As I mentioned last night, Here are the events that led me to owning the GB500TT in this months Practical Sportsbikes ... It was July 2013, and I was occasionally browsing the net just to see what oddballs and rarities were out there... As we all do sometimes... Oxford Classic Honda seemed to be one of the sites I would be drawn to. However, on this particular occasion, there was a very tasty GB listed.... It was described as not for sale....... but the dealer , (Charles), was undecided as to whether he would keep this particular example, or add it to his stock, for sale... Yep, we all know what he was doing..! He knew just what he had, and he wanted to see just what a stir it would create, and what kind of figures would be whispered into his ear, on the off-chance it was up for sale... I telephoned him that day, to enquire if he had yet decided on it's future.... We had a very long conversation, where he told me it's history, and that two other people had also shown some interest. (More of them a little later). He also mentioned a figure that had been had been mentioned..... This figure wasn't just plucked from thin air... It was retrieved from the stratosphere..!! It was at this point I fired up my defibrillator and got my heart started again..! So, further on into the conversation, when I regained consciousness, I thought, where are you going to find a two owner GB with 4,700 miles on the clock..? It really was that pretty... it deserved to be viewed in the flesh... I asked if he would mind if I viewed it, on the off-chance he decided it was to be sold... I was there the following morning... and it really was as he had described... Back to the other two interested parties... Like me, they were interested... Two turned up to view it... One offered £4,500 straight away... His "friend" kept "schtum".... and called back a few days later........ offering £5,000....!!!!! It still wasn't up for sale at this point..!! You can guess the rest.... I got straight to the point and asked what his plans were, Yep, it was going on the site at 5K at the end of the week... It didn't... I bit the bullet, and we agreed to do business. Included was a brand new genuine Honda silencer... the original had it's reverse cone taken off (very neatly) and sounded very nice indeed... The new one is fitted once a year at MOT time. So, that is the story of how it came to be in my hands. I know I have paid an "eye watering" price, but, it is an investment.... Please don't all shout at once, but it really is such a fine example, it would be too risky having it on the road... One serious drop could trash something irreplaceable... That's all for now, Regards, Tony
