Why are they selling?Many of the club members are selling off their Nortons. I understand and am thinking it’s time for me to do the same.
I'm keeping mine forever.Why are they selling?
Yep prices of our bikes are falling as the generations move onThey are worth less every day. And selling isn't as easy as it was. Maybe some of us are getting younger but it ain't me!
Look at online auctions, there are lots of restored 50s and 60s bikes on offer. What will happen to them in ten years?
When I bought mine they were in the worthless class.They are worth less every day. And selling isn't as easy as it was. Maybe some of us are getting younger but it ain't me!
Look at online auctions, there are lots of restored 50s and 60s bikes on offer. What will happen to them in ten years?
I started riding Brits in the early '80s because they were cheap, and the fashionable mindset was 'Jap is best'.When I bought mine they were in the worthless class.
Unless you need the money from the sale - don't do it.Many of the club members are selling off their Nortons. I understand and am thinking it’s time for me to do the same.
I agree, prices are in a dip currently, so it’s a bad time to sell… and a good time to buy ! So unless the money is needed now, I’d suggest holding on.I started riding Brits in the early '80s because they were cheap, and the fashionable mindset was 'Jap is best'.
Classic bike prices - as with a lot of other 'luxury goods' are on a low at the moment, but having watched for the last 40 years, they fluctuate, but generally rise overall.
The last Commando I sold went for more than the previous one, and it was going in some guy's front room.
One thing I have noticed is - in the UK at least - restoration project prices are going up all the time.
I'm coming to the conclusion that I would do far better to offer my bikes in kit form!
I disagree on it being a dipI agree, prices are in a dip currently, so it’s a bad time to sell… and a good time to buy ! So unless the money is needed now, I’d suggest holding on.
I don’t see the dip continuing. But I don’t see never ending increases continuing either, perhaps prices will ‘stabilise’.
I also think that it’s easy to think that cos all your mates are old, the customer base is ‘reducing’. But, they will be replaced by other old guys !
I was 17 in 1985. All of my classic bikes are older than that, so I do not believe that the only people who buy classic bikes are those trying to re live their youth by buying what was new at the time. As I’ve argued before, if that was the case there’d be no market for Bruffs and the youngest Vincent riders would be 85 !
So yes, I do think the market will change, perhaps prices will stabilise, perhaps the usage patterns will change, etc. But I believe the market will always be there and personally as the world moves to inter connected EVs that will become little more than I Phones on wheels, I believe this will actually help the market in quirky, interesting, classic / historic fossil burners.
I‘d suggest that Japan is a case in point. Japan is a very tech savvy culture and produces some of the most finely engineered motorcycles ever. Yet there is a very healthy classic bike scene there.
But… we shall have to wait and see.
Exactly what happened to me when I was negotiating for a vintage Ducati a few years ago - when it came down to it, he couldn't let go, and while it was a bit frustrating (to put it mildly), I couldn't get mad with him, as I though he was daft for selling in the first place!Unless you need the money from the sale - don't do it.
Your frame of mind may change to where you'd regret selling.
Cheers and best wishes
What's this about a T160 kicker?How dare you think like that, so you not a lifer, after 47 years of owning and building mine it will be with me forever, I am just a true sucker and I can still kick it to life, but the Joe Hunt maggie and the T160 kicker helps with first kick every time, couldn't live without it, its been my life since I was 17.
Kicking a bike to life is a dying art, everyone wants to take the easy way of life, not me I am still old school in everything I do even when I also own a modern Thruxton with push button start but I get more thrill going out on my old Norton and just love it so much even if its showing its age, just like me and the first day I rode it out the door of the dealership all them years ago, on a brand new 74 Norton Commando and a big grin on my face.
I will never get paroled as I am a true lifer.
Ashley
The t160 lever with the Norton knuckle is longer than the commando oneWhat's this about a T160 kicker?
What's this about a T160 kicker?