Hi
Some people get all the luck!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-35091164
"A collection of rare motorcycles has been discovered in Cornwall after being kept in barns for decades.
The Brough Superiors had been stored in barns for more than 50 years, according to auctioneers Bonhams.
The eight motorcycles, which date from between 1926-1939, were collected by Frank Vague who died earlier in 2015.
Bonhams said the motorcycles were the "last known collection" of unrestored Broughs and the most expensive would have a guide price of £80-£120,000.
Brough Superior motorcycles were built in Nottingham, at founder George Brough's factory in Haydn Road.
Built in the 1920s and 1930s, they were known as the Rolls Royce of motorcycles and used by celebrated riders such as Lawrence of Arabia.
Ben Walker, from Bonhams, described the collection as "one of the greatest motorcycle discoveries of recent times".
He said: "A lot of mystery surrounds these motorcycles, as very few people knew that they still existed, many believing them to be an urban myth."
"
Happy Christmas!
email (option): a.tizzard@btopenworld.com
I first heard about these back in the mid 1970s...They were thought to be an 'urban myth' back then...A barn full of Broughs on Bodmin Moor?..It had to be an old wives tale...
However, it was more than 25 years ago I had them confirmed as real by a local chap...
The problem was the owner had no intention of selling them, wouldn't let anyone see them and wasn't even that bothered about talking about them...
They are all for sale in the Bonhams Auction at the Classic Bike Show in April 2016...
Interestingly I've seen no mention of the Brough car he also supposedly had in his possession...(Yes there were some manufactured as well as bikes)...Ian
email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com
Interestingly I've seen no mention of the Brough car he also supposedly had in his possession...(Yes there were some manufactured as well as bikes)...Ian
Yes and like all things Brough, quite nice looking but made from other firms parts. I believe the Engines and Chassis's came from America. Ron
email (option): ronpier@talk21.com
The next few years will be interesting...it was possible in the past to buy bikes very cheaply as they became obsolete and people built up both large and small accumulations on that basis...
These machines have been out of circulation for years but as the owners get older/pass away they are coming back onto the market...
You couldn't do this today unless you are very well funded, the bikes are too expensive...
Along with the more common machines I owned some rare bikes in the early 70s that either came very cheap or were given to me in quite a few cases...
In those days they were pretty much worthless...and I didn't value them particularly either...
The arrival and growth of the 'Classic Bike' scene ended all that...
A few year back a friend of mine went to the 'happy hunting ground' and his collection of over 40 BSAs came onto the market...They had been accumulated for a fraction of what they sold for...He paid £200 for one of his Y13 V Twins for example as late as the early 80s...
My WB30 came from his collection as it happens...Ian
email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com
The problem with this tho, Ian is that these bikes usually have not been stored well. See prev' post about a brough under a tarp in a shed since the sixties. What,s it going to be like when the tarp comes off? I know off several od bikes, or they used to be, that where left in the owners garden in the open. He wouldt sell them cos he thought they where worth oodles. In the end your just left with a brown stain on the ground.
It's true...Some bikes will be lost/seriously damaged due to poor storage...
Less than half a mile from me as I type this is a Royal Enfield Constellation under various covers OUTSIDE of a garden shed...I'm not sure how well protected it is...
I had two Connies in the past and have tried to get this one from the old boy that owns it...He's too old to contemplate restoring the bike but isn't too old to want to hang onto it and oversee its deterioration...very sad...
I'm keeping an eye on it (and him)...Perhaps in the not too distant future it can be saved...Ian
email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com
Very true. Good Luck with it, the Connie is a beautiful bike to ride and riden it should be!
Yep I've visited a retired farmer near Petersfield he has acres of land with loads of out buildings and lots of old WW2 relics that he and his Dad bought from post war sales, dead tractors and other farm equipment and he even has a steam engine.
He's in his 80's and the nicest guy on the Earth and loaned me parts to copy from his Universal (Bren) Carrier and his wife gives me lunch when I visit.
I quizzed him about all the rare stuff laying around and deteriorating. He answered simply....At my age, I don't need the money and I'd rather look at the stuff that reminds me of my Dad and when I was young. Can't argue with that I suppose 
Ron
email (option): ronpier@talk21.com
Sorry about the slightly misleading wording in my post re the Brough Keith. The sheet I referred to is a bed sheet and the Brough is in the owners living room. I mean, where else ?? But don't ask for a look as the answer is always 'no', and has been since the chap died. I didn't know the family before his death so never saw it in use.
Here some more info and high resolution pictures:
http://thevintagent.blogspot.nl/
""The owner refused to consider many offers for individual machines or the whole collection, preferring to watch them slowly return to earth""
Actually a strange thing that ownership gives you the right to do with it whatever you like......
Bodmin moor can do that to people...There's one well known guy that lives there who goes out every morning collecting the nights road kill..
That's his only source of meat...Even his wife thinks he's a bit odd...
He says it's fresh and wasteful not to use it..He could be right...Ian
email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com
Yeah I've seen that guy on the telly. Nothing like taking a squashed fox out of the freezer to thaw for dinner tonight
Then there was the guy who had about 20 kids by two different women on each side of Bodmin Moor and used to run daily between the two.. Ron
email (option): ronpier@talk21.com
Interestingly I've seen no mention of the Brough car he also supposedly had in his possession...(Yes there were some manufactured as well as bikes)...Ian
Ian in answer to your comment. The car is still there rotting away in the background.
Ron.
email (option): ronpier@talk21.com
That's probably gone for a Bonhams car auction...Ian
email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com
I would break that Brough up! The gearbox will fit nice in my 16H.