Old memories of New Delhi

A few years back now I imported old British bikes from India to the UK. Mostly ex-WD and pre-war bikes. Back then the supply was fairly plentiful and the prices right. Those were times before the internet was all pervasive so local folks had very little access to pictures of how the bikes looked when new to help restorations and no clear idea of prices in Europe. Nowadays that of course has all changed, few bikes restored in the last ten years don't carry at least on or two parts made by the Indian repro parts industry. Indian restorations are far higher in quality than they used to be and the scene there is so big that prices can be as high as Europe and there is even a small flow of bikes going back over to the sub-continent.

These pictures I dug out recently and are from a buying trip to Delhi back in '99.

I can't remember which of the shops this BSA M20 was offered
at but it was in the Karol Bagh area. The condition is typical
of local restorations of the time. With a machine like a M20
you could be reasonably sure that it would be OK mechanically
as there was still a lot of ex-WD new old stock around.

This Bajaj Vespa with Cozy sidecar bore the marks of a lot
of use but carried a lot of character with it.

Here's Madaan Motors in Karol Bagh.