junk

[Wadman]

I drove about ninety miles today to buy a 1972 450wr that was advertised as being in great shape. When I got there the bike had rust on the shocks and spokes,dents in the tank and a bad seat on it. The bike ran well and started fairly easy. Before making the trip I was told this bike was a 7.5 on a scale of one to ten. The asking price for this bike was $1200.00 which I felt was fair for a 7.5 but not a 2. How much do these bikes go for in poor cosmetic condition?

 

[fourteensix]

Dude,
welcome to the post Barret-Jackson / American Pickers world.... thanks to Tv shows like these and others, some think everything old, is now gold !

 

[Bill502]

In this day of Digital cameras and computers I won't drive more than 50 miles to look at any bike without seeing a picture of it,or a referral from some one I trust. Just look on Ebay and you'll see what people think is Mint!

 

[fran...k.]

The trouble with vintage stuff a lot of the time is that the guys who buy it are going to take it to a restorer and pay like $75 per hour for every hour anyone in the restorers shop spends on it and hence think the guy with the thing shouldn't hardly get any money. That may or may not effect your thinking. You could always get a nicer one when it shows up, $1200 could dissapear quick at a vet if you have a dog or a horse and it is pretty hard to negotiate. It is only money, you found a whole one that ran and you could test out, sure someone is letting something similar go for $100 because someone else left it in their basement 14 years ago. When you start crashing or your friends crash and go to the emergency room one can come to the conclusion new bikes are quite reasonably priced. Then you have the issue of what it will bring sold in pieces. You can end up with the same kind of situation on machinerytrader.com with posted hours and find that the hour meter must have been turned over at least once once you get there.

 

[Dirtdame]

People charge what they hope the market will demand. They are often wrong. I see restored machinery on E Bay and guys want the bids to start at 5000 dollars. These bikes are very nicely done, and I'm sure these people did put a lot of time and money into their bikes, but they can't hardly expect to turn a profit just because they did. I watch the ads and the bikes get no offers.

I am always on the lookout for older bikes that somebody wants to get rid of that are in usable shape for a good price. When I get there, the bikes are usually not in good running shape and much worse looking than the ad pics. In my opinion, the seller is asking way too much for what the machine actually is. These bikes may run on Craigslist for months before the seller finally gets wise and starts knocking the price down.

 

[oldhuskychuck]

sounds like a 300.00 project to me.

 

[tommie d]

sounds like a 300.00 project to me.

That's even too much for a 450 A 400 yes, but not a 450.

 

[i like rocks]

Pends on what you want

Vintage bikes are a lot like a Vegas vacation. A lot of fond memeries but you aint gettin the $$$$$ back. I just payed to much for a
73 CR400 and a WR450 motor to build a bike like I had 30 year ago
Not because it was a wise investment But because I want one and was just going to waste the money on food and electricty anyway.

 

[Wadman]

sounds like a 300.00 project to me.

$300.00 would have been about right for this bike. The thing that gets me is that if the sellers would spend a little time on the bikes they may get a little more for them.

 

[oldhuskychuck]

most owners of these old bikes really dont want or care what they look like, and will likely have a great story of how bad ass the bike is...{eyeroll}
personally, i like the 450,s i love the bottom end grunt they have, and are awesome for todays vintage tracks.
with todays economy. cash talks.... if you make an offer, just give the seller you number, likely they will call you in a week or 2...

 

[Dirtdame]

$300.00 would have been about right for this bike. The thing that gets me is that if the sellers would spend a little time on the bikes they may get a little more for them.

People want more than that for junker parts bikes! I saw a 175 Ossa Stiletto parts bike in an ad recently for 650 bucks! The trouble is that people are convinced that their pile of junk is SO RARE that it must be worth a pile of money.

Another guy has a nice Rickman Zundapp in an ad for about 1600. He spent a lot of time making it nice looking and pretty much to original spec. He claims it'll start right up and run really nicely through all the gears. Then he dropped the ball by putting some really cheap 50/50 dualsport tires on it. He could have spent just a little more for the correct type of tires and probably would have had some bites on his ad, but instead the bike hasn't sold in over a month now.

 

[Daniel508s]

Dude,
welcome to the post Barret-Jackson / American Pickers world.... thanks to Tv shows like these and others, some think everything old, is now gold !

Very True and shows like Antique Roadshow.
On American Pickers they will say, "Hey, I will give you $100 for that rusted out bicycle frame..." and the owner will say, "Hey, give me $125 and we have a deal..." Picker says, "OK!!! Sweet!!"
Yes, Craigslist is full of these.

 

[oldhuskychuck]

a Zundapp that hs spark???wow,, now thats rare...
however,.. i sold a 67 OSSA one of 310 built...
it was a POS rusted out pile...paid 45.00 for the bike, sold on ebay...for 1650.00 and went top Spain,...them old 4 speed OSSA,s still fetch top dollar,
my opening bid was 49.99.....
i bid a 4 speed OSSA trials up to 1200.00 that needed everything...it sold for 1800.00
they have deaper pockets them me.

 

[Dirtdame]

Right now I am looking for a 1986-87 KDX200. You'd think that there would be plenty of those out there for cheap, but I can't find any at any price, let alone a cheap one.

 

[Husq.fleet]

A guy was looking for a 82 430XC and someone gave him my number. He called and asked if I had one and if so was it for sale? I said I do and maybe! I described the condition the best I could and told him the price, $3500. He about hung up on me, so what? He them proceeded to tell me why my price was out of line, I listened politely untill he was done. I told him that maybe he would be happier with a new 450 so just add another 5 grand to that and he could have a brand new one. He said "wow" I never thought about it that way.
I said I wasn't really interested in selling it and thats what its worth to me, what would I replace it with that I enjoy as much? I searched along time for a "survivor" 82 430XC and spent alot of time and money thereafter. I was nice about it and told him I had a good core rebuilder if he was intersted. I feel any collectable is only worth what someone will pay for it at that time. If there is no "book value" that a bank will loan money on, its value is high bid!

 

[oldhuskychuck]

dirtdame///// heres the hook up//

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