Just a little bit excited..
- Thread starter Steptoe
- Start date
Potentially a coupla £k+ in the price I expect...
Plus the G/S PD has a gorgeous metal tank while the GS has a plastic carbuncle .
All very interesting, thanks.
I know naff all about old BMWs
I know naff all about old BMWs
That plastic carbuncle has the best accessory ever fitted to a bike - the "lunch box".
best way to keep it.
Been saying it for years - They're crap and not worth the money people pay for them. It should be a grand for a decent runner and £1500 for a tidy one.
I have an R80/7 metal tank with a lockable "lunch box" packed away somewhere. It's an old police bike petrol tank.
Exactly right... It's only their weird mystique and low production numbers that keeps them that way... I have liked my recent airhead ownership but find far more to fix on these over K's and oilheads... And the much vaunted build quality does not always live up to it's reputation either...
You should be able to buy most of them for sub £2k and £1k max for some of the rough ones about, and there are plenty of them... It's funny that now 11's and 1150's are priced for less than airheads in quite a few cases...
My RT is part for riding and part for messing with... I have already spent 1/3 of the price I paid for it in fixing bits... And I'm not wanting to throw cash at it...
I blame this site. When I bought my 1200GS, I had no interest in BMWs whatsoever. It didn't matter to me WHO had built the GS, it was the bike I wanted. I have no brand loyalty. If I like a bike, I'll buy it. I've even owned a Honda
although it was a moped.After being on this site for a while, I find that I quite like some airheads, although usually they have been restored or are even projects (Cafe races etc etc).
SO, I reckon this site is responsible for inflating the price of old clunkers
I blame this site. When I bought my 1200GS, I had no interest in BMWs whatsoever. It didn't matter to me WHO had built the GS, it was the bike I wanted. I have no brand loyalty. If I like a bike, I'll buy it. I've even owned a Honda
After being on this site for a while, I find that I quite like some airheads, although usually they have been restored or are even projects (Cafe races etc etc).
SO, I reckon this site is responsible for inflating the price of old clunkers
Yeah but what about the bikes...
vanandy
Registered user
Apologies for the ramblings....
Bike prices in general have gone mental, look at Honda C90 C50, you had trouble giving the bloody things away a few years back, now a worn out piece of crap can fetch £600, depends on type too, you can probably get a spotless, low mileage GSXR less than a worn out, old BMW that needs money thrown at it.
Nobody wants the plastic rockets anymore, bikers in general are getting older and wanting to return to their old rides, they can now afford 2 or more bikes, something else that can be driving up second hand prices.
I've just searched eBay for BMW R100 and R80; 1 bike for sale?????
Bike prices in general have gone mental, look at Honda C90 C50, you had trouble giving the bloody things away a few years back, now a worn out piece of crap can fetch £600, depends on type too, you can probably get a spotless, low mileage GSXR less than a worn out, old BMW that needs money thrown at it.
Nobody wants the plastic rockets anymore, bikers in general are getting older and wanting to return to their old rides, they can now afford 2 or more bikes, something else that can be driving up second hand prices.
I've just searched eBay for BMW R100 and R80; 1 bike for sale?????
"I think" you are sort of right... Airheads and old Jap aircooled dinosaurs are in vogue at the mo as people can buy them for some dreamy café racer/bobber/retro project like a million other people... The bikes always age in order so good bikes of a certain generation will become somewhat forgotten until they become "classic" enough to be in vogue... See Fireblades, CBR's, oilheads etc... They will be less popular than some peripheral old crap from the previous generation as people sweep up all said old crap to be on some fashion band wagon...
What is a concern as chops and bobbers go out of vogue is that some really good old bikes will be no more as people make some bollocks job of a solid bike... See streetfighter/ 70's chops etc
and the VW "classic" car market...Markets are always changing in a subtle or not so subtle way... Bikes are no different... When I couriered in London in the late 80's and early 90's the yuppie types changed fashion every few months and in a two year period had done jap sports bikes, Harleys, Italian classics and old Brit iron... All in vogue and then out of it... At the same time was the ridiculous market in classic cars that blew up in everyone's faces...
In economics the rough "bubble" theory in that approx 75% of the cash gets put in after the "bubble" has peaked... This is probably pretty accurate for the present fashion in bikes... Remember that several years ago it was the Charlie Boredoms of this world that were on about their wonderful bobber's etc... What also seems the case is that far more work is often done to bikes that riding them and that is down to "whatever floats yer boat"... Obviously this also involves loads and loads of chatting over lattachino's...
What is a big falsie is that you buy an old knacker for £2k, pull of half the useful bits, make a semi fist of throwing a couple of £k in "project" bits at it so making it more shiny and blingy but probably far less rideable and then trying to sell it just finished or "nearly finished" for £4k... Now that is bollocks... Good jobs on good bikes will usually be worth it but there are far too many over inflated half arsed jobs out there as people try to make the cash back for their flights of fancy...
As for old Beemers... The fact that the amount produced was far, far less than they produce now so creating a certain mystique and the fact that they hold together reasonably well makes them potentially stupidly over inflated... The fact that a decent airhead GS is about twice the price of a reasonable oilhead or that an airhead RT is on the market for a fair bit more than an oilhead RT is crazy... Even K's are getting over inflated now and they are arguably far better bikes for build quality than many an airhead knacker...
PS Even 10+ years ago working at a dealer, we steered a wide berth around airheads and older K's as the owners value and expectations was far higher than their cold market value... And selling bikes you can't bugger about waiting to convince someone of the "classic" value... There are also plenty of "traders" who have jumped on the bandwagon hoping to cash in so inflating the whole situation... See eBlag...
Watching the market evolve is interesting but you do notice the same trends come around again... It may even be in a year or two people get sick of riding oversized oiltankers called "adventure sports" bikes...
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