Expensive Crappy Old Bikes

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I like riding old bikes, one of the things I like about them is that they're not worth much so it doesn't matter if I write one off as I can just go and buy another one, but the prices people are asking for old shitters is ridiculous, tonight I've seen an FZR400 for £3500, it's worth £2500 max, and I think £1500 would be more realistic, and a couple of YZF750s for £4000.

This is stupid money for old bikes, wtf is going on, and are people actually spending this much on old crap?

[KungFooBob]

I paid silly money for an old (29 years) bike.

It was probably better condition than something 5 years old.

But I try not to think of the overall money. I had a bike I was bored off, I swapped it for another bike and it cost me £500.

[Gregor]

Prices have gone crazy that’s for sure,

Not even “desirable” stuff either some right old shit out there, whether people are actually getting anywhere near their asking price who knows.

[asmethurst99]

I like riding old bikes, one of the things I like about them is that they're not worth much so it doesn't matter if I write one off as I can just go and buy another one, but the prices people are asking for old shitters is ridiculous, tonight I've seen an FZR400 for £3500, it's worth £2500 max, and I think £1500 would be more realistic, and a couple of YZF750s for £4000.

This is stupid money for old bikes, wtf is going on, and are people actually spending this much on old crap?

Someone on the faceache fireblade owners page paid a lot of money for an urban Tiger that was a German registered bike without seeing it in the flesh a few months ago.
He wasn't happy when the bike arrived and the admins got involved - it got a bit silly .
Seems any CBR 900 is north of 2000 as a starting price no matter what .

[Potter]

IMHO it's reflective of the economic situation and financial engineering going on and it's no accident that asset prices are up, that's the aim, throw money into the system and get it moving.

On an individual level, some people have done well out of the pandemic (or at least not done badly) and they have spare money to spend and they fancy one of those bikes they always wanted. Some people have suffered financially in the pandemic and so they're looking to sell.

Demand from people with liquidity, limited supply and people really needing the money, have combined to make some things higher priced than they were.

The question everyone is asking is will it last or will we see another crash in the classic vehicle market when the money printing stops.

[DefTrap]

If you know what you like then the 10-15 yo mark is where the value is obvs' - not too old to be totally fooked (mostly) and unfashionable enough for the new riders to not want the terrible sad old crap they remember their dad's neighbour tinkering with.

Anything older than that and it's probably pretty bust, parts becoming unavailable and starting to become desirable again for those with rose tinted specs.

I'll never understand the rd350 thing, that one passed me by, but fans have been going nuts for those for decades now.

I was swung by a 90s monster (it was fairly meh, for me, by the way) in the late 2000s because they were the bees knees when I was getting into bikes, but I was too tight/poor to pay for one new.

[weeksy]

IT's not just old bikes though, i was looking at 990 Superdukes for a mate yesterday, you can't find one of the buggers for sensible money at all. Even things like 690s... They're doing £6500 for an 18 with 5000 on the clocks.... KTM were punting them out for £5999 new !

[Potter]

I'll never understand the rd350 thing, that one passed me by, but fans have been going nuts for those for decades now.

Personal experience I suppose, I feel the same way about early R1's and the blade, I just don't get it, they're old, heavy and slow, with no redeeming features, and from an era when the golden age of motorbikes was dead and buried, I'd lost all interest in road bikes by then, but I suppose if that's when you got into them then you feel differently because of nostalgia.

[weeksy]

I'll never understand the rd350 thing, that one passed me by, but fans have been going nuts for those for decades now.

Personal experience I suppose, I feel the same way about early R1's and the blade, I just don't get it, they're old, heavy and slow, with no redeeming features, and from an era when the golden age of motorbikes was dead and buried, I'd lost all interest in road bikes by then, but I suppose if that's when you got into them then you feel differently because of nostalgia.

Hold on a second... the old R1 is slow ?

[Potter]

I'll never understand the rd350 thing, that one passed me by, but fans have been going nuts for those for decades now.

Personal experience I suppose, I feel the same way about early R1's and the blade, I just don't get it, they're old, heavy and slow, with no redeeming features, and from an era when the golden age of motorbikes was dead and buried, I'd lost all interest in road bikes by then, but I suppose if that's when you got into them then you feel differently because of nostalgia.

Hold on a second... the old R1 is slow ?

It's all relative, a 150mph ZZR600 is considered slow too.

[weeksy]

Personal experience I suppose, I feel the same way about early R1's and the blade, I just don't get it, they're old, heavy and slow, with no redeeming features, and from an era when the golden age of motorbikes was dead and buried, I'd lost all interest in road bikes by then, but I suppose if that's when you got into them then you feel differently because of nostalgia.

Hold on a second... the old R1 is slow ?

It's all relative, a 150mph ZZR600 is considered slow too.

Not really.. plus the R1 gets to that speed a lot quicker than a ZZR600 too.

I'm not following you on this one.

[Potter]

I'm not following you on this one.

If I was buying a superbike I'd get the latest one, I don't see the point buying an old one that isn't as good.
I'd say a lot of superbike buyers would agree, that's why the factory keep making better ones. If you ask people why they keep buying new superbikes they'd probably say the new one was faster, lighter, better, etc.

[KungFooBob]

I'm not following you on this one.

If I was buying a superbike I'd get the latest one, I don't see the point buying an old one that isn't as good.
I'd say a lot of superbike buyers would agree, that's why the factory keep making better ones. If you ask people why they keep buying new superbikes they'd probably say the new one was faster, lighter, better, etc.

Rampant consumerism innit. 90% of those new superbike buyers will never take the bike on track or ride it to within 60% of it's capabilities.

They can tell the bloke down the pub it's 500g lighter than the last one and has 3 more BHP, but it actually means nothing because they'll never take advantage of it.

Plus, I can't afford one, so they're obviously pointless.

[Potter]

Rampant consumerism innit. 90% of those new superbike buyers will never take the bike on track or ride it to within 60% of it's capabilities.

They can tell the bloke down the pub it's 500g lighter than the last one and has 3 more BHP, but it actually means nothing because they'll never take advantage of it.

Plus, I can't afford one, so they're obviously pointless.

I generally agree, I was just making the point that old bikes aren't as good as new ones, so unless you have some sort of connection then you won't get it. DT doesn't get RD's and I don't get R1's.

[KungFooBob]

imho it's more fun/challenging trying to keep up with the newer stuff on something old and/or unsuitable for the task, but maybe I'm just a sadist.

AND, the old carbed Blade wasn't heavy, in fact it's probably a good 10kg lighter than the current model.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

The original R1 is probably lighter than the current one, it didn't have to have ABS, fuel injection and a catalytic converter, and they were genuinely fast, but the 2002 GSXR750 I had was a better bike than the 98 R1 I had.

LCs, I sort of get why people pay good money for them, they were the last two stroke that wasn't complicated and the engine is as good as a road bike two stroke gets, but everything wrapped round the engine is standard early 80s Yamaha parts.

I think KFBs GSXR is a nice bike, and it's not a crappy old bike, it's a low mileage vgc bike that is probably worth collecting, the YZFs and FZR I saw had mileage over 30,000 and had been resprayed, they all screamed crash damage.

[Yorick]

I'm not following you on this one.

If I was buying a superbike I'd get the latest one, I don't see the point buying an old one that isn't as good.
I'd say a lot of superbike buyers would agree, that's why the factory keep making better ones. If you ask people why they keep buying new superbikes they'd probably say the new one was faster, lighter, better, etc.

Rampant consumerism innit. 90% of those new superbike buyers will never take the bike on track or ride it to within 60% of it's capabilities.

They can tell the bloke down the pub it's 500g lighter than the last one and has 3 more BHP, but it actually means nothing because they'll never take advantage of it.

Plus, I can't afford one, so they're obviously pointless.

It's just same as buying new phones or TVs.

[KungFooBob]

If I was buying a superbike I'd get the latest one, I don't see the point buying an old one that isn't as good.
I'd say a lot of superbike buyers would agree, that's why the factory keep making better ones. If you ask people why they keep buying new superbikes they'd probably say the new one was faster, lighter, better, etc.

Rampant consumerism innit. 90% of those new superbike buyers will never take the bike on track or ride it to within 60% of it's capabilities.

They can tell the bloke down the pub it's 500g lighter than the last one and has 3 more BHP, but it actually means nothing because they'll never take advantage of it.

Plus, I can't afford one, so they're obviously pointless.

It's just same as buying new phones or TVs.

But Solitaire runs so much quicker on my new phone than my old one.

[DefTrap]

But Solitaire runs so much quicker on my new phone than my old one.

I had to give my 6yo niece my phone to play a game on, to stop her bugging me.
The look on her face when she jabbed at it and it wasn't a touch screen.

I've gone modern now

[Jody]

IT's not just old bikes though, i was looking at 990 Superdukes for a mate yesterday, you can't find one of the buggers for sensible money at all. Even things like 690s... They're doing £6500 for an 18 with 5000 on the clocks.... KTM were punting them out for £5999 new !

Yet 6 months ago I couldn't get any interest in my 990 SD

Ended up swapping it for a £3500 250 XC !