Why buy classic motorcycles ?

acotrel · Jan 30, 2023

I watched this video and it made me wonder. I would love a 1963 Bonneville. :

Schwany · Jan 31, 2023

Nostalgia makes people do funny things. Good market for scammers.

grandpaul · Jan 31, 2023

So why should ANYONE care what some other person thinks are the "most over-rated" bikes? In most cases, he contradicts himself by saying they actually are quite nice, etc. A truly over-rated bike has little to no redeeming value.

grandpaul · Jan 31, 2023

If this thread were re-titled "Name Your Top 5 Over-Rated Bikes", this video would be a great start to a long and interesting thread!
(but might take some of us a while to produce our own videos to go along with our lists)

Fast Eddie · Feb 1, 2023

grandpaul said:
So why should ANYONE care what some other person thinks are the "most over-rated" bikes? In most cases, he contradicts himself by saying they actually are quite nice, etc. A truly over-rated bike has little to no redeeming value.

A list of bikes with NO redeeming value would surely be the list of top 5 dogs!

But ‘over rated classics’ is a good thought provoking list, ie why should a Goldie be worth twice the price of a faster/ smoother / easier to live with Gold Flash? Why should a pre unit T120 be twice the price of a 650ss?

Or perhaps the ultimate for me would be why is the Rocket Gold Star 3 or 4 times the price of the best Gold Flash?!

But, interesting debate aside, the answer is actually very simple: market forces.

And the markets valuation of collectables actually has almost nothing to do with their practical merit. Never has. Probably never will.

If ALL we were interested in was practical merit, we’d all be riding modern Japanese bikes ! Or worse… for many it would be some horrid electric device

robs ss · Feb 1, 2023

he he he - I've got me secret stash of black tulips!!

baz · Feb 1, 2023

Fast Eddie said:
A list of bikes with NO redeeming value would surely be the list of top 5 dogs!

But ‘over rated classics’ is a good thought provoking list, ie why should a Goldie be worth twice the price of a faster/ smoother / easier to live with Gold Flash? Why should a pre unit T120 be twice the price of a 650ss?

Or perhaps the ultimate for me would be why is the Rocket Gold Start 3 or 4 times the price of the best Gold Flash?!

But, interesting debate aside, the answer is actually very simple: market forces.

And the markets valuation of collectables actually has almost nothing to do with their practical merit. Never has. Probably never will.

If ALL we were interested in was practical merit, we’d all be riding modern Japanese bikes ! Or worse… for many it would be some horrid electric device

Very well put
The value of many of these bikes will never make sense
So it's best not to try and make sense of them
And make the most of them while we can,they are clearly in the firing line now

concours · Feb 1, 2023

Well, like we say in the snowmobile world:
"They're ALL GREAT when they run, they all SUCK when they're broke!"

(Because, you are usually WAY-da-fugg out in the woods, in winter, at 0F )

HopperXL · Feb 2, 2023

Looking for rational explanations for emotional decisions is always going to be a waste of time.
You don't buy a Gold Star to ride in traffic or expecting a smooth civilised machine like a Gold Flash. That's the whole point!

Fast Eddie · Feb 2, 2023

HopperXL said:
Looking for rational explanations for emotional decisions is always going to be a waste of time.
You don't buy a Gold Star to ride in traffic or expecting a smooth civilised machine like a Gold Flash. That's the whole point!

You’d think so wouldn’t you…

I am frequently surprised but those I see who’ve bought Goldies and then ‘upgraded‘ them with touring bars and pegs, low compression, and sensible carb.

Kinda like a B33…

baz · Feb 2, 2023

Fast Eddie said:
You’d think so wouldn’t you…

I am frequently surprised but those I see who’ve bought Goldies and then ‘upgraded‘ them with touring bars and pegs, low compression, and sensible carb.

Kinda like a B33…

Your trying to bring logic into it !

Fast Eddie · Feb 2, 2023

baz said:
Your trying to bring logic into it !

And you sound like my Missus …

concours · Feb 2, 2023

Fast Eddie said:
And you sound like my Missus …

"They all do that...."

baz · Feb 2, 2023

Fast Eddie said:
You’d think so wouldn’t you…

I am frequently surprised but those I see who’ve bought Goldies and then ‘upgraded‘ them with touring bars and pegs, low compression, and sensible carb.

Kinda like a B33…

A mate of mine did almost exactly that
He had a goldstar he used to race 40 odd years ago
It had a pierson crank ,bored to 600cc etc
He put it on the road with a set of swan necks and a big mikuni VM
It was no b33 I can tell you but in the end he got bored with it and sold it

Why buy classic motorcycles ?

Similar threads