Has The world gone mad?

[Revband]

A couple of days ago I put two Dunlop flanged alloy rims from a 56 Goldie DBD34 on ebay, within 24 hours I had had repeated requests for a buy it now, three high offers to remove from ebay the highest being more than double the price of the bike when it was new.

I thought the old bike boom had passed but looking at this it obviously hasn't. Has the world gone mad or am I just out of touch?.

[wetdog]

hard to find dunlop flanged now and secound hand is the only option , there is a well known jumbler about whos had the Dunlop stamp made so buyer be ware

[Rex]

I thought the old bike boom had passed but looking at this it obviously hasn't.

Why would it have passed? They aren't making them any more, and that's always a good indicator that the prices will rise.
That old Law of Supply and Demand again, and the supply of barn-finds and Ebay "bitsas" will only last so long.

Has the world gone mad or am I just out of touch?.


I'm sure your dad said much the same when he saw someone pay £7-10s for an old Austin Seven, but that's how it goes. You want it, you pay the money (unless it's old worthless Jap-crap in which case you leave it outside and the Gyppos kindly "dispose" of it for you overnight...

[wetdog]

 old worthless Jap-crap ................ have you seen what they are fetching now

[Bomber]

I agree.. look at the price of a restored fizzie or indeed a kettle... but then again look what people are paying for Lambrettas!!!???!! I remember calling Laverda 750 twins all the names you could think of when the electrics played up, back in the day I wouldn't have one thrown at me, but hey... get throwing now!

[Rex]

old worthless Jap-crap ................ have you seen what they are fetching now

I've seen what some people ask for some restored bikes, but that's not generally the case for Jap bikes as such.
 A rusty incomplete barn-find mundane A10 made well over two grand recently on Ebay, see if a CB750/CB400/4/Kettle/etc in the same condition would do the same. Probably be sold for breaking as no-one with any sense buys a Jappa needing lots of unobtainable/expensive parts.

Then again, some of the less popular Japs, even in excellent nick, don't fetch much as the small ads show.

[wink]

Pity nobody wants to buy my fathers Lambretta fitted with a Royal Enfield Bullet engine/box.

[Bomber]

There's always a buyer if the price is right

[wetdog]

the Kettle was a nice bike , handled like shit and went like stink in a straight line , restoration projects on ebay now only 1 £4000 , fully restored early model £12,000 , about 20 years ago these would have been a excellent investment , but I like you still had my head stuck in the sand spouting stuff like jap crap , we live and learn maybe

[Rex]

I say "Jap-crap" as a figure of speech. I've ridden (and still ride) Jap bikes for the last twenty-odd years for my daily commute, and they've been good reliable well-made bikes, generally speaking. Doesn't alter the fact that you can buy a "good" Jappa (as we've already discussed in the last week or so) for a lot less than a Tiger Cub or C15, and that says all you need to know about the value riders put on old Jap stuff vs the value put on old British bikes.

12 biggies for a Kettle? Yeah right....they sell 'em all day long for that....

[wetdog]

CB750/CB400/4/Kettle ....................... for less than a t cub etc project ...... where

[twolitre]

I cannot compare Jap. bikes with British because I have never owned a Jap. one. Except for an almost new Kawasaki W650 which was good and reliable, but nowhere near so much fun as either of my Triumph Speed Twins (both over 50 years old). The Kawasaki was standing most of the time and just HAD to go.
In 1967 I was working at Cambridge College of Arts and Technology. Lots of students bought the newly introduced Jap. bikes. Most of which gave a lot of trouble and never seemed to survive for more than a year or two.
However, performance and price left British bikes out on a limb and improving reliability and durability of Jap. bikes never allowed them to recover.
Such a shame!
I wonder how long it will be before Jap. bikes suffer from a flood of ever improving and cheaper Chinese bikes??
Is history repeating itself? Remember, initially the Japs owed a lot to copying successful bikes from other Countries.
Jim.

[Rex]

CB750/CB400/4/Kettle ....................... for less than a t cub etc project ...... where

I never mentioned "project", but nevertheless, on Ebay right now-

Cubs, £2400, £2195 (X3) all runners, and £1695 for a project.

CB750 SOHC (the supposed early desirable one)  range from several below £1000 (and I haven't included the "pile of parts" bikes in this), a running Bol D'Or at £1300, and more "good runners" at £1950 and £2750 etc.

Sought-after, ain't they...
 

[wetdog]

no bid class adds the only one you can bid on is "GENUINE TRIUMPH TIGER CUB T20T TRIALS BIKE CLASSIC BARN FIND RESTORATION PROJECT " (barn find / project , mean the same i think figure of speach ) this is quite a rare bike i have one (and where the best useing the later triumph heavy front end even a rev counter on mine ) but there is no contest in this project and say a equaly rare early cb 750 K1, but if you know where there is one (sand cast would be nice) for tiger cub project money buy it straight away or let me know and i will . The british bike industry was sick when the CB came out 69 , and should have been the wake up call they needed , the rest is history

[Bomber]

Sand cast... rare as hens teeth!