A bristled man knocked on my door about 8 o'clock last Thursday night.  He asked, "are you the guy with the motorbikes?"

A garage chap from further down the village, also called Bill, had sent him to me it appears.

He explained his father had died, and he needed to sell 2 motorbikes.  They were quite old bikes apparently.  I've had this situation many times before, so I tried to feign some level of interest.  I explained I that had one vintage Bonneville, but the rest were newer Jap bikes.   

He casually announced that the 2 bikes in question were a Vincent Black Shadow and an Ariel Square Four.  

Hmmm..... 

For those not in the know, these are 2 of the most valuable, iconic, collectable machines of the last 60 years in motorcycling.  My eyes glazed over; they would be far too much money for me!

(I KNEW these bikes were worth quite a bit, however I was amazed to find out later that a Vincent Black Shadow recently fetched £58,700!)

I invited him in, and showed him a metal plaque in my workshop, of a Vincent Black Shadow.  I explained Vincents were special to me, as my Dad used one.  He never stopped talking about it.  People even write songs about them.  (It's pretty much the same bike as the Vincent Black Lightning, 1952).

I also explained that a long term friend of mine already owns a Square Four, and loves it to bits.

The Ariel being offered had been fittted with a sidecar, but this had now been removed.

He then offered me the pair of bikes, for a silly sum.  £600 to be precise.  "Is that too much?" he asked, cautiously.

"No, that's OK" I replied, while trying to stifle a huge big grin straining to appear on my face.  I said that I might be interested, but it may depend on the condition they were in.  He said they were both complete & running, and had all the correct paperwork.  Whatever the condition, I agreed to give it a go for £600.

"OK, lets go" I said.  "Where are the bikes? Let's go and have a look now".

He said they were in Whitby, some 130 miles away from here.  "No problem" I said, "we can take my car at the weekend, with trailer attached, and can bring them back here".

At this point the chap was almost insistent that he could deliver the bikes here, "by tomorrow evening", on the condition that if I agreed to buy them now, I wouldn't back out when he had taken the trouble to bring them down here in his mate's van.

He suggested that  I might like to offer some money just to cover his mate's diesel.  Alarm bells tinkled gently in the back of my head, but I scraped together the twenty quid cash that he suggested.

We shook on the deal, I gave him my business card, he gave me a contact number and his local address, and said he'd phone again Friday afternoon to say exactly when he'd arrive with the bikes.

I went upstairs, somewhat in disbelief.  Told my wife that, "I may have just won the lottery".  She was sceptical. Aren't all wives like this?

I phoned several mates, and we all shared the excitement, but also the very strong possiblity that this was some kind of scam.  It IS too good to be true.  However, Carl told me that someone once GAVE him a perfectly good Pan European.  Geordie Gasman once bought a rare, valuable fishing rod for 20 quid.  These things happen.  Although usually just in your dreams.

I phoned my local Bobby but he wasn't on duty.  The Police Control Room took my story, and admitted it sounded very dodgy.  Hicksy did a major search on Google.  If there's a scam going on, he'll normally track it down.

There was no trace of a scam going on.  The Police phoned back the following morning, with interest, and admitted that no sirens were sounding.  This could, just might, be for real?

I'm trying not to believe it, but as Geordie Gasman says, "you've already had 20 quid's worth of fun out of this, and no matter what happens, it's a great pub story".

Although you won't believe me, I had no intention of selling these on.  I wanted to own them and ride them.  My intention was to make garage space by selling the multitude of other "unwanted" bikes that I have; 1 Kawasaki KH25 and 2 Kawasaki 750s for a start off.

So, what can go wrong?

1.  I may have been scammed for £20.  No problem.  I'll take that risk.  It's very elaborate however, all that work for £20?  It's possible some people may have stumped up a few hundred straight away, however.

2. Will I ever see "John" again?  Will he turn up tonight with these machines?

3. Will the bikes turn out to be stolen?  No trace on the internet or the Police records right now.  I must really really check the paperwork however.  I've alerted the Police, and they may send round a plain clothes guy round tonight as the bikes arrive.  I believe I'm doing all I can to try and make sure I won't get charged with handling stolen goods.

4. The guy "John" says he'll accept a cheque.  This gives me 4 or 5 days to check everything out, and I can stop the cheque if I later find a problem.

5. Potential problems.......  How can he not know the worth of these machines?   The address he gave may not exist.  Dave checked it out.  127 Meadow Road, Beeston. The house numbers seem to finish at 123.  I haven't dared try the mobile number he gave me yet.  In all honesty, I'm enjoying the excitement while it lasts.  (Mobile number does work 07794 651078 – but I got an answer phone message, with “John’s” voice on it)

Anything else?  Have I missed something?

Hope you can share my excitement and anticipation.  The truth should be out in about 6 or 7 hours' time.

I really don't know what's going to happen here.  I'm on tenterhooks!

It's Monday now.  What do you think happened?

The guy never turned up.  Looks like I was conned out of £20, or he found out the machines were worth far more, and kept them.  More likely, it’s just a con.  Others, be warned.

To help others, let me just put in some words here that Google might find, if like me, you do a search to check this out..  Scam involving Vincent Black Shadow.  Hoax where Vincent and Ariel are offered for £600.  Conman offering vintage Vincent for £600.  Stolen vincent offered for sale.

Footnote

The conman calls himself “John”.  He’s 35-45, unshaven, wears glasses, brown leather shoes, carries a small rucksack and dresses like a tradesman.  All details have been given to the Police.