Auction House Blues

[johnnyboy-wonder57]

I was talking to a mate the other day, Wallace Thompson, about the farcical situation of OLD becoming GOLD & joked that I bet he wished he still had his BSA 350 Gold Star in the garage that he bought  new from Wally Howard of Ramsgate Kent & he was saying with HP, he had to have fully comp insurance which worked out @£80 in 1961!

Apart from this expense, we got on to how E-Types had their prices inflation some years ago & how they were seen as an investment and people paid £100,000 for them only to find some years later that they couldn't get anyone to give them £60,000 for them, a bit like negative equity see!
Having been a motorcycle enthusiast all my life and having experienced being turned away from Pubs/ bars, cafes  for riding a motorcycle, plus associated family and general society  disapproval, I find it quite galling to have my primary enthusiasm for two-wheelers high-jacked by investors, possible city types/auctioneers, media publishers and all of that ilk probably in most cases trying to make a  fast buck out of my favourite pursuit, to the point that it may @ some point be pointless in monetary terms to pursue it any longer, the whole thing becoming one big financial rip-off.
Probably the hyper-inflationary practices cannot be stopped now, but my friends, look what happened to the Housing Market,  it seems crazy to me that in 1976 my parents bought a semi-detached house with over 3/4 an acre of land for less that £13,000.  I afraid a few Troy ounces of Gold will be in the long-run a better investment than  a two-wheeled piece of history, unless its has a racing pedigree or a famous certified owner, be prepared for the bubble to burst and many may be caught with their pants down, NEED not GREED must ever be the watchword on this issue.
The whole issue deeply saddens me like the rush for Fool's gold some centuries ago, WHO really is making the money out of vintage & Classic motorcycling, I think if you look carefully you all might be surprised!


Cheers


JBW

[Rex]

Always winners and losers....who cares {unless there's some juicy Conspiracy Theory about to break regarding the prices of  BSA Bantams.... }

[Goldy]

There is no way of stopping it because it,s so easy to invest in a motorcycle. Buy a machine put it in a vac bag stick it at the back of the garage and forget it. It will certainly return more money than the local bank or building society. They were just going after the more expensive machines but now they have realised that they can even do the same with a rusty wreck.

[courtney]

I blame David Dickinson

[VintageBike]

Congratulations on my favourite comment on the forum - ever..!  It will have many of the non-British wondering what you're talking about, but anyone familiar with British daytime TV will know exactly what you mean...
Nigel
http://www.vintagebike.co.uk

[R]

If you google David Dickinson, the very first result is something fantasy website related, so this says it all.

It does seem odd that some old classics are becoming way way way beyond the price of a brand new bike off the show-room floor. Not sure what this says about the modern buying psyche, but nostalgia sure ain't what it used to be....

[Rex]

It's that old Law of Supply and Demand in action....they ain't making those classics any more...

[rogerwilko]

Most of these idiot prices are due to dreamers with huge superannuation payouts and haven't got a clue anyway. Trailer queens who probably could once ride but too scared now! Me.. bitter and twisted...Nah! And as for museums, what a waste! I'd rather see them used and ridden to rallies for us to see!

[Rex]

I used to think much the same way until a ch**per-building in-bred on another web-site pointed out that it's "his bike to do with as he pleases" although those weren't the exact words used..

Same applies...if someone wants to ride 10,000 miles a year or 0 miles a year and just polish, who are we to say what's right or wrong?

At least if those bikes are highly valued there's a good chance someone somewhere will make spares and repro parts for them.

[toz]

They are worth what someone will pay,. simple as that.

As a teenager, early 70's, I used to stand and drool over the new Triumphs in the window of Grays of West St, Sheffield. I would dream that one day I would have one for myself, sadly I could never afford one. Best I did was an old Villiers.  Women, children and mortgages then got in the way for 30 odd years.

Not now though.   

If anyone would deny me thats their problem.

[yebbut]

In the 60's I used to ride on the top decks of buses looking into front gardens for old bikes.
Knock on the door and ask if they wanted it.
best they'd say take it away, worst they'd suggest sex and travel.

What you could get for 10 bob [50p] in them days eh? Makes you weep now.

[Bomber]

Eyup Toz,

I remember running backwards and forwards to Syd Smiths trying to keep a knackered old C15 on the road. Parts from Syd always seemed to be out of stock and take a lifetime to appear. 

[Welsh Wizard]

well I got not for an investment but my BSA cost me 100 quid when I got her and still have her, I paid the same price for my 750 Norton, what are they worth now, don't really know, and don't really care as I don't plan to sell either one. it about the fun and pleasure they give me when I ride them,t hey are  not an alterantive to a pension plan.



(spelling errors corrected)

[johnnyboy-wonder57]

Guys,
Some interesting comments, but, @ the end of the day the negatives associated with inflated values will add up,   to a troublesome brew, anyone bothering to view alternative news stations to the endless drivel we get , on a loop system I may add,  just might have had an insight that @ the moment we are on the edge of a financial abyss more serious than the  1920s & 1930s 'cos this time the F*** up is truly Global, fuelled by a motive called GREED.

Buying a machine to polish or ride is rightfully up to the owner & that is of no concern to me, except from a secondary impact, in that specialist companies in spares and "know how" may go to the wall, because if high investment "products", which old & some new,motorcycles R fast becoming,  are not being used and zipped up in vac' bags,  the market for their products, replacement spares etc, will be reduced in size & may become almost non-existent.

Through a less than honest practice known as theft,  you will also  stand a higher chance that your piece of  historic metal, through its inflated value will become more desirable to some of our less than honest citizens, acquiring said two-wheeled products illegally will therefore increase and insurance premiums will therefore increase too, therefore the  cost of motorcycling will subsequently rise.
We could build historic machines, better than the originals, I am not sure what this would now cost if constructed in the UK, but the fact is that we are not allowed to, whilst within  the EU.

Of course the Auction industry is interested in higher prices as they get a higher amount of money, in the percentage fee and then, I believe there is a double dose of VAT for the Government paid by the Seller and the Buyer in any transaction. Finally, (I think ), corrosion can only be slowed by a vac' bag and the engines internals in general do not like being stood for a long-time being unused, without "fire" in the engine, then its not technically a  motor-cycle any more,  they were built to be used and enjoyed presumably ridden on the road, once "things" become investment commodities, I feel the road to ruin is just round the corner, its just a matter of time.


Many true enthusiasts will not be able to afford the simple pleasures & experience of motorcycle ownership & all that goes with it.


Cheers

Jonahbw

[Rex]

We could build historic machines, better than the originals, I am not sure what this would now cost if constructed in the UK, but the fact is that we are not allowed to, whilst within  the EU.

Why do you say that?