Classic Ducati Insurance: A Brief History of the Brand

Similarly to many other classic motorcycle brands, Ducati did not start out as a motorcycle company. In fact, Antonio Cavalieri Ducati and his three sons, Adriano, Marcello, and Bruno Cavalieri Ducati founded the company in 1926 and started producing radio components in addition to vacuum tubes, and condensors. During the war years, they started creating electronic military equipment, and it wasn’t until 1950 that they launched their first motorcycle, that was based off of the already well-established Cucciolo engine.

The first Ducati bike was a 48 cc motorcycle weighting 98 lb., with a top speed of 40 mph and a 15 mm carburetor giving just under 200 mpg. The success of the Ducati brand can be attributed to their ability to keep up with the ongoing trends in motorcycle production. During the 1950’s the market moved toward larger motorcycles, and Ducati management appropriately responded, introducing their 65Ts cycle and Cruiser at an early-1952 Milan show.

Ducati management split the company in 1953 to be two separate entities; Ducati Meccanica SpA and Ducati Elettronica. Ducati Elettronica would go on to become Ducati Energia SpA in the eighties, while Ducati Meccania SpA, which was led by Dr. Guiseppe Montano, became the motorcycle manufacturing company that we know today. By 1954, Ducati Meccanica SpA was turning out 120 units per day as the factory was modernized with government aid.

Montano was a genuine motorcycle lover and realized the potential of racing to induce customers to buy these bikes. As a result, by 1956 the Desmo Ducati 125 won its first race in Sweden. Unfortunately, the man who achieved one of Ducati’s greatest feats; lapping every other motorcycle at the Grand Prix at Hedemora, died during practice for the following race. The death of Gianni Degli Antoni hit the Ducati brand hard, and it wasn’t until 1958 that they could once again race.

The Ducati brand had its up and downs in the following years, but today Ducati riders are some of the most loyal when it comes to brand allegiance. The company is reported to have achieved success and its great reputation from its racing roots.

No matter what type of antique or classic motorcycle you own, it’s important to protect it financially with the right type of Classic Motorcycle Insurance Coverage. At Condon Skelly, we know how exciting it can be to start a classic car collection. We’ve been helping our customers protect their classics with affordable, industry-leading insurance coverage since 1967. We’re a group of collectors, enthusiasts, and professionals who specialize in insuring all types of collector vehicles. For more information, please contact us today at (866) 291-5694.

How Much Should You Spend on a Classic Motorcycle?

Back in February 2014, we looked at what factors may help you determine the market value of a classic car, either for selling or for buying purposes. Hemmings Collector Car Marketplace provides a very specific guide to use when doing so, but what if you are looking to buy a classic motorcycle instead of a car?

Determining the value of a vintage or classic motorcycle can be tricky, but it’s an important part of your buying process, especially since your classic motorcycle insurance policy will be affected by this value. Experts recommend having a professional motorcycle appraisal done, but motorsport expert John Glimmerveen offers the following basic factors that affect the value of your bike.

Pricing trends.  The market value of the bike you are looking to purchase may be decreasing. It’s important to do your research online and through other resources for your specific classic motorcycle to determine if it is in fact decreasing in value, remaining stable, or increasing.

Repair costs. Will it cost you more to make repairs than it will to buy the bike? If those repairs won’t raise the value to a profitable amount, the bike not be worth the purchase. This will vary though on whether you are looking to get the bike into riding shape or make it museum quality, which brings us to the next factor.

Purpose. If the purchase is being made as an investment, and you intend to restore it, you may be willing to pay a little more than if you were to purchase for riding pleasure only. When it comes to rare motorcycles, enthusiasts are usually quick to buy if it looks good, but if you are buying it to ride, the mechanical functionality is much more important than its looks.

Rarity. How many are on the market?

At Condon Skelly, we know how exciting it can be to buy a classic motorcycle or start a collection of antique vehicles. We’ve been helping our customers protect their classics with affordable, industry-leading classic motorcycle insurance coverage since 1967. We’re a group of collectors, enthusiasts, and professionals who specialize in insuring all types of collector vehicles. For more information, please contact us today at (866) 291-5694.

Classic Motorcycles: The History of Board Track Racing

If you are an avid antique motorcycle fan, you’ve likely heard of the popular motorsport, Board Track Racing. Prevalent in the U.S. during the 1910s and 1920s, this event was a competition that took place on circular or oval race courses with surfaces composed of wooden planks. The reason for the use of these board tracks were in part because they were not expensive to construct. Unfortunately, they did lack durability, and because of this they required a great deal of maintenance to remain in use. Most tracks only lasted for three years before being abandoned.

Due to the lack of safely built tracks, called motordromes, the sport of Board Track Racing was a risky one. Riders were able to reach speeds of more than 100 miles an hour, meaning that when a crash happened, it was devastating. Crashes weren’t rare either; riders who went down faced being pelted with splinters from the boards and often times spectators were injured as well. Some crashes were even fatal.

Despite all this, people flocked to the races at board tracks from Denver, to Milwaukee, to Long Island. By the mid-1920s, however, the novelty of the sport began to wear off and it was losing its appeal. Newspapers had begun to refer to motordromes as “murderdromes,” and local governments even starting closing some of the tracks. Race officials and the motorcycle manufacturers that sponsored racing teams tried to implement safety measures, but it didn’t help. By the early 1930s, Board Track Racing became obsolete.

At Condon Skelly, we appreciate the history behind antique and classic motorcycles, trucks, and cars. Since 1967, we’ve been helping our customers protect their classics with affordable, industry-leading insurance coverage. We’re a group of collectors, enthusiasts, and professionals who specialize in insuring all types of collector vehicles. Please contact us today to learn more at 800.257.9496. 

Classic Motorcycles: History of the AJS Motorcycle

During the early 1900s, a man named Albert John Stevens built engines for use in the frame of motorcycle manufacturers along with his brother. In 1909, the brothers finished their first complete motorcycle, a British bike virtually identical to motorcycles manufactured under the Matchless brand, but named AJS, after Albert himself.

The Stevens brothers eventually formed their own business, called A.J. Stevens & Co. (AJS) The company was known for building singles and V-twins in the years before World War II and took home several trophies in the early days of TT racing, which would help their sales for many years. The company existed from 1909 to 1931, manufacturing both cars and motorcycles, but went bankrupt at the end of their run, and as a result, joined forces with the Matchless Company to form Associated Motor Cycles (AMC). Although both lines continued under their own names, they became synonymous in construction, differing only in badging and trim.

Though created after the formation of the AJS brand to AMC, the most notable bike produced is perhaps the 1954 AJS E95 Porcupine Racing Motorcycle. The Porcupine was built for speed, and was described as the “Holy Grail of British motorcycles”. This bike is the only twin-cylinder motorcycle to have ever won the 500cc World Championship, and was one of only four E95s to be built, deeming it as a “legendary” bike by many enthusiasts. The Porcupine features an exposed clutch, an AC fuel pump that requires the bike to be stood on its rear wheel for priming, a full 54bhp, and a streamlined design.

No matter what type of antique or classic motorcycle you own, it’s important to protect it financially with the right type of Classic Motorcycle Insurance Coverage. At Condon Skelly, we know how exciting it can be to start a classic car collection. We’ve been helping our customers protect their classics with affordable, industry-leading insurance coverage since 1967. We’re a group of collectors, enthusiasts, and professionals who specialize in insuring all types of collector vehicles. For more information, please contact us today at (866) 291-5694.

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Collector Motorcycle Insurance: The Triumph Tiger Cub

Back in December 2013, we explored the evolution of the Triumph Bonneville classic motorcycle. While the Bonneville is an iconic antique vehicle, it’s not the only Triumph with fame. Intended to be a bike that served as an antidote to the fog of British two-stroke engines smoking up the streets, the T20 Tiger Cub was a bike that capitalized on the appeal of Triumph’s established muscle machines, the 498cc Speed Twin, Tiger 100, and 649cc Thunderbird. Unlike these bikes though, the Tiger Cub was lightweight with a commuter appeal.

The tiger cub was known for being a small motorcycle. Introduced in 1954 and in production for a little over a decade, the 200cc T20 Tiger Cub was designed by Edward Turner and launched at the Earls Court show in November 1953. The Tiger Cub competed well against the other small-capacity motorcycles of the time, such as those using Villiers two-stroke engines.

The earlier version of the Cub, derived from the 150cc Triumph T15 Terrier (1953-1956) with the same frame and forks, used the aforementioned bike’s plunger rear suspension frame. In 1957, this was updated to a more modern pattern of a rear-swinging arm with twin suspension units.

Even with its iconic nature, the Tiger Cub had its drawbacks. For example, in the earlier bikes the plain bearing big ends were prone to failure if the engine was revved hard before the oil was warm. A better oil pump was fitted in 1961, and the Cub received a complete new bottom end in 1962, which fixed that problem. The Cub also saw ignition problems during this time, but that too was fixed by 1963.

Although the Tiger Cub made many improvements throughout its existence, it’s development was somewhat short lived. Triumph ceased production of the Tiger Cub in 1968. The last model made was the T20 Super Cub.

No matter what type of classic or vintage motorcycle you own, we can insure it at Condon Skelly. Your vehicle will fall into the antique category if it is completely original and at least 25 years old. We insure many different types of antique cars, trucks, and motorcycles so we’ll be able to craft the perfect policy for your vehicle. Please contact us at (866) 291-5694 for more information today!

Collector Motorcycle Insurance: A Look at the BSA Brand

One of the most iconic British motorcycle brands in the world, BSA was originally formed in 1861 by a group of gun makers to supply weapons to the British government during the Crimean War. In fact, BSA (Birmingham Small Arms) is the more commonly known name for the company, which is the British Birmingham Small Arms Co.

As the Crimean War declined, the company began branching out into making bicycles, and by 1903 produced its first experimental motorcycle, along with automobiles. BSA motorcycles were initially sold as affordable bikes, with reasonable performance for the average user. The BSA brand stressed the reliability of their machines, the availability of spares, and dealer support.

BSA motorcycles were a mix of sidevalve and OHV engines offering different performance for different roles. For example, if the bike was purposed to haul a side car, it may have a more powerful engine than one without this addition.

BSA bikes were intended for commuting above all else, when they first came out, and were often compared to Norton motorcycles. Post-war, a few riders began entering races such as the TT races with their BSA’s. They started off making a slow appearance into these races, but by 1952 BSA was in the majority.

By 1956, the makeup was 53 BSA bikes to every 1 Norton and 1 Velocette! Due to their successful introduction into racing and in order to improve U.S. sales, BSA began entering here in the U.S., starting by entering a team of riders into the 200 mile Daytona Beach race with a mixture of single cylinder Gold Stars and twin cylinder Shooting Stars assembled by Roland Pike.

Motocross became such a success for the BSA factory with Jeff Smith riding a B40 that they were able to capture the 1964 and 1965 FIM 500 cc Motocross World Championships. This would be the last year the title would be won by a four-stroke machine until the mid-1990’s.

The BSA brand was most definitely one of the most iconic brands there were. Even today, BSA’s continue to be viewed as both competitive vintage racers and, along with other British brands such as Triumph, staples of the modern café racer culture.

No matter what type of classic or vintage motorcycle you own, we can insure it at Condon Skelly. Your vehicle will fall into the antique category if it is completely original and at least 25 years old. We insure many different types of antique cars, trucks, and motorcycles so we’ll be able to craft the perfect policy for your vehicle. Please contact us at (866) 291-5694 for more information today!

Antique Vehicle Insurance: The History of the Velocette Motorcycle

Founded by John Taylor and William Gue in 1905, Velocette is a motorcycle company in Birmingham, England. There were actually several motorcycle manufacturers in the area of Birmingham at this time. Velocettes was a small firm, selling far fewer hand-build motorcycles than the much larger BSA brand. However as small as the brand was, it was a great technical innovator. Many of its patented designs are even common on motorcycles today, including features such as the positive-stop foot shift and swinging arm rear suspension with hydraulic dampers.

The first motorcycle built by the brand, in 1906, was called the Veloce. The 2 hp Veloce was built as a one-off, and in 1907 John Taylor’s sons Percy and Eugene Goodman established New Veloce Motors to produce a car. The car never entered production, however the new company offered general engineering services and other non-motorcycle products. A year later, Veloce Ltd. began working on a new motorcycle, with an engine designed in-house.

Six years later the company released the first two stroke motorcycle, nicknamed Velocette, a name which was kept and used for the next series of bikes, including the K series, officially introduced in 1925. The K series of Velocettes have been used as platforms for the KSS, KTS, KTP, and KNN roadsters, motorcycles which were in production until 1948.

In the following years, Velocette Motorcycles launched multiple new models and redesigned older models to become more advanced and equipped with new technologies. Although the Velocette Brand has a rich history, the late 1960’s were the last years of production. Veloce Ltd. Closed in February 1971.

No matter what type of classic or vintage motorcycle you own, we can insure it at Condon Skelly. Your vehicle will fall into the antique category if it is completely original and at least 25 years old. We insure many different types of antique cars, trucks, and motorcycles so we’ll be able to craft the perfect policy for your vehicle. Please contact us today for more information. (866) 291-5694