Is it OK,is it right (coil-number, plate bracket ). Your thoughts much appreciated.
Terry

It's a 1959 350 Clipper and therefore the basic Bullet model. Built to a cheaper spec, identifying features are single sided rear hub, undamped forks, coil ignition, iron head, small carb etc. Someone has added a seat grabrail and the handlebars look horrid! £1500 is all it's worth in my opinion but other opinions are available! It will neither go or stop as well as a Bullet from the same era but they are perfectly adequate little bikes, what do you want to do?
REgards, Mark

Hi guys------- as it's AUGUST 1959 (ie pre-1960) it's both TAX and MoT exempt so could be a nice, cheap classic to own ?? Don't think I would want to spend much more than the starting price for it either---- Keep an eye on it and if it doesn't sell and you're still interested, consider making a private offer maybe ??

I like it, looks similar to the 1960 350 I bought years ago as a Clipper. Out of interest, it turned out to be a Bullet that was sent from the Redditch factory to Madras Motors, India, so they were sending some later style bikes back in the 60's as well as the early ones

Actually I was looking at another one, there's two on e bay.

Thanks guys. It would be to replace my 2008 350 bullet.Ill take your advice and watch the price. Regards Terry

Hi Terry,
I would say up to £2200 or thereabouts, if it is as good as it is described and appears to be, maybe a tad more. The 120 mph Chronometric speedo would probably fetch £200 ish on e-bay on its' own and there are not many Redditch Clippers around these days and the post '55 frames handle well. It also has the correct 6" full width front hub, another rarity, but not the world's best stopper when not in tip top order.
The seller has given a phone number, why not give him a bell to find out more?
Good luck if you go for it!
Paul.

Paul, (BW), what do you think current Bullet prices are like? I ask because I guess you see a fair few! I know they've gone up (Ebay prices seem particularly inflated,) but what do people actually pay, maybe Dealer versus Private sale? Big question, sorry! REgards, Mark

Hi Mark,
I think if we are talking about Redditch machines, then they have values equal to, say, BSA B31 / B33 machines pro rata. The 'Clipper' was a cheap version in it's day, but that doesn't matter so much now as it might have done when it was, say, 5 years old. Any Bullet [or other make / model] is best bought as cheap as possible and sold for as much as possible, but I would only expect a Bullet to fetch about 10% more than a Clipper, assuming both machines to be in simillar condition.
That said, all it takes for a £2000 machine to become worth £4000 is for two people with plenty of money [lottery winners perhaps?] to do battle over it at a Bonhams auction, followed by the magazines to report it and then this value becomes a new yardstick - it was not long ago that a Triumph Hurricane might set you back 6-8 grand, but you'd be lucky to get one for less than 20k now.
The Indian Bullets will never make what the Redditch ones will fetch, because there are more of them, they are newer, with varying build qualities and what's been [or not been] done to them varies wildly from one machine to another. BUT - they, too, are no longer made in their 'classic' form, so good ones might start to appreciate a little.
This might all be complete rubbish, but it's how I see it at present. Cheers, Paul.

Paul, that's the general picture as I see it too. Magazines and Ebay are terrible for influencing fantasy prices! Private versus Dealer sale, I'd say about 10-15% mark up for Dealer costs? Stand out machines always have a premium too, GTs, Interceptors and BigHead Bullets to name but 3. Better get down the Workshop and get on with mine then! REgards, Mark