Topic: Help me value these bikes.

[Stev-o]

...but I to think the CB bubble has burst for the time being.

Dont burst my bubble, Tews!   [Good thing I have 3.5 Kawasaki's, so I'm diversified and not worried!]

[turboed13b]

Sadly the money is with cafe' builds I can get $3000 from a project cafe racer easily on eBay. I have seen half assed spray painted generic cafe seat with clubmans go for 4-5k on eBay a lot of people I talk to actually hate the stock look of a vintage bike and wouldn't be "caught dead" riding one.

[jaguar]

See I think the cafe ship has very much sailed.
All the half asses "builders" that thought they could make a buck are now looked at the clowns they are.  Willing to bet most of the sales for big money on eBay are shill bids.
The hipsters have simply moved on to other hobbies.

The cafe craze will go the way of all the other forms of chopper.

Maybe the market has not burst, but the buyers clearly have smartened up.
They are taking more time to seek out the right bike.
I still think there is room to grow value wise for many of the vintage bikes.
Buyers with big money are out there, but picky.

Can't just drag a cb750 out of a barn, paint it, clean the carbs and make money.
Buyers want a story, they want history, they want original and correct.
They want to know what parts were used and who did the work.

Wouldn't spend big money on a car "restored" by some hack in a garage.

[Tews19]

See I think the cafe ship has very much sailed.
All the half asses "builders" that thought they could make a buck are now looked at the clowns they are.  Willing to bet most of the sales for big money on eBay are shill bids.
The hipsters have simply moved on to other hobbies.

The cafe craze will go the way of all the other forms of chopper.

Maybe the market has not burst, but the buyers clearly have smartened up.
They are taking more time to seek out the right bike.
I still think there is room to grow value wise for many of the vintage bikes.
Buyers with big money are out there, but picky.

Can't just drag a cb750 out of a barn, paint it, clean the carbs and make money.
Buyers want a story, they want history, they want original and correct.
They want to know what parts were used and who did the work.

Wouldn't spend big money on a car "restored" by some hack in a garage.

Could not have worded it better Jags!!! The truth is there is very little left on CL locally here. When there is, you have guys selling 77-78 750's for over 4k.... There is a reason these listings are still up after a year. Most of the listings are garbage, fake ads, or complete hacks as you mentioned Jags. I think the cafe scene is still here. It is most likely that the tv networks are not getting the ratings anymore so the shows continued to be dropped. Thus not as much media coverage with shows in this regard.The philly show I liked but it was to scripted...

In relation to this take a look at the new members here. It seems to have slowed down with individuals joining after a purchase. There was a time new members were joining the forum daily sharing their stories of finds on the cheap or excellent conditioned CB's bought from original owners. Now the finds are almost never and the new members here are few; unless to someone joins to sell some #$%* they believe to be CB gold..... As for those members, go to eBay..... We don't bid up #$%* so a flake can make a quick buck.... Matter of fact those flakes do not realize some of the most knowledgeable individuals are part of this site and won't pay an arm and a leg for parts...

Enough of my rant and sorry Jags for spewing at the mouth. I think your post is spot on.

[jaguar]

At the end of the day I think it is just a change in the hobby.  We were flooded with people jumping on the bandwagon chopper craze that was café racers.
Fact is that Honda made millions of these bikes and due to that once demand rose a bunch of good bikes came out of the woodwork.  It spiraled for a while but now has re grouped.  The days of anyone being able to find something special or make a buck are long over.  People need to work harder then that.
CL is an okay tool, but I have found that much of the stuff is trading privately, I assume as a reaction to NOT have to deal with every lazy joker that wants to pretend he is on TV.  I was just looking at a dozen Matchless last night.

Also brings me to a slightly different point, Honda is not the center of the world.
There, I said it.

MANY of us got into them because it was what we could afford.  When I started a comparable Brit bike was 3-5 times more expensive.
Now I am buying Nortons cheaper then I can buy a CB750.  I think many other people have found this out too and this has driven demand for the CB down some.  Also Brit bikes are cheaper to work on, fix and keep going!

Markets shift all the time. 

This is only really of interest to people looking to make some money, or guys like me that try and have the hobby self sustain itself.

[Stev-o]

...a lot of people I talk to actually hate the stock look of a vintage bike and wouldn't be "caught dead" riding one.

You're talking to the wrong people!

[dhall57]

...a lot of people I talk to actually hate the stock look of a vintage bike and wouldn't be "caught dead" riding one.

You're talking to the wrong people!

...a lot of people I talk to actually hate the stock look of a vintage bike and wouldn't be "caught dead" riding one.

You're talking to the wrong people!

With you Stev-o. I'm a stocker guy all the way!!

[Tews19]

...a lot of people I talk to actually hate the stock look of a vintage bike and wouldn't be "caught dead" riding one.

You're talking to the wrong people!

That dude on crack!!!!

Stock all the way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[guitarkev66]

Nortons are cool I have 2 and a triumph 750 but they don't do anything as well as my cb750's but its like comparing apples to oranges.  I love all vintage bikes and its true I started buying Honda's because that was what I could afford but now I have a deep appreciation for them.  And I love not having to kick start a bike to get it running....

[jonda500]

After being listed for only 2 months, it seems like an all original low mileage orange 75 CB550F sold last month from a retail classic motorcycle store here in Australia for $7990!
This month there's a green 74 CB550 w/nice pipes listed for $8750

Still pretty damn expensive even though an aussie dollar is only worth 75 cents US.
John
p.s. I have never met anyone young or old who hates the look of stock 500/550's. Personally I think the cb500 four is one of the best looking motorcycles ever made.

[przjohn]

Sadly the money is with cafe' builds I can get $3000 from a project cafe racer easily on eBay. I have seen half assed spray painted generic cafe seat with clubmans go for 4-5k on eBay a lot of people I talk to actually hate the stock look of a vintage bike and wouldn't be "caught dead" riding one.

One of the most asinine statements I've read on this forum.

[Retro Rocket]

After being listed for only 2 months, it seems like an all original low mileage orange 75 CB550F sold last month from a retail classic motorcycle store here in Australia for $7990!
This month there's a green 74 CB550 w/nice pipes listed for $8750

Still pretty damn expensive even though an aussie dollar is only worth 69 cents US.
John
p.s. I have never met anyone young or old who hates the look of stock 500/550's. Personally I think the cb500 four is one of the best looking motorcycles ever made.

Fixed that for you Jonda, dollar is now at 69cents to the USD...

[754]

I like being able to kickstart my 754...
 And I did find a one or two owner 750 last year for 250..

But the new thing,at least for me will be the SLAMtracker.... A ridiculously low, but otherwise pure streetracker..... Just because..it needed to be done... You heard it here first..

[jaguar]

All the cool kids are building scramblers, or just copying the walking dead bike

[rocs]

I also think Scramblers are going to be the next craze.

[Stev-o]

I also think Scramblers are going to be the next craze.

Cool!  I'll have to pull my TS250 out of storage...

[przjohn]

I also think Scramblers are going to be the next craze.

Cool!  I'll have to pull my TS250 out of storage...

Very nice TS! When I was a kid the Blue TS125 was my dream bike. I would stare at the ads for that bike for hours, it was my Red Ryder BB Gun. But, as finances would have it, a rigid framed, Tecumseh powered Mini Bike with the paddle rubbing against the rear tire for a brake would have to do.

[rocs]

I also think Scramblers are going to be the next craze.

Cool!  I'll have to pull my TS250 out of storage...

Beautiful. Cant imagine what your collection is like..

[turboed13b]

Sadly the money is with cafe' builds I can get $3000 from a project cafe racer easily on eBay. I have seen half assed spray painted generic cafe seat with clubmans go for 4-5k on eBay a lot of people I talk to actually hate the stock look of a vintage bike and wouldn't be "caught dead" riding one.

One of the most asinine statements I've read on this forum.

Why, becuase it is true? Just hop on eBay and the numbers don't lie every cafe build on there whether it be a good or bad always outbids the stock resto's. My friend sold his cb360 on eBay with a home made fiberglass seat, stripped tank with jb weld on it and some clips ons. We were hoping for $1000 and it sold for $3000 Now how many of you will pay 3k for a stock cb360?

Put a clean stock bike next to a cafe' racer and watch as everyone gravitates toward the cafe racer I think the cafe' seen is getting bigger now at least in my area.

[turboed13b]

...a lot of people I talk to actually hate the stock look of a vintage bike and wouldn't be "caught dead" riding one.

You're talking to the wrong people!

There are very few people around here who like stockers I think I have only met one person who did and he restored cb750's. Everyone else was either into cafe builds or Harleys.

[jaguar]

Do you live in a "small town"?

Walk the streets of Brooklyn, very few cafes anymore.

[flybox1]

I also think Scramblers are going to be the next craze.

Cool!  I'll have to pull my TS250 out of storage...

Just great, now all the hipsters will be escaping the urban jungle and clogging up my quiet backroads 

[przjohn]

...a lot of people I talk to actually hate the stock look of a vintage bike and wouldn't be "caught dead" riding one.

You're talking to the wrong people!

There are very few people around here who like stockers I think I have only met one person who did and he restored cb750's. Everyone else was either into cafe builds or Harleys.

This line from your previous post speaks volumes,

" My friend sold his cb360 on eBay with a home made fiberglass seat, stripped tank with jb weld on it and some clips ons"

Yeah, those bikes are right up there with full restorations.

 I'm not saying that there aren't some great Café builds out there, but the bikes you are referring to aren't even in the same league as those. You might want to take a walk over to ADVRider and check out the Oldscool sub forum. There is a thread there named, "Craigslist Dumbazz of the Week" It is pretty much full of bikes like you just described.

[turboed13b]

...a lot of people I talk to actually hate the stock look of a vintage bike and wouldn't be "caught dead" riding one.

You're talking to the wrong people!

There are very few people around here who like stockers I think I have only met one person who did and he restored cb750's. Everyone else was either into cafe builds or Harleys.

This line from your previous post speaks volumes,

" My friend sold his cb360 on eBay with a home made fiberglass seat, stripped tank with jb weld on it and some clips ons"

Yeah, those bikes are right up there with full restorations.

 I'm not saying that there aren't some great Café builds out there, but the bikes you are referring to aren't even in the same league as those. You might want to take a walk over to ADVRider and check out the Oldscool sub forum. There is a thread there named, "Craigslist Dumbazz of the Week" It is pretty much full of bikes like you just described.

That's the point I am making a half assed cafe especially a cb360 can fetch 3k where a pristine cb360 can't. Catch my drift? I wasn't saying it was a out if this world build it was a first bike that was bought for $400 wasn't expecting much from it.

[754]

Dont expect what you experienced, to be the same everywhere else.. Build a few more ratcaf,s,then tell us what they sold for..

Saw a cafe kz650 in the window of a tat shop yesterday.. Walked over to have a closer look.... Terrible work.. But looked ok at 40 ft.. I never liked them very much..