Where are all the old bikes?

[Moto63]

Love them little Honda groms. Couple of years ago while out for a spin about 40 of the things came in the opposite direction, all with geezers smiling for ear to ear... I remember thinking “I want one of those”

[CrazyFrog]

my take on what to buy that will increase in value in coming years, honda grom, sachs madass, in fact anything from sachs, they did a stonking thumper powered by a dr650 engine as well as a lovely roadster with a suzuki 800 vee twin engine. i reccon any of these bought and kept clean will make money in future.

I've always had a hankering for a Sachs roadster. Very well built I believe, and a great suzi engine. Very rarely see them for sale though...

[iansoady]

There's a Honda RS250 plus a spare electric start one in bits for less than £1,000 in the current issue of Real Classic. Located in Derby if memory serves. It looks quite nice from the photo and could make a decent bike with enough return on the bits to make it nearly free.

PM me for contact details.

[mthee]

Then again, I'm currently tempted by a CB200

Nice tank on them 

[mthee]

my take on what to buy that will increase in value in coming years, honda grom, sachs madass, in fact anything from sachs, they did a stonking thumper powered by a dr650 engine as well as a lovely roadster with a suzuki 800 vee twin engine. i reccon any of these bought and kept clean will make money in future.

I've always had a hankering for a Sachs roadster. Very well built I believe, and a great suzi engine.

I think that's the same engine as the VX800, the bike I sold to get my XBR. Stonking torque - I'll never forget the test ride, cracking her open in 2nd and waiting for my head to catch up with me!

[xbally]

cheap bikes are still out there, theyre just not the same as the cheap bikes we used to get. cheap bikes now tend to be mid 90'd or early noughtys jap middleweights, after all, if you sell a million cbr600's then eventually the market for them will slump and stay slumped till there arent many left. look at gsx1100's, gsxr slabsides, gs1000's. they were plentyful and thus cheap, people bought them and ragged them into the ground. eventually there werent many left, so the valused creep up and nostalgia makes people want them again. so folks want bantams and th prices shot up, ditto fizzys, lc's, even honda step thrus, all follow the same pattern. so if you want a cheap bike, pick wisely from the selection of available cbr/zzr/fzr/gsxr/ etc and hope you get the one that gets the upturn in the market in 15 years or so.

Spot on! I've been watching this thread with interest. As a serial cheap bike buyer since the mid 90's it's incredible how at one point you can pick up a real bargain and suddenly without apparently noticing the price then goes through the roof.
I used to be able to get a KH250 or even a 400 in bits in the mid 90's for pennies really-£50 for the 250 and £80 I think for the 400 but look at the price now. The 500 /750 were always more but you could still pick up a bargain at one time. Then the were the aircooled RD's- I got a £400 needing work for about £650 not that long ago-maybe 10 years and the guy even delivered it from Essex to the West Mids.I swapped that for an LC250 which have also become ridiculously overpriced in the last few years and the LC350's are even worse.

I had a reasonable X7 for about £500 about 12 years ago and a 350 powervalve for similar money at the same time.Look at the price of these now!

As has been said cheap bikes are still out there but you do need to hunt them down and be prepared to travel to get them.

[xbally]

Forgot to say my first RS250 was under £35 -yes under £35 and that was not so long ago.

[Moto63]

Yes Martin you are correct amundo, the jota I bought back in 1991 cost me £1500 a 1979 model with two owners from new, totally original and very low mileage for its year. In excellent condition.  I (regrettable) sold it a year later (to fund a new bathroom 😢😢) for £3000.  I dread to think what it would be worth now. Probably about 20 mucho grando.....
name withheld to protect the FOOLISH

[xbally]

Yes Martin you are correct amundo, the jota I bought back in 1991 cost me £1500 a 1979 model with two owners from new, totally original and very low mileage for its year. In excellent condition.  I (regrettable) sold it a year later (to fund a new bathroom 😢😢) for £3000.  I dread to think what it would be worth now. Probably about 20 mucho grando.....
name withheld to protect the FOOLISH

Yes I always pined for  a 3 cylinder Lav Michael. The nearest I got was when selling my 1978 GS Thou in 1980 and someone turned up wanting to swap his Lav. for my GS with me paying a cash adjustment. I had to reluctantly decline as I had just bought a Triumph TR6 (car not the bike) and needed funds quick.I've always regretted not having a Lav and am pretty sure I won't be getting one now.

[Smithy]

I was talking to my mate about this thread and discussing the old bikes we used to own etc. He always worked as a machinist for the Royal Ordnance Factory in Nottingham and at a time when I earned £5,000 a year as an auxiliary nurse he earned £20.000 plus doing permanent night shifts and overtime so our bike buying habits have been very different. However we laughed most about the MZs we bought for £20 or the B31s he bought for less than £100. They were the bikes we both shared experiences on and though over the years he has been very generous in letting me ride his new Harleys, BMWs etc I really think those old clunkers were his favourites. He now has another new Street Glide in the garage but reaches for the keys of his Burgman most.

I suppose the lesson there is that it is the quality of the riding/owning experience that matters and not the price. If the bike you have excites you when you ride it and sits well with your views on spending, owning etc then that's the best bike for you. I might be in danger of growing up.

One other thing we noted was the average age of a VMCC member is 83 so soon there will be a lot of old bikes released onto the market. Who knows might bag myself a bargain then!

Ian

[Moto63]

I suppose the lesson there is that it is the quality of the riding/owning experience that matters and not the price. If the bike you have excites you when you ride it and sits well with your views on spending, owning etc then that's the best bike for you. I might be in danger of growing up.



Ian

Yes I totally agree with Ian... I’ve just had a very similar conversation (via texting)  with one of the new members on the TC site. It’s defo about what bike makes you smile when you ride it. Not how much it cost or what it’s worth. The experience is what it should be about. Do I wish I still had my jota? In all honesty. No. Do I was I still had the XBR cafe racer I built.. Yes
Probably be worth a third of the jota and only go half the speed but I used to love opening the old garage door and seeing it there. It made me want to go for a ride every time I went in there....cheers, Michael

[CrazyFrog]

Probably be worth a third of the jota and only go half the speed but I used to love opening the old garage door and seeing it there. It made me want to go for a ride every time I went in there....cheers, Michael

My Jawa's have that effect on me Michael. Every time I open the garage door and see them sitting there, I want to go for a ride............ on my bicycle. 

[Moto63]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣... brilliant

[mthee]

 

[Smithy]

Probably be worth a third of the jota and only go half the speed but I used to love opening the old garage door and seeing it there. It made me want to go for a ride every time I went in there....cheers, Michael

My Jawa's have that effect on me Michael. Every time I open the garage door and see them sitting there, I want to go for a ride............ on my bicycle. 

So many possible replies to this Pete that I don't know which one to choose! Let's just say that when my main transport was JAWA/CZ produced I was a lot fitter.

Ian