Topic: Help, I cannot stop myself! (Black Bomber content)

[RRRToolSolutions]

$1,500 and 11 bidders in it's first day - aren't you glad you took that buy it now off? The buy it now has never helped me sell a bike. It might make one go quicker, but it sets a ceiling of what you think it's worth and just seems to take away from real bidding.

I'm guessing $2,800 is where she'll land - not bad for a $500/time investment.

Gordon

[mcpuffett]

Wish we could find bikes like that over here  , good luck with the auction , cheers Mick.

[dagersh]

Zoo Mob -

Sorry to see her have to go, I love my Bomber!

Gordon, thanks for all those great tips on letting her warm up.  Always let my bikes warm up slowly, but now I will absolutely make sure never to rush her!

Gersh

[bucky katt]

Andrew, I'm seriously jealous. When I saw this posted the other day, I started to PM you and offer you $1,000 for the Bomber, but I need it like a hole in the head. You might go back and look at some of my history to find that 2 years ago, I restored a Black Bomber. I'm very passionate about that bike and to this day - it is my favorite restoration project. By the way, you have the later model 1966 or 1967. The front of the seat gives that away. There are no numbers published for numbers made and they were titled in the year sold, all are K0's - the last year model Honda did that.

Let me get this out. This is none of my business, but I would love to see this one kept original and restored. You have what I consider to be one of the "best" all-original examples I've seen. That bike has 99% of it's original parts, something that will help considerably when restored.

Here is the hard part - you are going to have to make a decision if you want to restore this bike - you will either have to repair, rebuild, refinish every one of the "original" pieces or get ready to spend big money. You simply cannot find/buy factory parts for these - nothing is interchangable, and there are many, many parts you won't find. Be careful just trying to "patch it up" - if you go to pulling stuff off and messing with it, me and others who collect these will lose interest -fast.
1) You could list it as-is and in the right market, I think get $1,500~2,000 for it as-is.
2) You can part it out and do it correctly and get $3,000 + for it. The darn seat alone is probably worth $500`600. The rims are not replaceable. The DID Diamond markings 36 spokes, 18" just aren't to be found. The speedo's go for $200~600 each. Tanks and panels go for $400~500, the list goes on.

If you wanted to restore it to like new with mostly factory NOS, I will tell you now that you will spend 350+ professional hours of engine and body restoration time plus in excess of $14,000 in parts - This 1967 cost me $20,000 and over 1 year to accomplish. I am not tooting my own horn, just want you to make an educated decission before you either destroy a piece of history or decide to restore it yourself with the idea of doing it for a few hundred, or worse from PartsNMore and cheap eBay reproductions. If money and skill are limited, put the bike in safe, dry storage until you can devote time and resources - I think they will become so rare, you'll get your money back 20 fold - I could see that bike bringing $10,000 in 20 years - just like it is.

Regards, Gordon

folks, pictures dont even come CLOSE to doing Ilbikes' black bomber justice, what a beautiful motorcycle.

[1974CB750rider]

I just sold a 70 model last week for a $1000.00. I had to do a lot of work to it though and just barely broke even. That bike you got should bring in good running condition arond $1200-$1800 but I've seen them go higher on e-bay. I highly recomend getting it running good and make sure everything works. I know their not cheap but good tires would help to. Above all make sure you get the bike as clean as possible. If your wheels have some rust on them try to clean it off with some steel wool.

[fastbroshi]

   The amazing thing is that bike is in Michigan, and not a speck of rust that I can see.

[RRRToolSolutions]

You cannot compare a 1965~67 Black Bomber to a 1970. They are not the same bike nor the same buyer.

Let's see how she goes.

Gordon

[zoo mob]

There's not really any rust, but the front wheel is pretty pitted. Overall, this thing is sweet, and I really do wish I could keep it, but like I said, it was purchased 50/50 with a friend and he wants to sell it, so its going. I think I'm going to try and keep my deals solo, it feels nice to have ultimate say in what happens. I honestly think I might like the 68 and 69 models a little better. It looks like I may have a nice chunk of cash to invest in my next bike, take a look at my other auctions, one has been a pretty lucrative surprise.
68-69 450

CL450 K0 aka CB450D

[zoo mob]

Well, it sold for $2000 to a guy in Austrailia who called me right away and seems pretty legit. I'm a little let down by the price, but I made a nice profit, and he seemed super excited about the bike.............on to the next one.

[RRRToolSolutions]

Yep, that's $800 less than I had figured it would go for. It still is a nice bike and will be an investment for him - even with his $1,000 or more shipping cost. It's the economy. Last summer that bike would have done a lot better, but it had to be sold now - you did alright for yourself though.

Gordon