Prices gone up - of course you all knew that!! BUT
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ashman
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Of course things are going up and I mean everyday thing as well, nothing ever goes down these days and as our bikes get older and harder to get poeple expect to get high prices, look at rebuilding our bikes these days the price of parts are getting more expensive, labour costs are going up every year (thats if you pay someone to do the work) just the cost of living these days, our GOVT. are getting us in deeper debts which we will never get out of and whos got to pay for all the bad mistakes the GOVTS have got us into, us of course, business want to make more profits but still want to pay their workers lest, just look at the price of houses these days, I just feel sorry for the future of our kids growing up in times of high prices and now my beer fridge is empty and I got to wait for my next pay.
Ashley
Ashley
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The world is coming to an end again 
In my lifetime that has happened a few hundred times.
Norton's are gaining in value...surprise :shock:
So is everything.
Politicians are crooks. Is that new?
All the governments of the world are broke...hmmm...seems like that has happened before too.
Can't worry about that stuff...need to polish some Norton parts.
In my lifetime that has happened a few hundred times.
Norton's are gaining in value...surprise :shock:
So is everything.
Politicians are crooks. Is that new?
All the governments of the world are broke...hmmm...seems like that has happened before too.
Can't worry about that stuff...need to polish some Norton parts.
Ron L
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A nice '74 850 Roadster sold for $18K at the Las Vegas Mecum auction. A very nice rebuild, but not a 100 point restoration. I doubt that the buyer would be able to re-sell it for what he paid. A very nice '74 Interstate sold for $8K at the same auction. Go figure.
Auctions are not always a good indicator of average selling prices.
Auctions are not always a good indicator of average selling prices.
Wow! When I was leaving N-V to emigrate in 1968, I could have bought a brand new Commando for 380 UK pounds as an employee (roughly $700!) and Boeing would have shipped it as part of my "household equipment". Unfortunately, we were so hard-up that we were hard-pressed to afford the two weeks living in the US before I got my first Boeing pay-check.
Maybe it was just as well, as my conversion to driving on the right side of the street was difficult enough when I was sitting on the left side of the front seat. Had I been on a bike, I might have forgotten which side I was supposed to be on!
How have other ex-pat Brits handled the change-over on a motorcycle?
Maybe it was just as well, as my conversion to driving on the right side of the street was difficult enough when I was sitting on the left side of the front seat. Had I been on a bike, I might have forgotten which side I was supposed to be on!
How have other ex-pat Brits handled the change-over on a motorcycle?
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Have the prices of new bikes also risen ? There must be some modern classics people can invest in ? That new Thruxton Bonnevile looks like a candidate for immortality. It should be rebuildable. A while back there was also a Guzzi café racer. The only reason I have my Seeley is that I built it back in 1978 and kept it.
Conservatism : 'As it was, so it ever shall be' ?
Conservatism : 'As it was, so it ever shall be' ?
frankdamp said:
I worked at an Italian bike place in LA in the early 90's - it was my first taste of driving on the wrong side of the road, so it took some getting used to - especially where there was a tall concrete wall between the two directions of flow, hiding sight of what was on the other side. To a naive Brit, the first time I encountered this the 4-lane road meant two going one way, and two the other. It was only when I was heading the wrong way down it and found cars coming towards me that I realised. Luckily, it was early in the morning so there wasn't much traffic about and I was able to pull a rapid u-turn on the old Laverda and make good my escape...
When I retired from the U.S. Navy I was able to get my bike shipped with my household goods, to our condo in Japan, but we were so hard up too, and I had to take up contract work wrenching on Army blackhawks overseas. As a result I have not been able to do much with my Mk3 in the last two years. To top it off getting my Japanese motorcycle endorsement added to my license is proving to be a pain in the butt. Now I'm wrenching on Airforce UAV's overseas and with the prices going up like they are I have been thinking about selling. And yes switching from one side of the road to the other can be a real challenge :wink:frankdamp said:
fiatfan
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And I thought prices were high here in Sweden! A week or two ago there were two Nortons for sale on the biggest national advertising site, nothing fancy, standard running bikes. I think there was one 1970 and one 1972 model, both asking something like $8500 - $9000. IMHO that´s a lot of money for bikes that aren´t properly restored, that you don´t know any background of. It´s naturally a completely different thing if it´s a restored bike, I mean we all here know the prices of parts for these bikes, and if you need help from a machine shop that doesn´t help either.... It all adds up.
Tommy
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Those car and bike auctions in Vegas have done nothing to hold the line on classic car and bike prices, especially certain models. All the old guys who want to relive the childhood dreams of machines they couldn't afford back in the day bid the available objects up to sometimes 3 times actual worth.
And the designation "living on a fixed income" is a complete misnomer. It's actually a diminishing income since prices always rise while income stays the same. Taking lesser amounts on retirement to get cost-of-living increases is nothing more than a bet as to how long one must live to hit the total breakover point and actually receive more.
All I know for sure is I've got a nice little savings account accruing interest out in the garage with an old car and an old bike.
And the designation "living on a fixed income" is a complete misnomer. It's actually a diminishing income since prices always rise while income stays the same. Taking lesser amounts on retirement to get cost-of-living increases is nothing more than a bet as to how long one must live to hit the total breakover point and actually receive more.
All I know for sure is I've got a nice little savings account accruing interest out in the garage with an old car and an old bike.
Whats the actual "worth" of a machine?
Surely its what people pay for it.
A lot of the buy it now prices in the uk are over £8000, of r a good unrestored bike, not sure what they realise in the end.
When you compare the initial cost v parts v comparative rareness v price of new bikes.
For example my understanding is that it costs about £18000 if you want to buy a "new" machines from Les Emery, so is £10,000 for a second hand excellent machine not so bad?
Not just Les Emery but Norman White, Mick Hemmings etc will all be about the same.
Then you have Peter Williams JPN at about £74,000!
Just proves values are and should be what people are willing to pay.
As they get rarer people will pay more.
Then you have to add the word investment into the equation. Classic cars and bikes are flying high at the moment.
Surely its what people pay for it.
A lot of the buy it now prices in the uk are over £8000, of r a good unrestored bike, not sure what they realise in the end.
When you compare the initial cost v parts v comparative rareness v price of new bikes.
For example my understanding is that it costs about £18000 if you want to buy a "new" machines from Les Emery, so is £10,000 for a second hand excellent machine not so bad?
Not just Les Emery but Norman White, Mick Hemmings etc will all be about the same.
Then you have Peter Williams JPN at about £74,000!
Just proves values are and should be what people are willing to pay.
As they get rarer people will pay more.
Then you have to add the word investment into the equation. Classic cars and bikes are flying high at the moment.
Whats the actual "worth" of a machine?
Surely its what people pay for it.
A lot of the buy it now prices in the uk are over £8000, of r a good unrestored bike, not sure what they realise in the end.
When you compare the initial cost v parts v comparative rareness v price of new bikes.
For example my understanding is that it costs about £18000 if you want to buy a "new" machines from Les Emery, so is £10,000 for a second hand excellent machine not so bad?
Not just Les Emery but Norman White, Mick Hemmings etc will all be about the same.
Then you have Peter Williams JPN at about £74,000!
Just proves values are and should be what people are willing to pay.
As they get rarer people will pay more.
Then you have to add the word investment into the equation. Classic cars and bikes are flying high at the moment.
Surely its what people pay for it.
A lot of the buy it now prices in the uk are over £8000, of r a good unrestored bike, not sure what they realise in the end.
When you compare the initial cost v parts v comparative rareness v price of new bikes.
For example my understanding is that it costs about £18000 if you want to buy a "new" machines from Les Emery, so is £10,000 for a second hand excellent machine not so bad?
Not just Les Emery but Norman White, Mick Hemmings etc will all be about the same.
Then you have Peter Williams JPN at about £74,000!
Just proves values are and should be what people are willing to pay.
As they get rarer people will pay more.
Then you have to add the word investment into the equation. Classic cars and bikes are flying high at the moment.
grandpaul
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I am thankful for the fact that the market has turned upward in my favor as a seller, at a very crucial time when I need to sell two higher-end Nortons that I have spent all my savings and maxxed out my credit cards building.
It seems to me that when there have been significant STOCK market plunges, the price of decent British & Japanese motorcycles has risen significantly. I take it as an indication that old motorcycles are becoming a serious investment vehicle (pun intended)
It seems to me that when there have been significant STOCK market plunges, the price of decent British & Japanese motorcycles has risen significantly. I take it as an indication that old motorcycles are becoming a serious investment vehicle (pun intended)
Jerry Doe
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I am wondering if i should have bought the 750 last year. It was in a mess for sure. Now I dont care about originality, only to build them for modern day riding. I think i already have way over 10k$ in this 750 build and will have easily 16k in it when its done. I spent over 23k on my mk3. I could not resist grabbing my 750 though. I need to hold off on rebuilding any more bikes after this one. I was going to slap the 750 together real quick just to get it running, who was i kidding
I did a full ground up rebuild on my old mk2 about 15 years ago for less than 8k. It really does cost a lot more these days. In the long run its cheaper just to go buy a bike if you want to ride.
Jerry
I did a full ground up rebuild on my old mk2 about 15 years ago for less than 8k. It really does cost a lot more these days. In the long run its cheaper just to go buy a bike if you want to ride.
Jerry
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Jerry Doe said:I am wondering if i should have bought the 750 last year. It was in a mess for sure. Now I dont care about originality, only to build them for modern day riding. I think i already have way over 10k$ in this 750 build and will have easily 16k in it when its done. I spent over 23k on my mk3. I could not resist grabbing my 750 though. I need to hold off on rebuilding any more bikes after this one. I was going to slap the 750 together real quick just to get it running, who was i kidding
I did a full ground up rebuild on my old mk2 about 15 years ago for less than 8k. It really does cost a lot more these days. In the long run its cheaper just to go buy a bike if you want to ride.
Jerry
Similar parts, or more bling parts on the new builds?
Jerry, it's worse with hotrods.
I went to a car show in Maui last week. The prize of the show was a 34 Ford with all the right stuff, 350 chev 330 horse, overdrive auto trans, 9 inch ford rear end, rack and pinion PS, independant front suspension, 4 wheel disc brakes, AC, beautiful leather interior with wool carpets.
The Maroon metallic paint looked to be about 1/2" thick and the entire car shone like a mirror.
My friend who is a professional Hotrod builder was blown away by the quality of the components and the work.
Cost to build was 117,000 US
Appraised at 80,000 US
For sale for $40,000 US
Glen
I went to a car show in Maui last week. The prize of the show was a 34 Ford with all the right stuff, 350 chev 330 horse, overdrive auto trans, 9 inch ford rear end, rack and pinion PS, independant front suspension, 4 wheel disc brakes, AC, beautiful leather interior with wool carpets.
The Maroon metallic paint looked to be about 1/2" thick and the entire car shone like a mirror.
My friend who is a professional Hotrod builder was blown away by the quality of the components and the work.
Cost to build was 117,000 US
Appraised at 80,000 US
For sale for $40,000 US
Glen
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