Buyers remorse and Anxiety

Shelby-Right

VIP MEMBER
Joined
Jan 28, 2022
Messages
636
Country flag
Does anyone else get anxiety when they have bought another classic project bike ? I seem to , I'm not sure it's totally possible to completely know how good or bad things might be , like classic bikes are 50 odd years old and your inner voice takes over and thinks of the worst scenario, rebores crank grinds ! your always wondering what the previous owner might have done to hide some potential problem , maybe it's because all the prices have gone up so much , no one wants to gets ripped . Cheers
 
Could it be 'age related'?? As a youngster I'd buy any old tosh in no matter what condition because I WANTED ONE!!! Common sense didn't enter into it, or whether I could truly afford it....
Now at 65 I've been scanning ebay for the past year or two to source a 'classic' car to join the Commando in the garage. Money's there no problem, but finding the 'one' to tempt me to let go of it seems to get harder and harder....
 
For me anyways , purchase of new vehicle of 2 or 4 wheels is much more stressful as I know what I don’t know , plainly afraid of all the tech in new vehicles , compared to the older examples which I kinda familiar with ….
 
Could it be 'age related'?? As a youngster I'd buy any old tosh in no matter what condition because I WANTED ONE!!! Common sense didn't enter into it, or whether I could truly afford it....
Now at 65 I've been scanning ebay for the past year or two to source a 'classic' car to join the Commando in the garage. Money's there no problem, but finding the 'one' to tempt me to let go of it seems to get harder and harder....
I think your right , age related , when I was younger I just bought it because I wanted it , if something went wrong, you just fixed it , no worries , didn't care . Older and wiser .
 
My fear is that after a good amount of money has been spent the bike will turn out to be a ho hum shaking POS.
I know of a Matchless Typhoon that would probably be for sale if enough funds were offered.
It looks pretty cool, but would I actually ride it anywhere other than a few loops around on local roads?
It going to shake a lot more than the Commando and be way down on power in comparison.

Glen
 
Does anyone else get anxiety when they have bought another classic project bike ? I seem to , I'm not sure it's totally possible to completely know how good or bad things might be , like classic bikes are 50 odd years old and your inner voice takes over and thinks of the worst scenario, rebores crank grinds ! your always wondering what the previous owner might have done to hide some potential problem , maybe it's because all the prices have gone up so much , no one wants to gets ripped . Cheers
Not for one moment, bought a cb 750 during lockdown and completely stripped her and rebuilt her then made her into a cafe racer. Had loads of agro along the way. Just took every problem one step at a time untill there was no more problems. I now own a bike that draws crowds when I go to places like box hill and during the summer I parked a little way from a ducati 1098 and no one was looking at her but mine instead. When I get to a set of lights and young men on there street triples or r1s ask me about it I say" this is the bike that started it all off and ride off in the sunset. Just enjoy the project because one day it will be finnished and you will be at a loss to what to do😉
 
I like Honda big singles & mid size twins , never sucked in by the 4 shiny pipes etc …. Great to hear your project is so well received & admired though …. I can just imagine the problems you faced and conquered during your restoration , congrats to you , for sure !
 
I built this from a box of bits.

Buyers remorse and Anxiety

It was a pile of rust but now everything works. It runs good and I want to tear it back apart because I might have missed something. I feel just a little crazy and obsessive.
 
I built this from a box of bits.

Buyers remorse and Anxiety

It was a pile of rust but now everything works. It runs good and I want to tear it back apart because I might have missed something. I feel just a little crazy and obsessive.
what brand of tyres/tires are those , very trendy , also what brand of drive chain ? .Cheers
 
Tires are Shinkos and the drive chain is DID. I put the Shinkos on it because I wanted street rubber and I didn't fancy the OEM trials universals or the more modern off road offering. Plus they were cheap and I was running low on cash. Speaking of runnong low on funds you will notice that I am missing the speedometer, speedo drive, cable and side stand. The goal was to get it built and running. I will probably tear it down again. I was warned of a peculiar oiling issue, on the 1966 T100, with the tappet blocks and I may want to check them. It never ends.
 
Nearly every bike I have ever owned I have built from parts
It is more expensive but if you don't let anything get past you when you build it there is no uncertainty
 
I don’t get buyers remorse, but my mrs gets it for me.
It was abundantly clear before marriage, that I have a significant interest in playing motorcycles, snowmobiles, ATV's, boats, cars. (At least no airplanes!)
We don't have to negotiate it.
Being a thrifty horse trader from way back, I don't piss away money easily.
I am blessed to have an amazing wife.

Now...... there was this one time I made a prank of it with a total stranger. I thought it was FUNNY AS HELL!
I was having surgery (ruptured biceps tendon) at a big hospital in Boston. The intake process included a nice lady taking my insurance plan information, and all pertinent info. Also, a battery of screening questions...
Are you the victim of physical abuse?
Are you the victim of emotional abuse?
Are you the victim of financial abuse?
(I think, man, that's a wide range)
I leaned in closer to the desk, glanced left then right.... with a worried look, I spoke in a low voice: "well, my wife doesn't want me to get a new snowmobile". Took a few seconds for the penny to drop. Then she said: "what kind? Arctic Cat? Ski-Doo?"
 
It was abundantly clear before marriage, that I have a significant interest in playing motorcycles, snowmobiles, ATV's, boats, cars. (At least no airplanes!)
We don't have to negotiate it.
Being a thrifty horse trader from way back, I don't piss away money easily.
I am blessed to have an amazing wife.

Now...... there was this one time I made a prank of it with a total stranger. I thought it was FUNNY AS HELL!
I was having surgery (ruptured biceps tendon) at a big hospital in Boston. The intake process included a nice lady taking my insurance plan information, and all pertinent info. Also, a battery of screening questions...
Are you the victim of physical abuse?
Are you the victim of emotional abuse?
Are you the victim of financial abuse?
(I think, man, that's a wide range)
I leaned in closer to the desk, glanced left then right.... with a worried look, I spoke in a low voice: "well, my wife doesn't want me to get a new snowmobile". Took a few seconds for the penny to drop. Then she said: "what kind? Arctic Cat? Ski-Doo?"

I took some stuff to a charity shop today, including a supermarket bag of hand bags my wife had decided to get rid off.
The nice lady in the charity shop asked if my wife had lots of hand bags? I think she might have been goading me !
I replied that my wife had still more handbags left in her wardrobe than I had motorcycles in my garage.
(Note gender demarcation of wardrobe and garage)
The nice lady said I was lucky .... they did not accept motorcycles in their charity shop.
 
I have a good wife - some years ago I was shopping for a Garden Gate ES 2 - hard to find here in the USA . I subscribed to the British newspaper Old Bike Mart - hard copy via overseas mail as this was pre internet days for me . Finally found one and negotiated a deal with the dealer but difficulty with transferring the money and red flags in some of the communications put the deal off.
I took down the picture of the subject bike from the fridge and tossed it , then sulked about a bit with “ not buying it” remorse.
The next day the picture was back up , rescued from the trash by my wife , wrinkles even smoothed out .
Found another better one a while later from a very honest dealer who took credit cards , thus easing the money transfer issue .
Somtimes things work out for the better.
 
Back
Top