Topic: Are you a Flipper ?

[ekpent]

  People who really know me know I am more of a collector and hoarder but who wants to step up to the plate and say they are a 'Flipper'. Think I know there may at least one or two here. I personally know a couple in my area who I am friends with and others in Michigan and when  a good deal slips by I can usually easily tell if they got it or not by a phone call or looking at there E-bay in the near future. Nothing against it but it does make the hunt without all the new technology more difficult for an old timer like me. Luckily some find there way to me or I find them out in the real world the old fashioned way without a computer     A recent thread just made me have to ask if anybody wants to share their exploits or dare to admit.

[Stev-o]

What exactly do you mean by "flipper"?

[cb650PK]

Hate flippers.

[Don R]

 I thought I could except I bought 9 sohc Hondas and only sold one. And I want it back. lol.

 I did unload a CB900c and an XS850 last year, I got both of them running when they didn't before but I didn't manage a good profit.
 I prefer the title, saver of old motorcycles since not one of them was in riding condition when I got it. One, the GL1000 was particularly neglected, but the old girl took me to Sturgis after I spent a grand on parts.

[754]

I was a picker....

[carnivorous chicken]

I flip bikes. No shame in it as far as I'm concerned -- I find good deals, and put time and labor and knowledge into getting them running so someone who can't do that is able to buy a good running bike. I do some hoarding too. Flipping bikes is just a side hobby that pays a little.

What's so bad about that?

[nicks2319]

I like to think i'm saving most of these bikes. For the low prices some people are giving away sohc4s around here, I know if I don't go grab them they'll end up cut up into choppers or sent to the scrap yard.

[Flyin900]

I am a restorer of anything Honda no special ties to any model I restore anything from Goldwings to SOHC and DOHC bikes and a few twisted twins.
It is impossible here in Canada to put more than a few bikes on the road financially as the insurance costs are sky high. I pay almost $850 for my 1984 GL 1200 and another $750 for my 1983 CB 1000, so you would be broke in having 6 bikes insured to ride up here. The costs are mostly medical and we do have decent coverage, yet at a high cost.
So I do very labour intensive restorations usually into the hundreds of hours per bike and sell them at a decent profit. When I buy them they are neglected messes and are showroom condition in the end with every nut bolt and part painted and mechanically and electrically refreshed.
Like the other poster no apologies here, I bring old bikes back to new condition for someone else to support our insurance industry. 

[Johnie]

I have sold a number of the smaller vintage Honda's - a few 350's, a few 360's, a few 400's. They were just to small for me and I felt cramped on them. Plus, I was spoiled on the CB750's. I have not sold a 750 yet, but will soon. I have the K3 sunflake orange I have been working on this past winter. It is identical to my other sunflake orange K3. I do not need 2 exact bikes and if I can make some guy relive his past on this K3 then glad to help him out.

[Stev-o]

I have sold a number of the smaller vintage Honda's...

So, does that make you a flipper?   

If I buy a bike, keep it a year or two, get it roadworthy and eventually sell it, am I a flipper?

[70CB750]

No, Stev-o, you just like to run around 

[drumstyx]

I justify my obsession that way, but the only bike I've bought that I actually got a good enough deal on, I'm not motivated enough to sell. I'll have over $3000 into my first CB750 rebuild, and it won't be perfect looks wise, nor customized to a specific buyer, so I doubt I could sell it for much more than that.

[70CB750]

I get too involved to sell any vehicle.  I sold my CZ250 to get Honda CBX750 and than I sold the CBX because we were moving across the ocean.  Very rarely I let a vehicle go.

Did I mention I drive 1986 CJ7 as daily driver since 1998?

[guitarkev66]

I'm a flipper by hobby.  I usually sell one or two bikes a year to fund my motorcycle buying addiction.  I too feel like I am giving these bikes another chance at life and passing them on to someone who will truly appreciate and ride them.   I usually find them on craigslist or through word of mouth I never buy on eBay only sell there.  I have had many types of Hondas but I now I only buy K0-K2 bikes they are my favorite.  To me there is nothing more rewarding or therapeutic than taking an early cb750 that has been sitting in a garage or shed for 30+ years and bringing it back to life.  That never gets old to me.  I also enjoy the hunt but once I find them and get them running I usually loose interest in them quickly and start looking for another project. 

[CycleRanger]

I was a picker....

And a grinner?

[nvr2old]

The last bike I parted with was back in the late 80's..an '81 CB750F that I customized with a hand-built full fairing..to get the CX500 Turbo that I still own to this day.  I have 7 bikes now, and hate to let any of them go because they are all different, and all have different purposes.  They become a reflection of you and all have their own personalities.  The down side is I can't ride them all and they sit in storage waiting to be ridden.  They don't like to be neglected, and to keep them all serviced and in good shape becomes a challenge.  Even the 400F that I so painstakingly did a couple of years ago wasn't even licensed last year even though I took it out a few times to keep it loosened up.  I'm considering selling it and a few others just so they don't go to hell and all the work put into them would not be in vain.  They deserve to be loved..and used.

[Dunk]

I do some parts here and there. Sometimes polish and resell the shiny bits, blast and paint the painted bits, repair the broken ones, etc. Not so much flipping as subsidizing my own projects with the leftovers and trying to keep original or rare parts that have some use left in them from going to scrap. Sometimes you get a deal on a bunch more "stuff" than you need, buy the lot or a whole bike for a few parts and flip the rest.

Nothing wrong with flippers, but it can make it a bit harder sometimes. What I really hate are the people who part out bikes, lose titles, cut good titled frames to save a few minutes, scrap good NLA or rare parts without even trying to unload them, etc. There's a special place in hell for those who destroy such things intentionally.

[przjohn]

 My Nephew flips bikes, maybe 20 a year. He is good at it and knows the markets. His best flips are bikes he can sell in the $3,000.00 to maybe $5,000.00 range. These buyers are usually young single males with little or no credit but can get their hands on a few grand.

[Duanob]

No but this guy is 

[lrutt]

I'm a collector. I've regretted almost every bike I sold so that's why I'm at 26 bikes in the shop now and still growing.

[rocs]

I am both.

I have about 30 Honda CB's at the moment between 1969 and 1978. I buy non running bikes that have sat a while and bring them back to life. I then resell them for top dollar which further increases the value of everyone elses bikes.

Who's mad?

[Johnie]

To me a "flipper" is someone who buys a bike at a very cheap price, does nothing to it and turns around and sells it immediately for a nice profit. Good for them and nothing wrong with that. It is business plain and simple. I think those of us who fix up a bike and sell it are just sellers of a product we created. 
 

[guitarkev66]

To me a "flipper" is someone who buys a bike at a very cheap price, does nothing to it and turns around and sells it immediately for a nice profit. Good for them and nothing wrong with that. It is business plain and simple. I think those of us who fix up a bike and sell it are just sellers of a product we created. 
 

well said!!!!

[rb550four]

  Oh this is great, not only do we get to find out who the flippers are , we get to find out how many are in their collection.
I just knew that there where  more collectors here that stayed quiet about it.
  Well yeah, some bikes are hard to part with, I mean, allot of bikes are hard to part with, alright, all bikes are hard to part with.
I think seller's remorse would be a terrible thing, haven't sold one yet.
  30 ROCS?      Sorry, had to do it, sounds like a t.v. show.

[Stev-o]

My name is Stev-o and I have a problem, I'm a SOHC hoarder!  But, occasionally I need some cashflow [and cant use the "family money"] so I am forced to sell a bike so I can buy another bike and more parts!