Topic: Inflated price much???

[setdog]

Here's an 8000 asking price in Alabama.
http://bham.craigslist.org/mcy/3689957605.html

[KCbarsos]

well, crash bars are in high demand these days 

[Magilla]

I seen this happen before with the English bikes.They used to be affordable to the average joe and it was a whole lot of fun to find and fix up much like what members are doing here.If you ship them away they are sold to investors and the prices of bikes and parts will be out of reach for people just wanting to enjoy these great machines.

+1
I spent the winter trying to buy a British bike.  While hunting for the right one I watched the prices go up and up.  A Triumph can still be had for a "decent" price of around $3k in pretty nice shape.  I wanted a Norton and I watched the prices rise on these.  I ended up paying $5500 for it and spent another $1k on it before it made it home.  So that's $6500 and it's in need of a restoration.  Mechanically it's great but it needs a lot of cosmetic attention. A few years ago this was a $2500 bike.

[Bankerdanny]

Here's an 8000 asking price in Alabama.
http://bham.craigslist.org/mcy/3689957605.html

To pry that kind of cash out of my pocket would require the bike to have pristine correct 4-4 exhausts. I like the Jardine 2-1 slip on's fine, but for me they reduce the value of the bike.

[Old Scrambler]

Banker................my garage has a low-number die-cast K0 from the original owner with nearly new no-number pipes.  Its waiting for a good clean & polish........and the snow and ice to disappear....... so I can pull that lump of cash from your pocket............are you ready?

[Bankerdanny]

Sadly, no lump of cash in my pocket. Happily I have a basket case 550 I picked up in January for $150 that is 'in process'.

[longshanks]

Here's an 8000 asking price in Alabama.
http://bham.craigslist.org/mcy/3689957605.html

Looks like its leaking oil onto the wood block too! Also, the engine case doesn't really look clean and you can see old oil drips.

[70cbk0]

I guess the price is only too high until someone pays it. Supply and demand. Great if you want to sell, sucks if you are looking for one though.

[Magilla]

The more people that pay these prices, the harder it will be to stay in this hobby.  The plus side of this is that more aftermarket parts will become available.

[rb550four]

Haven't thought  of it as a hobby, Hondas are what gets me up in the morning, keeps me from killing other people during the day, and provides a reason not to overdose on sleeping pills at night. Hobby?

[Vinhead1957]

Obsession

[Terry in Australia]

Over here people are paying 15K plus for Norton Commando's, 12K for old Triumph Bonnies, 15K plus for Tridents, etc etc. I laugh inwardly whenever I see these unreliable , fragile old boat anchors advertised by a seller who's only owned it for a short time but has to sell it due to "ill health". (In other words, owning this POS has made him sick......)

I bought a mint 1971 Laverda 750 SF in 2009 for $5000 from a guy who'd taken his love of Italian bikes to an extreme and married a fiery Italian woman. As beautiful as she was (and she was, she turned up as I was loading the bike into my trailer and blew the crap out of the seller for not telling her he was selling the bike, even though he later told me that they were seperated, pending divorce) She was a super-biatch, and all he wanted to do was put some distance between himself and Gina Lotta-#$%*ita. What stopped it from being funny was that they had a little boy of about two, who just looked sad.

I'd always liked the look and sound of these things, but quickly discovered that just like a Ducati 900SS (Bevel Drive) that I'd owned for a short time in the 1980's, it was a pretty average motorcycle. I put it on Ebay and was shocked when it finally went for $10,750. The buyer was happy to pay another 1000 for me to send it to Western Australia, and he emailed me to tell me that it had arrived OK and was very happy with it. He never left me any feedback though, so I guess he must have ridden it...........  

[Don R]

It's spring and LA. I would not be surprised at all if it sells for that. Besides he can always listen to an offer. I wouldn't want to ride the 405 on a classic bike. Although if I had to commute there it would get me around quicker.

[PeWe]

This one look really good, still not expensive, yet.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1973-Honda-CB750-original-unrestored-/171013402937?pt=US_motorcycles&hash=item27d1317139

It cost a lot to repair and restore... I'm sure plenty of us here have noticed that!
US$ 3000 are spent very quick.... I have spent US$ 4000 since last year. No paint job on tank and side covers included. My bike need new side covers and OEM decals, almost US$ 250.

EDIT:
Found one more... I knew one guy that had a Orange K6-76 in the beginning of 80's, not common color.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1975-Honda-CB-750-Flake-Sunrise-Orange-No-Reserve-Vintage-CB750-4-/400443285442?pt=US_motorcycles&hash=item5d3c479fc2

I cannot buy it since the import tax will increase the price horrible much

[Magilla]

Over here people are paying 15K plus for Norton Commando's, 12K for old Triumph Bonnies, 15K plus for Tridents, etc etc. I laugh inwardly whenever I see these unreliable , fragile old boat anchors advertised by a seller who's only owned it for a short time but has to sell it due to "ill health". (In other words, owning this POS has made him sick......)

Boat anchor?  My 70 Commando is no boat anchor.  It has an elec. ignition and new wiring harness.  It starts on the first kick.  Is it as reliable ad a CB750 Four?  Nope.  But if set up correctly these can be reliable bikes too. 

[750K]

Of all my friends with British bikes non are on the road at the moment, all with some sort of mech or electrical issues. Everyone with metrics have been insured and riding for awhile. The only friend with a running trump has a 2010 Bonnie ironically. 

[Terry in Australia]

Over here people are paying 15K plus for Norton Commando's, 12K for old Triumph Bonnies, 15K plus for Tridents, etc etc. I laugh inwardly whenever I see these unreliable , fragile old boat anchors advertised by a seller who's only owned it for a short time but has to sell it due to "ill health". (In other words, owning this POS has made him sick......)

Boat anchor?  My 70 Commando is no boat anchor.  It has an elec. ignition and new wiring harness.  It starts on the first kick.  Is it as reliable ad a CB750 Four?  Nope.  But if set up correctly these can be reliable bikes too. 

It all depends on what your definition of "reliable" is mate. If you mean you can hop on your Norton on a nice sunny day, start it with only a couple of kicks, and ride a few miles without anything falling off, then yep, they're reliable. If you mean riding in all weather conditions for hundreds of miles with little or no maintenance like you can with your CB750, then they're definitely not.

When I bought my first CB750 in 1977, a mate bought a new, Commando 850. The first myth that we discovered was that the Norton was not faster, but it went quite well, to be fair. It handled and braked well, but over the 10 months that he owned it, he spent more time on the back of my 750 than he did on his Norton, as it spent a lot of time in the shop having warranty work. (paint lifting on tank around filler, starter motor failure, gearbox issues and 2 blown head gaskets, from memory)

He told me the service manager told him, "You can't ride it like a Jap bike" when the head gasket blew for the second time. He sold it and bought a Kawasaki KZ1000, and lived happily ever after. Cheers, Terry.