Raise The Barn

I think the seller of this bike may have gone overboard on his “set dressing”. The words “Barn Find” scrawled in marker pen on the headlight and the somewhat shabby overall condition, clearly defined what I was looking at, without the need for artistically placed bits of straw!
So, was I tempted? Yes and no. It was cheap, basically complete and came with a log book. Importantly, it was a more obscure British make (Francis Barnett) than the ubiquitous Triumph, BSA or Norton. Quite a few boxes ticked there. But I don’t really know that much about it, have no idea what the spares availability is and - most importantly - no way of getting it from Stafford to Kendal!
There were many shiny, beautifully restored bikes on display. A lot would seem to have started in a similar state to the one in the photo, so I know pretty well everything is possible if you put your mind to it and can track down the appropriate parts. Not to mention devoting many, many hours to cleaning, polishing and fettling.
It’s time to start narrowing down my search. I’m avoiding Triumph and Norton, mainly because I’m bloody minded and don’t want to follow the herd. A big single appeals for a variety of reasons, but the obvious choice there is a BSA and, again, there’s a lot of them about - and a few too many “Gold Star” lookalikes for my liking. If I can’t afford an original (and I can’t) then I don’t really want to go down the replica route.
I’ve got a lead on a couple of dealers who usually carry some stock ripe for restoration, so it may just be a case of seeing what they’ve got in at the right price and taking it from there. All suggestions of what I might be looking for - or should be avoiding like the plague - gratefully received.