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Joined: Sep 08, 2008 Posts: 362 Location: Toronto Canada
Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 7:06 pm Post subject:
05c50
Crap? I don't think so. Let me pull my foot out of my mouth and explain. Just because my bike isn't worth $20,000 doesn't mean my bike is crap. If it was crap, I'd sell it, not fix it. My bike is nostalgic, fun, dependable, quick, but it'll be 100 years before it's worth $20,000. For a lot of people, collectable = $$$$. For many motorcycle means a harley. That's cool, but it's not me.
As an aside, my vintage club was asked to come up with about 12 bikes for the International bike show, at the exibition center in downtown Toronto. We'll see if my bike makes the cut. _________________ Ride/Fix/Repeat.
_Friend of SCI_
I'm STILL no pro.
Joined: Oct 26, 2007 Posts: 1143 Location: Greensburg Pa
Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 7:52 pm Post subject:
Ahh, it's not all bad. She uses the word "crap" lovingly. She's only kidding. She knows when I take one of the "old" bikes to bike night, they usually get more attention then the newer bikes. She never complains when everyone stops to talk to her about HER 79 KZ200. It's usually older then half the people there!
It's a blast.
...........Paul
_________________ �77 CB550f
�77 CB750a
�78 GL1000
�80 CB650c
�75 GL1000-finally finished
�79 KZ200
68 CB450K1-taking up all my time
Joined: Sep 08, 2008 Posts: 362 Location: Toronto Canada
Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 8:45 am Post subject:
telecaster wrote:
Look at the bright side,it still makes this hobby affordable.
Exactly!
If I saved up for 20-30 more years I could afford just about any bike I want.
05c50: Great bike, you can tell her for me.
I thought the average person in a parking lot would get a real kick from seeing my bike. Not so. As it gets closer to looking new again, people see it as a NEW, "little" shiny bike. But every once in a while, I see an old guy looking at my old bike and walking towards me from across the parking lot. Blank stare, big smile, I know his first words before he speaks.
"I had one just like this when I was a kid." I got more waves back when I was riding my chinabike. I've seen riders driving past while looking backwards at me. The ones without face shields, I can see smiling, sometimes bouncing in their seats. I don't hold it against them that they forget to wave, they are too busy re-living their youth.
I went to Canada's largest vintage rally, to see the old bikes. I parked in the parking lot, went in, bought a head light bucket for $10, when I went to put it on the bike so I wouldn't have to carry it, in the parking lot there was a couple guys taking pictures of my bike. We talked for about 10 minutes. As they left, a couple more showed up and started taking pictures. Then a little crowd gathered, taking pictures and talking, as people left more came walking over. I got stuck in the parking lot for an hour and a half. I was getting more traffic that some of the displays inside the rally, and I sort of see why. Most riders up here have never ridden an Indian, or a sunbeam, but all the people I talked to in the parking lot, rode a cb350 at some time. A lot of riders have a personal connection to old Honda's, and memories aren't measured in dollars.
I hope they never become overly valuable. As far as collectable, if they get expensive I won't be able to collect them at all.
I like the bike, 05c50. _________________ Ride/Fix/Repeat.
_Friend of SCI_
I'm STILL no pro.
Joined: Oct 26, 2007 Posts: 1143 Location: Greensburg Pa
Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 11:02 am Post subject:
Barchetta, I have some similar stories. Sometimes I ride with a group with "real" classics. Old Indians,HDs,Nortons. We were sitting in a lot and a lot of the people recognized them as very old and very nice bikes, but most of them couldn't relate to them. When they saw my CB750A, a crowd started to form and everyone had a story to tell about when they were younger. It really threw them for a loop when they realized there was no clutch lever! As I said before......It's a blast.
..........Paul _________________ �77 CB550f
�77 CB750a
�78 GL1000
�80 CB650c
�75 GL1000-finally finished
�79 KZ200
68 CB450K1-taking up all my time
Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 11:23 am Post subject: A Yamaha won the 2008 Cycle World Award
"When they saw my CB750A, a crowd started to form and everyone
had a story to tell about when they were younger" o5c50
Our bikes are indeed recognizable by folks.
We saw a 1967 Yamaha Big Bear win the AMA Invitational in October at the AMA Hall of Fame Museum. We drove over to see the best 100 bikes from around the country that were invited by the AMA and that Yamaha won not only First Place in its division but Cycle World Magazines Publisher gave the Yamaha, owned and built by Roger Smith, their 2008 top award.
Larry Little, the VP of Cycle World said the Big Bear was chosen over the Vincents, Indians, etc, because the bike brought back memories to him of his initial days of riding bikes in Pennsylvania in the last 60's and the bike was re-done extremely well with lots of NOS parts.
Joined: Nov 02, 2008 Posts: 1085 Location: New Zealand
Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 7:09 pm Post subject:
One of the difficulties with the question about 'collectable' and 'classic',whether it be bikes or cars is that there is so much affectation and herd mentality involved. It has nothing to do with the the reality of owning and using the vehicles concerned, either now or when they were new.
Motorcycles at least pretend to have the purpose of being ridden. Over the years I have ridden some very long days,as much a 1500km in a day,on various Japanese bikes that never ever looked like missing a beat. Virtually all the machines involved are scorned by the various special interest groups,including the modern phenomenon of the white collar sunday afternoon Harley riders. Many of the machines such wise critics rate highly struggle to do 1500km between workshop sessions.
These days I could afford pretty much any bike yet my road bike of choice is a DL650 V Strom. Sure its ugly ...but not where it counts. Will it ever be given any credence by the people who could miss Japan from the list of great motorcycle building nations?
I doubt it and I couldn't give a damn.I know what works for me.
By the way while I have had litre bikes and have tended to favour Suzuki three of the most satisfying rides my wife and I have owned are a CL175 Honda street scrambler,a CB200 Honda, and a CB400F.
Joined: Nov 05, 2008 Posts: 22 Location: anaheim calif usa
Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2008 1:46 pm Post subject:
owners of euro old bikes are jealous becouse japan took over the motorcycle world. i think old euro bikes are cool but just not reliable enough to enjoy. they can have them.
owners of euro old bikes are jealous becouse japan took over the motorcycle world. i think old euro bikes are cool but just not reliable enough to enjoy. they can have them.
I agree. I have 28 Japanese cycles, most are very rare but most people haven't found that out yet. I find it hard to believe when I take my 1961 Honda Super Hawk to a show, most spend there time looking a Kaw triple not my 305. Cycle collecting is a journey, and everyone of us has a different idea of where we are going.
Prices of collections will raise soon, the newer the collectable Japanese cycle the more they are worth, example, A person wanting to buy a cycle from the 1960's may want to pay $1000 to $1500 for a good cycle to restore, the same cycle from the late 70's would cost $2000 or more, in the early 80's may bring $3000 or more before restoring. People pay what they paid and think like they did when they first rode these cycles years back and are far cheaper with the older one in how they spend there money to buy them. Another example is a 1961 Super Hawk should bring as much as a 1979 750 Honda, but it doesn't it will bring maybe half as much, I think it is because of the number that rode them, plus (big) sells, even if in 1961 the 305 was the largest Honda.
I have watched the auction in Las Vegas for the past few years and see the collector of BSA and Triumph, Norton selling them off in mass and moving over to Japanese cycles of just getting out of cycle collecting all together because of age. You will see the older clubs start to move in on the Japanese cycle groups as time goes on, follow the money and you will see it happen. They didn't like us until they lost most of the dues coming in and now they have found us, there lost bubby's..
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As I said before......It's a blast.
