Bequests to the NOC

Not a legal point as such, but would bequests of bikes actually help the Club?

Since I assume it has no aspirations to start a museum the only benefit would be the financial one flowing from selling machines received, but one would have to set against this the issues involved in taking possession, storing and selling any machines.

I suspect the Club officers would feel that they have quite enough to do without having to become bike dealers as well.

A better scheme might be to stipulate that bikes should be sold with the net proceeds being bequeathed to the Club.

... the VMCC used to be the beneficiary of such bequests and some at least (Oily Karslake's Dreadnought for example) were loaned out to members to ride. But I agree the administration of such a scheme would be very onerous. At one time I had intended to leave my bikes to Birmingham Science Museum when the time came but since that was disastrously turned into a quasi commercial venture (and many of the bikes are languishing in storage) that option has gone. National Motorcycle Museum perhaps but that has its own issues.

Many moons ago I got asked to deal with a succession of deceased NOC owner's bikes and bits. The bits disposal was easy as the NOC Spares Scheme was happy to offer a fair price for a bundle of garage or workshop of parts.

Bikes, however,  were another story as most Museums would only accept standard Nortons on the understanding they would probably be sold on either whole or reduced to spares and the money raised going straight into their own cash pot.  Dashing any hope of the Widow that the bike would be available for viewing by subsequent generations of her family.

The Club tried selling bikes privately and did have some success in obtaining good homes for most but the time involved in setting up the deals and arranging transportation was very off-putting and then later discouraged as a Club service.

No easy answer to bequeathing a Norton.

Hi Michael

As Phil has already pointed out however we might appreciate the generosity of member's bequests we have presently no mechanism with which to deal with them, with one eye on on the increasing ages of our members, its still perhaps an interesting issue?

As Julian Wells suggests - it would perhaps be easier at the moment to suggest people stipulate that bikes should be sold with the net proceeds being bequeathed to the Club.  Even this of course still has potential tax implications and we'll discuss these with our Treasurer, Nicole to see if there's any guidance we can usefully offer members with this sort of generosity in mind.

Peter

I joined the NOC about twenty years ago so can only reflect my own experience. I've had a similar experience to Phil and been asked to sort a garage of a deceased Norton enthusiast. The widow was delighted with the offer from the club spares scheme but it took my wife and I the best part of a day to sort the Norton spares from the DIY stuff and the mower parts etc.

A past member Dennis Porter left the club a sizeable legacy in his will. The executive (no directors then) decided to use the money to purchase decent display tents for the branches. In black, with logos, one per branch that wanted them. To be used at shows and similar branch events.

Each tent had a note printed on reminding us of Dennis Porter and his generosity.

In addition Dennis asked the club to give an annual trophy for the best featherbed special. I commissioned this trophy ( A significant shield with plaques around) awarded a few times and then 'lost'. Probably the last recipient could not be found.

So, we have had legacies, no tax was paid on it (we were charitable non-profit in those days), and this is how it went.

Still thinking of it Michael?

Peter Holland