Five retro bikes for under £2k
Style on a seriously low budget
PEOPLE still scoff at Chinese bikes but one thing they’re getting right nowadays is the looks.
UK distributers have realised the market for retro bikes is now so big that there are far more people who want a part of it than have seven grand to spend on a Ducati Scrambler.
As a result there’s whole crop of good-looking retro bikes that could barely be cheaper. Last week we brought five retro bikes at under £5k.
Here’s five at under £2k. Click next to view the first bike in our list.
And we've also added our Retro Bike Video Reviews playlist below so you can watch the latest and greatest retro motorcycle reviews - enjoy!
1. SkyTeam Ace 125
A Honda Dream 50 can easily cost upward £6,000 on the second-hand market. And let’s face it: beautiful styling creates the demand, not performance.
The SkyTeam Ace 125 looks identical to the casual observer and costs £1,699. Oh, and it’s a 125 (there’s a 50cc version that’s even cheaper).
The Chinese manufacturer makes a range of bikes that are more than vaguely reminiscent of classic small-capacity Hondas, including the Monkey and Dax.
Price: £1,699
2. WK Bikes RT125
WK Bikes is one of the better known of UK Chinese bike distributors and that can only be a good thing. The firm has built a brand by supplying machines from a number of factories at very competitive price.
Like the RT125, which is only £1,299.
It’s an air-cooled single making 10.6hp, so probably good for 60mph. At this price you can’t ask more than that.
Price: £1,299
3. Honley Classic 125
Okay, it’s not going to cut it with the scrambler set. But come on, it’s got an old-school charm to it, hasn’t it?
Principally because it is cheekily similar to a 1970s Honda CG125, even sharing a paint-job.
The authenticity doesn’t stop there – it’s got a drum front brake, so some forward-planning may be called for.
And obviously it’s a 125cc air-cooled single.
If it’s even half as good as the CG it mimics, it will be worth the £1,395 price.
Price: £1,395
4. AJS Cadwell 125
It may not be manufactured in Wolverhampton but this 125 from the revived AJS marque does not look entirely unbefitting of the badge.
It’s a café racer, the firm tells us, with a single-cylinder air-cooled 124cc engine making 9.6hp, delivering a claimed 60mph top speed.
And it will only set you back £1,898. Okay, that’s quite a lot in this Chinese-manufactured market, but you’ll know what you paid for every time you look at it.
Price: £1,898
5. Sinnis Trackstar
And now we’ve gone all scrambler again, with the Trackstar from Sinnis.
It’s another air-cooled single but this time a Suzuki-derived one with a bit more power than the rest, at a claimed 11.4hp. So it might even do the national speed limit.
Or it could just take through town in style.
Price: £1,500
