Topic: Rickman Kawa

[MikeSimon]

This is both on ebay and craigslist. Seller is here in NE Ohio, Painesville. Bike has been gone through by Johnny's Vintage Cycle in Wadsworth


https://www.ebay.com/itm/1976-Kawasaki-Rickman-CR900-Z1/152805422060?hash=item2393e9b3ec:g:B20AAOSwySVaHKKn&vxp=mtr

[ekpent]

  Looks like a helleva nice and unique bike Mike. Can you fill us in the the finer points like some things that aren't correct or is it a nice honest straight bike in your opinion. Maybe I can learn some new stuff but I doubt I will run up on one of those hiding in a dirty garage or barn ! 

[Terry in Australia]

Wow, last time I saw a Rickman Z1 it was leaning against the wall of Victorian Motorcycle Wreckers, forks leaking oil,  faded lime Green with a little road rash thrown in, with a price tag of $900, in 1979. Actually I think I've got a pic of a turbo'd Rickman Z1 that I took at the Castrol 6 Hour endurance race in 1980 or '81, I must see if I can find it.

It looks pretty kosher to me, the Rickman brothers made beautiful frames, but I always thought the appendages like rear sets, brake pedals etc were pretty "agricultural". (Redneck) I've got a NOS Rickman seat and fairing hanging up in my garage, looking at the price Rickman stuff is obviously going for now, I might have to put it on the 'Bay!

[MikeSimon]

Sorry, guys, I do not know any details of the bike or know the seller. Just that it popped up here in our area and a few of us talked about it. And it was next door at Johnny's Vintage Cycle for a "revival" job after a long hibernation. It seems legit, albeit the asking price is a dream number, we all agree.

[krusty]

Terry, something like this one?

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

13 miles! I wonder if it sold for the $29.5K or ended without a sale.

[Terry in Australia]

Terry, something like this one?

Yep, that's the sucker Krusty, now I wish I had 900 bucks in 1979 when I look at that one!

[krusty]

The owner of that one has the pair the other is a Rickman CR750 which he rides but also keeps it in his living room.

[RAFster122s]

Storing a $29,500 bike inside one's house with a good alarm system might be called for...
Moorcycle enthuisiasts would love to tour houses for sale of a bike collector who displayed many of his/her collection inside the house.

Looking at the sellers completed listings shows them selling several cases of Neocate Junior, which is either a baby food for oral feeding and it is also used in a tube feeding.

It may not have sold for $29,500.  It would do well at a big Mecum or other auction.

David

[MikeSimon]

I have been to several of the large auctions. I can say that prices achieved there have dipped a bit in the last year or so.
I don't think that particular bike would break 20k at auction. Although it is a Rickman, and somewhat rare, it is still not THAT collectible.
Let's face it, you are paying for frame and bodywork....$20,000.-?

[754]

Actually they were rolling chassis with good brakes, and they are not common..
 Try finding  a Rickman fork assembly or wheels.l

[Terry in Australia]

Well the main reason that they're rare is because the Rickman rolling chassis cost as much, or more, than the complete donor bike that the engine came from, so the only people who bought them were the very wealthy, or someone who pulled an engine out of a wreck and shoved it in a Rickman rolling chassis. Definitely collectable and probably worth that kind of dough when you consider what one cost new. I'd have one, but I wouldn't swap my RC51 for one.

[MikeSimon]

I was able to follow a Rickman SOHC 750 around, because it showed up at several different places for sale over a period of 3 or 4 years. It was priced below 20k and I never saw a "sold" sign on it.

[slikwilli420]

I got lucky and have purchased the majority of a kit (minus frame and swing arm) for under $1000. Even if you spent 10x that on Rickman parts, paying any asking price as parts came up, you would still only be in about $12-13k if you needed a donor on top of it. They just aren't worth what people think. I saw the 38mm forks with double caliper mounts sell on ebay about 6 months ago for like $550. There is a set of 5-spoke Ronal wheels for the Rickman in Europe right now, again for like $500. I bought a set of discs for the Ronal wheels for $150 or so. Truth be told, the hardest part to find so far has been triple tree clamps. Mine were destroyed in the pieces I bought, and managed to find a lower in Europe last year, but still need the top. If I get really antsy one day, I might just call Framecrafters and get a frame/swing arm done to fit all my bits onto. I will be under $10k all in if I go the custom frame route.

[MikeSimon]

Same applies here as it does with almost all bikes: Some are into them and would pay a ton of money, others are not at all and value them a lot less. I have a friend who owns a huge collection of classic and contemporary rare bikes. Not a single Japanese bike among them. He is just not interested in them. Doesn't know a thing about them. He would pay 50k for a rare Brit or Euro bike, but would not spend 5k for a Japanese one.

[seanbarney41]

Rickman is not really a Japanese bike imo...the parts that make it special are British.

[MikeSimon]

Rickman is not really a Japanese bike imo...the parts that make it special are British.

I wasn't saying that. I just tried to make a point about different strokes for different people.
Some go gaga over Rickmans, others do not.

[Terry in Australia]

Yep, and the reason I didn't rob a bank to buy that one for $900 in 1979 was that they weren't really considered that good.

[754]

 I don't think they were bad, but like a Seely, Bimota, and others were largely unaffordable to most of us back in the day..

[Zunspec]

The price of this Rickman is IMHO on the very high side. A very nice bike but probably more realistic as something in the $12k - $15k range.  My own Seeley Honda 750, despite it's authenticated provenance, I would place in roughly the same bracket (and of course the Seeley is loads better lol  )

Cheers  Geoff

[Terry in Australia]

The price of this Rickman is IMHO on the very high side. A very nice bike but probably more realistic as something in the $12k - $15k range.  My own Seeley Honda 750, despite it's authenticated provenance, I would place in roughly the same bracket (and of course the Seeley is loads better lol  )

Cheers  Geoff

Agreed Geoff, I bought my CB750F new, and used to ride down to Bol D'or in Richmond, the Australian Seeley outlet, and drool all over the window at the new Seeley Rolling chassis. I couldn't afford one of them either, but of the two, I'd take the Seeley over the Rickman any day. Of course, within a few years the Japs had learned how to make a reasonable handling bike, and Rickman's and Seeley's became obsolescent. Cheers, Terry.

[Zunspec]

Spot on, Terry.  The specialist frame maker thrived on owners wanting a chassis to make full use of powerful (and oil leak free  ) Japanese engines.  The arrival of bikes like the GSXR 750 was the death of the aftermarket frame.  A modern commuter bike like the CB500 would probably run rings around my Seeley Honda both on power and handling.

Cheers  Geoff