In answer to Rick Bakke's question - What is the one bike you all wish you had kept?
Often, the most important bike is not necessarilly the best.
I bought my first bike in 1964 when I was only 13. It was a Claude Butler; nothing special perhaps, but to me it was everything. It had full Campag equipment and a Brooks leather saddle.
I remember borrowing the money off my father and I had to pay him back 2/- per week. It took ages.
$4,000 plus machines (in today's money) were not on the radar for a 13 year-old. They are more for middle-age indulgers (not knocking, only observing with envy).
I sold the CB when I migrated to Australia in the seventies and I really wish I hadn't. Identical machines have been offered since, but they don't have the nostalgic value.
OT but related. I did manage to keep my first "real" car - a 1936 semi-sports two-seater bought for only seven pounds in 1970. Today, Borris has turned into a time-machine allowing me to recapture my late teens. Claude would have captured an earlier and wonderful period.......
David Fryer, Queensland