Topic: $1 a CC, what happened?

[78_SaltLick]

Back in the 90's, early 90's it seemed like that rule applied ($1 a cc) for buying these bikes. Now, in my area (oregon) your lucky if you can find a decent CB750 for $1200.00-$1900.00 Anything under a grand your looking at a piece of junk, that is probably not running. What gives? Sorry if this topic has been drug through the mud before, i must have missed it. I got really lucky, and got one for $500.00 from a really cool guy that actually comes to this forum alot,  needed a little work, but nothing major. When did these bikes become such a collectors item?

[dpen]

Values have gone up big time.
My first road bike, a three cylinder 500cc two stroke Kawasaki cost me $599 in 1970.

[kghost]

Plus inflation. Not of the tires.......

[Uncle Ernie]

KG- what the heck is that picture in your avatar? It looks like a sidecar rig burning to the ground in a scarey forest with a little white dog hanging on to what's left of the sidecar.

Back to thread- you live in an area of high interest in vintage motorcycles of all kinds. I think the headquarters for the Velocette Owners Club is up there somewhere, for instance. Who under the age of maybe 45 even ever heard of a Velocette? Huge number of Brit bikes, old Beemers, you name it. Where else would you find a racing class for Honda 160s? Classics like a SOHC4 is just naturally going to cost more- the cost of living in general is higher around there.

[mcpuffett]

uncle ernie put your glasses on  lol (no offence ment) hi saltlick even over here in the uk prices have risen i bought a 78' 750 f1 two years ago for £175, complete bike been stood and i thought that was a bargain, now i will probably have to pay between £300 and £500? for the same bike maybe a bit less if you buy it privatetly coz you can haggle ,but on ebay thats probably the going rate    mick.

[Killer Canary]

It looks like a burning DC-3 to me.
Anyway, I got lucky with the Canary; I found it mouldering under a tree and picked it up for $150.

[mcpuffett]

that's the way to do it canary    mick.

[jotor]

I remember the "good old days" when, if someone found out you liked old Japanese bikes, they'd just give them to you.  More than once I've come home to find a bike someone just left in the driveway

 Last super deal I got was a CB200 and CB360 package about two years ago.  Woman bought them for a mother-sons togetherness project but the two sons weren't interested.  She knew a friend of mine and called him.  He called another friend then another, etc.  Finally got around to me and I took them.  Woman said just come and get them.  She threw in about $100.00 worth of new parts she had bought for the 360.  I cleaned up the 200 and sold it for $400.00  ($2.00 per cc--inflation, remember) and put the 360 in "stock".

:-)

[kghost]

Well, Its a burning Super DC-3. but good eyes KC.

I used to fly that very aircraft. I've got like 1000 hr's in it. The aircraft crashed on a miami street last month. Kinda sad as it was the last Super DC-3 in revenue operations.

I only paid $500 for my first 750. What a bargin.

[Raul CB750K1]

I believe it's just inflation. The same goes to new cars or bikes. There is always some kind of "psychological" price. A running bike never goes below it unless it is in a very sorry state. Then there is the "round" prices, like a grand. Some say somebody puts a bike on sale for 1500 and it sales, so everybody out there do the same. Finally you can't find a bike for less than that. I guess it's a game of demand and offer.

Raul

[Uncle Ernie]

OK. So what happened to the little dog?



  


                                    Yeee HAAAAAAAA    ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch

[Buffo]

yep...nowadays if it runs its is worth at least a cool grand.

I live on south padre Island in tx and at the water park a can of coke is $1.50..and that is out of the machine!


And people still make $5.15 and hour at min. wage...thats 3.433333 cans of coke an hour...
...before taxes!

Don

[dpen]

Ah, the good old days when you could buy a Ural 650 (called Cossack) for $650.
The only question is....why?

[the_genrl]

i dont see big money in these bikes in NJ.  I see running cb750s go for $500-$750 pretty frequently.  why, just last week there was a 75 750, 81 yamaha xj, and another smaller honda (360 maybe) all running went for $900 total. 

Though, they didnt reappear in this weeks paper...

[78_SaltLick]

Hmm, maybe its just oregon then. Craigslist here, when a CB750 goes up on the chopping block for $1000.00 and its running....its gone literally that day. i know i was looking for months.  I could never get off work in time to go out and look at it before it was bought. Alot of times, the ads would say 76 honda CB750, oil leak.....or not running......or had it garaged for the past 20 years, havent started it since 1979 or something like that. Usually the good looking, good running 750's seriously went between $1200-$1900, and were sold within a week at that price.

[jsaab2748]

  Have you guys noticed how many bikes are being advertised as "In original condition" on ebay in an attempt to justify an outrageous price?
A lot of them are pieced together from parts of different bikes, and often times, even from different years. I saw one a week or so ago, go for 1500.00 U.S. It was a K5 750 with K6 model tank, side covers, gauges, and I suspect entire front end, and home made looking recover of the seat. Mileage was a claimed original 18000, or at least  that's what the "k6" odometer showed. Maybe an OK bike for someone, but NOT original, NOT worth 1500.00 and certainly with a questionable history. The terms Sandcast, original, museum quality, collector, etc. etc. are abused on e bay IMHO, and SOME of the sellers are some real carpetbaggers. These guys among others are jacking the vintage bike market out of siight. So much to the point that, the average vintage bike guys like us have to pay an arm and a leg for parts or even another bike in ANY condition. This same crap happened in the car market. Look at any vintage Pontiac GTO and what it sold for new as comapred to now, (even if it's unrestored junk). The bike market isn't there yet, but I wonder if it will be, comparitavely speaking. I know there are many things that drive a market,  just hate to see a hobby taken to a level
where dollars matter more than pleasure/pride of ownership. And the latter is what separates the members of this sight from the rest.....just mho...

[74cb750]

Price inflation seems to depend upon what part of the country you are in: to wit in the Northeast *(vermont) I constantly have people come up to me wanting to purchase one particular machine I have for $100.oo(the only problem is I have over $1,400.oo investied in paint, chrome etc etc). I will never sell my little Kawasaki S2, but the running cb750's I have priced to sell for around $1.25/cc. Now if I was in Boston, m#$%*ia, I could probably sell them at $1.50-2.00/cc.

[Raul CB750K1]

I saw an ad in an spanish magazine for a CB750 "in original condition" asking 5.000 euros. It had a K2 gas tank, king and queen seat and non-stock exhaust. The other day I saw a yellow CB750F1 (that was in mint condition, with spoke wheels and original exhaust) and he was asking 9.000 euros. Are we crazy or what? If not, how much can I ask for my mint CB750K1?


You will probably agree with me. Restoring an old bike is a bad business. You never recover all the time and money put on it, and trying to do it means such a high asking price that you rule yourself out. You have to restore it for the dire pleasure of it. Once you have a nice restored bike that have costed you big dough, I guess the only way to get rid of it is to swap it for another bike you would like to have.

Raul

[Paul]

Where I am in S. Ireland one can expect to pay on average 3 - 3.5K Euro ...  thats ($ 4329.50)  
for a typical CB750. 550's advertised between 2 - 3K
and I'll get ~ 3K (Euro) for my 500 ($3719.08) !!
Trouble is if I sold it I' still have to pay as much for a replacement, or buy a basket case.I couldn't sell my 500 anyway, It's got a heart beat, it sees me in the morning and starts up in eagerness ready for wherever I want to go.

By the way...Kghost....can you account for your whereabouts around Miami last month.
"Man in jump suit seen running away from aircraft last month in miami,.... stopping briefly to take photos of the wreck and some white dog."

[kghost]

Really, I was in Detroit. I have witnesses.

I don't have an all white dog.

Thats my story, and I'm sticking to it.

[Sam Green Racing]

What about the one on the left of the picture trying to eat the rear wing.

[Badboy]

You guys are idiots,don't ya know.  White dog and all. As far as the price of old bikes, it isn't the demand,I don't think, it is the worthless paper money[socalled] that we need to buy them with,and the governments around the world just keep printing more and more of the same. Dig that will ya. Got an idea,why don't get up a bunch of investors,start up a factory just to make old vintage replacas ,[at the right price] and flood the market with them!

[Sam Green Racing]

How many more threads is the ghost dog going to get in ?

[kghost]

All of them 

You feelin slighted Sam?

[Sam Green Racing]

Just feeling very tired, just coming to the end of six 12hr nights

[Jonesy]

I saw a nice looking CB400 Super Sport at the local bike nite. The fellow who owned it picked it up at a garage sale in running condition (only carb kits and front brake rebuild were needed).. for $85!!! The luckiest bastard in the world!!!

[gaijin]

Man, that IS a good price 

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area these bikes are very popular, and command high prices like in Oregon.  This one guy on craigslist has been trying to sell a 'mint' 74 CB 200 for $1100, but it's been a couple months and it's still up there 

[78_SaltLick]

I just watched a 72 CB750 go for $2000.00, it wasnt even the original color, they painted the whole bike black. It was in good shape, with pretty low miles (18,000) but dang....cmon.

[mrbreeze]

Man Alive!!! If you have something(anything) that someone else wants...you can make a fortune off of it.It just depends on what you would let it go for(knowing it's worth) and what some dude is willing to give you for it.Until they start making SOHC replicas and selling them for peanuts...You can probably get a bunch of cash for your reworked kick-asss runnin ,pretty painted Honda SOHC.....Ain't life grand?