TFS bikes loaned to road racers

[John Wakefield]

Bill I have lifted your pic from FB and also pic of Phil Read with it at the factory

[Brian Catt]

Yes, the response was from the World-Wide Greeves Enthusiast's page, viewed by many ex-riders and those seeking info on thr Marque.

[John Wakefield]

Bill (Swanb) BTR 51B now on eBay with a dealer V Winstanley of Wigan, have you sold the bike or is he selling it for you?

[John Wakefield]

Another 'road racers' bike(or rather just the frame) has turned up 24TE353 despatched to Geoff Duke IoM 22/11/62 now owned by Bob Woof of Carnforth and for sale in this months OBM

Greeves trials frame 1962 24TE353 previously owned by the great Geoff Duke, £650 ono
Tel 01524 735039 , 07919 064123 Email bobwoof41@gmail.com

Bob also has a 250cc Griffon head barrel & piston vgc for £250 ono

[Dick F]

Yes I spoke with Bob Woof yesterday John, i still have my Duke TFS and TES for sale if anyone is intrested

[John Wakefield]

Yes I spoke with Bob Woof yesterday John, i still have my Duke TFS and TES for sale if anyone is intrested

Thing is Dick, was Bobs frame actually supplied to Geoff Duke PERSONALLY or to his motorcycle dealership? £650 is a bit steep for just a frame Duke or not!

[Dick F]

I think you are probably correct John, half that price is a more likely sum

[Ian]

Bill BTR 51B now on eBay with a dealer V Winstanley of Wigan, have you sold the bike or is he selling it for you?

Seems to be the usual method for pricing a Greeves: estimate the value and then double it! Nice history with it but Dick F's TFS would be a much better buy.

[Colin Sparrow]

Interesting thread.

Phil Read did buy a TDS Scottish from kings of Luton..its in Colin's book..

What's interesting is Kings only ever sold 2 TDS Scottishs.. My Dads is one of these machines.. Shame nobody knows which one Phil Read had??

Personally I'd rather own a TFS ridden by DR or similar..

Scott

Just bumped into this post while looking through this thread.

Kings of Luton did indeed only order two 24TDS models and they were dispatched within a week of each other in September 1960. They were 61/1342 and 61/1380.

It is of course possible I've missed one (theres a heck of a lot of them), and there are "Kings" elsewhere also ordering TDS's

[John Wakefield]

Thing is was the Geoff Duke bike a personal purchase (or gift from Bert Greeves) or just a bike sold by Geoff Dukes dealership What do the DR show for 24TE353 ?

[Swanb]

John, bike was sold at the beginning of April to a chap from Southport. Clearly no way he has had time to do much other than clean up and get it running. As such (you guys will know much better than me) the price looks way over the top. After 30 years in garage even with everything appearing to be in working order I would suggest it would still benefit from a proper strip down and rebuild. As you will know it's the wrong colour and does not have the original exhaust so a lot to do to make it concours which it is not. Can't believe even with the Phil Read provenance it's worth anything like the money being asked. Anyway good luck to them selling at that price. Dad was happy with price he got (I thought it was worth a bit more than he sold it for but not my call).

[John Wakefield]

John, bike was sold at the beginning of April to a chap from Southport. Clearly no way he has had time to do much other than clean up and get it running. As such (you guys will know much better than me) the price looks way over the top. After 30 years in garage even with everything appearing to be in working order I would suggest it would still benefit from a proper strip down and rebuild. As you will know it's the wrong colour and does not have the original exhaust so a lot to do to make it concours which it is not. Can't believe even with the Phil Read provenance it's worth anything like the money being asked. Anyway good luck to them selling at that price. Dad was happy with price he got (I thought it was worth a bit more than he sold it for but not my call).

Clearly the guy selling it is a dealer and as is usual with dealers he thinks its worth a kings ransom, as you say Bill its looking nothing like the same bike as the one Phil Read posed with, and frankly if it even had his signature on the tank who remembers Phil Read these days? Does it really add anything to the price? I suppose £2995 may be nearer the mark, but that's maybe still a grand too much.

[Swanb]

John, thanks. That's pretty much exactly what I thought. Won't reveal what we sold it for but started with a 2, so I think ok money and left a bit of profit if someone selling on after doing some work on it. What was a bit disappointing was that the person said they were keeping the bike etc. etc. Which was clearly not the intention. Would have preferred to sell to a true enthusiast who would have kept it and looked after it but that's the way it goes sometimes. I guess it might end up with such a person but can't see a true enthusiast who knows about these bikes paying anywhere near that price.

[John Wakefield]

Quite so Bill it would not be so bad if the 'dealer' had added some value to the bike, tidied it up with a repaint to correct moorland blue, engine running and with a guarantee. But these are not the dealers of old who had show rooms on the high street with workshop back up, but back yard dealers trading from residential property who dont want to know when you have a problem with the bike. Hopefully many of them will get there fingers burnt and go out of business, they are parasites to the old bike movement.

[John Wakefield]

Geoff Duke 24TFS171 now on eBay by Dick Faggeter https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1964-TFS-...sAAOSwuTRc0yeV