- Joined
- Jan 21, 2011
- Messages
- 639
I can not believe the ridiculously high prices people are paying for Smiths Chronometric instruments.
With the thousands of bikes scrapped since the early sixties, there is surely thousands more Chronometric tachs and speedos laying around than there is bikes left intact that originally used them. Having said that the only thing creating demand for them must be people putting them on bikes that never had them in the first place.
The Smiths chronometric instrument itself was a utility-grade piece for mass production, there is nothing precision or special about it. It certainly has a lot more things that can go wrong with it than a magnetic instrument though.
Smiths Chronometric instruments have the build quality of a 1950's consumer-grade wind-up alarm clock. They will work for decades in their intended application because unlike that cheap clock, which has to run 24/7 for months or years on end, The Smiths speedo or tach on a bike ridden an hour per day only sees 1/24th the amount of wear! And we know that most pre-64 British bikes see much, much less use than that.
Smiths high-end competition instrument of the fifties and early sixties, the ATRC as used on the Manx, G-50 Matchless, and all the other factory and works GP bikes, was a very simple magnetic instrument with a lot less parts and a lot less to go wrong with it. The ATRC has very much in common with the sixties and seventies magnetic instruments that were put on every British bike.
It is ridiculous that the set of clocks on a common british bike of the fifties or sixties can be worth most of $1000, 10%-20% of what the bike itself is worth!!!
Hipsters, posers, profiteers, speculators etc. certainly have a heavy hand in this inflation, buying up the instruments for use on bikes that did not come with them originally for their boulevard appeal. Just one more part of this hobby they have ruined.....
With the thousands of bikes scrapped since the early sixties, there is surely thousands more Chronometric tachs and speedos laying around than there is bikes left intact that originally used them. Having said that the only thing creating demand for them must be people putting them on bikes that never had them in the first place.
The Smiths chronometric instrument itself was a utility-grade piece for mass production, there is nothing precision or special about it. It certainly has a lot more things that can go wrong with it than a magnetic instrument though.
Smiths Chronometric instruments have the build quality of a 1950's consumer-grade wind-up alarm clock. They will work for decades in their intended application because unlike that cheap clock, which has to run 24/7 for months or years on end, The Smiths speedo or tach on a bike ridden an hour per day only sees 1/24th the amount of wear! And we know that most pre-64 British bikes see much, much less use than that.
Smiths high-end competition instrument of the fifties and early sixties, the ATRC as used on the Manx, G-50 Matchless, and all the other factory and works GP bikes, was a very simple magnetic instrument with a lot less parts and a lot less to go wrong with it. The ATRC has very much in common with the sixties and seventies magnetic instruments that were put on every British bike.
It is ridiculous that the set of clocks on a common british bike of the fifties or sixties can be worth most of $1000, 10%-20% of what the bike itself is worth!!!
Hipsters, posers, profiteers, speculators etc. certainly have a heavy hand in this inflation, buying up the instruments for use on bikes that did not come with them originally for their boulevard appeal. Just one more part of this hobby they have ruined.....