Call me paranoid ( didnt you? ) only it seems to me that no matter how old or broken or tatty, how massive the millage or how much its been F ed about with, bits its in. All motorbikes are worth 1000 pounds sterling minimum. Its a natural law. I just want a M O T ed rat to leave out side the house and have available all the time. 500 quid all in. Thats all.
The themes in all the adverts are:- " looked after" then no mention of any services, parts... so washed. " lots of money spent"... on rubbish. " rare " ... 300 for sale. " was running, something small" ... knackered and not telling you whats wrong. " project"...cost 3 times the buy in. " 65,000 miles nothing for these"... ok but how much?? " original and unmolested"... needs everything and all fasteners seized. " No docs or paperwork"... scary. " excellent condition"... except this and this o and this and that. "classic"... that should keep it above 1000 for next 5 years any way " new bike requires sale"... please also buy part of my new bike for me. If my car was a 35 year old run about, would I get 1000 pounds for it? Not a Ferrari just a commuter, you know.
If its 10 grand new and 8 grand after 3 years ,then what? About 5 after 5/6 years? Then, 10 / 11 years should be 1500/1000, so where does that leave a 15/20 year old bike in ok condition? 300/400 pounds?
Yes, I have spent the money on mine then been offered less than 20% of the money spent, only it was my choice to spend on it as a hobby ( i wouldnt do that to a car) .It brakes your heart. there does seem to be a shelve though. You are right about my aspirations. only I am trying to avoid buying then spending on a rat. If I was more canny I would keep my bikes and they would become my rats
I know what you're saying, a few years ago I worked for BG, and would quite often say to the cust, where's the meter? Often it was the garage/outhouse, I'd go in, and there pretending to be a set of shelves, would be an old bike, I picked up quite a few that way, which I did up and sold on. Then came the rise of the internet and the auction site, suddenly everything has a value! This is not helped by auction houses, that a few yrs ago wouldn't have given a bike the time of day, now leaping on the bandwagon and helping to inflate prices for their commision, and of course "collectors" who currently view classic/old vehicles as a better investment than leaving the money in the bank, especially with interest rates so low. Would seem everything over a few yrs old is now "classic" along with an asking price to match. Sooner or later this bubble has to burst, and will be interested to see what happens when it does, along with the huge PCP bubble that's going to go the same way eventually. Then of course we'll all be moaning that suddenly our bikes aren't worth anything!
Bike prices are on the up when I was looking for a Bonneville ten year old bikes were £4000-£4500 also this year I sold my 900 diversion for £1395 bought it 4 years ago for £750
Going to see a BSA B25 Fleetstar (250cc) with a B40 engine in (350cc) on Sunday as pal is looking for a Brit project £1200 ono. Didn't think that was too bad for a late 60's these days. Would agree tho, prices through roof on classics. I was looking for a Triumph 250cc for him but non around at that price. Poor guy wants to "Do it up" but he did a good job on my old 1967 BSA Bantam, then failed his test on emergency stop. Bummer
