Silly prices for old airheads.

byron

byron

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I have just been looking through Ebay and noticed the silly prices for some airheads, or is it me out of touch. There was a 1981 80g/s that failed to reach a reserve at £5700. This bike had been stored for many years and the vendor suggests it will only require fuel, battery and an MOT, I think not!!. Also two or three r90s bikes for £13000 or there abouts. You have only to look at the carbs and engine block to find neglect.Two years ago I had difficulty selling 2 very nice 90s bikes for about 10k and a lovely Paris Dakar for 9k . These bikes need continual maintenance and quite a lot of money for relatively expensive parts to keep them going. Are these prices now really achievable or just a shot in the dark.
 
I always think that people selling a bike that’s been stored for years stating that it only needs a battery, fuel and MOT are too stupid to see that their reverse marketing strategy is working against them but I guess they are hoping for someone as daft as they are to et sucked in.
.
As to prices in general - especially on ebay, it’s just a bunch of chancers. As you say parts are very expensive and people see these ‘as new’ R80G/S marked up at £25k they probably think there’s a profit to be made.
 
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There’s a guy who advertises on eBay under the name motorradKonnection who is advertising airheads at seem to be ludicrous prices to me. I know it costs big bucks to restore / modify an airhead, but he’s charging that and more. Not sure if he’s sold any though…….
 
Peaks and troughs. Hopefully the prices will come down but everyone ( why not? ) is jumping on the airhead bandwagon and
prospective owners are unaware at the poor fuel consumption/maintenance costs etc etc.
Airheads are getting quite old now and many will require a 'Mikeyboy makeover' to stay on the road.
R1100GS and R1150GS are much better bikes and the future is probably with them as opposed to expensive airheads !
Many of the middle-aged Ebay denim clad wannabe's probably have an airhead 'cafe racer' that they will eventually sell at a great
loss and let's be honest, airhead cafe racers are so 'last year' with many genuine owners now wanting to keep original.
K100's are also the future for specials etc.
 
I suspect that the collectable airheads like the R90S and the g/s may often achieve strong money.

What I find more disappointing is less desirable models like R100/7 or ever R65s at crazy prices - I think this can only be driven by the custom market. It genuinely bothers me every time I see an R100RS in bobber form. :mad:
 
Mad Hatter said:
There’s a guy who advertises on eBay under the name motorradKonnection who is advertising airheads at seem to be ludicrous prices to me. I know it costs big bucks to restore / modify an airhead, but he’s charging that and more. Not sure if he’s sold any though…….
Click to expand...

He used to be on here, Florence I think he was called.
 
Mad Hatter said:
There’s a guy who advertises on eBay under the name motorradKonnection who is advertising airheads at seem to be ludicrous prices to me. I know it costs big bucks to restore / modify an airhead, but he’s charging that and more. Not sure if he’s sold any though…….
Click to expand...

he has sold plenty and imports a lot from the motherland . he has a better idea of what something is worth than most as he has been doing it for a long time.
 
I don't think those are silly prices. look at what some of the airheads are fetching at auctions, admittedly auction fever sets in, but a parallum, or whatever they are called, R80GS (800 up the tank) sold in France last year, with furriness in places and 80,000kms for the eye watering hammer price of 43,000 eurs - then auction fees on top!

have a look at Stateside airheads too - private sales are peanuts, Bring A Trailer prices are worth considering sending over a containerfull :D What you think something is worth and what the buyer is prepared to pay for someone else's have no bearing on each other... I would happily be a chancer and try to get top dollar for one if I was selling. :thumby:
 
SteveHop said:
Just look at the way Italian classics have gone up through the roof .
Airheads have a way to go yet .

https://www.themotorcyclebroker.co.uk/motorcycles/mv-agusta-america-750-magni/
Click to expand...

Don't think they'll ever reach the heights that Italian exotica from the 1970/80s seem to be commanding given that production numbers were much lower. Base models would be a better comparison but even those seem to be making strong money now - £12k being asked on that site for a 1975 860GT (possibly the least desirable bevel twin that Ducati ever made??)
The prices that make me choke are those being asked for 1990s/2000s Ducatis, particularly the so called limited edition stuff (some of which were not really THAT special or limited in numbers)
 
£37,000 for a 1972 Z900

£9000 for a BMW R80/7 cafe racer. Plenty of room for manoevre!
 
I’ve always wanted a 80/100 Gs and some years ago managed to acquire a rather nice IMHO
R100PDGs.

I am far from an expert in ‘Airheads’ and submitted this bike in the : One bike for life poll.

I love this machine, which due to unforeseen circumstances was unridden for over a year, but after charging the battery and refreshing the fuel, we were off where we had left off.

Could someone please indulge me with the possibly expensive costs, and as stated continual
maintenance that might be required to keep this beauty on the road, thanks..:thumby:
 
Wonder what my one previous owner 5k mile 1992 R100GS is worth :D
 
Bucephalus said:
.

Could someone please indulge me with the possibly expensive costs, and as stated continual
maintenance that might be required to keep this beauty on the road, thanks..:thumby:
Click to expand...

Assuming your bike doesn’t have high miles and has always been well maintained, and continues to be, you really shouldn’t really run into any major repairs. There are a few well documented issues - dropped valves, driveshaft universal joints and gearbox output bearings and seals that affect higher mileage bikes probably, being the worst and costly to fix.
 
ChasF said:
Assuming your bike doesn’t have high miles and has always been well maintained, and continues to be, you really shouldn’t really run into any major repairs. There are a few well documented issues - dropped valves, driveshaft universal joints and gearbox output bearings and seals that affect higher mileage bikes probably, being the worst and costly to fix.
Click to expand...

Well, that’s certainly a relief, mine has low mileage which from the overall condition of the bike, and those little bits of wear you just can’t hide, I feel is genuine, although not much documentation regarding servicing, mainly due to the bike not being used; arriving at Bonhams from a private collection. .Fingers crossed :thumby:
 
Service history is one thing but I find it has more to do with a general aura of being cared for.

Not an airhead but my K1100LT, which is highish mileage and bought from my local BMW dealer for a very low price (he just wanted to get rid because of the mileage) has evidence everywhere that it had been well cared for and well serviced for a good part of its previous life which means that when something does go amiss I can rule out neglect as the cause. The only thing that has caused a little bit of grief was caused by the radio removal which had been done with some blunt kitchen scissors, but I’ve often found, with second hand bikes, that any electrical modifications will invariably cause problems.
 
ChasF said:
Assuming your bike doesn’t have high miles and has always been well maintained, and continues to be, you really shouldn’t really run into any major repairs. There are a few well documented issues - dropped valves, driveshaft universal joints and gearbox output bearings and seals that affect higher mileage bikes probably, being the worst and costly to fix.
Click to expand...

Just nip into any BMW dealer and look at the servicing costs of the new bikes. In comparison if you can do a bit youself , airheads are cheep to run.
 
Price rise….

Not so long ago you couldn’t give them away.
You see a lot of bikes advertised for strong money, but they hang around on Car & Classic etc for ever. You do wonder if they ever sell, and for what price.
I was at an auction at the National Motorcycle Museum a couple of weeks ago and the airheads didn’t attract a lot of interest, consequently the prices were reasonable and in one particular lot low.
Anyhoo if you have a couple in the garage already then it’s all good…lol
 

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