[sohc4cafe]

I have avoided posting on this forum since my last posting Stirred up so much Sh*t (all my fault)I listed my cafe racer on ebay with I feel a very low reserve and it did'nt sell (I know ebay is always a chancy thing) Now I hope that you guys can help me figure out why. I know that caferacers and those of us who build,ride and love them are a (very) small portion of motorcycling in general But $2750 for this Bike, come on thats not to much, is it? Give me some pointers I know I have come across as a "hot headed Jerkward" and even a "fartbag" but I'm not a turdburger and I don't think I want to much for this bike. So tell me what you guys think it's worth or what I should change in the listing. I have relisted it and it starts tonight (11-29-05 9:15pst)with a lowered reserve.

Being shot out of a cannon will always be better than being squeezed out of a tube. That is why God made fast motorcycles, Bubba....

 

[texmawby]

sohc,

welcome back. no worries from my end. i was the one that ripped you about the 360 motor. i'm a cb350 snob. i race one and occasionally win on one. i bought a 360 back in the day at a swap meet and hoped to throw certain parts into the 350 motor like the six speed trans. was told by an expert cb mechanic that it wouldn't work.

i had that bike in my shop for a couple years. moved it around 1000 times. it ran, i had no love for it so i tried to sell it. i couldn't give it away. now mind you, mine wasn't pretty like yours, it was an ugly dog.

i'm rambling a bit......

the point i want to make is that someone who WANTS a cafe turnkey bike might pay that, but he or she really must want to HAVE that one bike (yours) in particular. then they MIGHT drop $2750.00 for it. it's a bitch when you put that kind of time and expense into something like that and it won't sell for the money you ask. i wouldn't pay that kind of money personally, cause i feel i could build something LIKE it. it would be MINE and i would grow an attachment to it. do you know what i mean? the builders and tinkers are a different breed than say a average bike enthusist.

i wish you all the best of luck. i don't know where you are located, but you might want to try craigslist.com (it's free) before you spend the ebay money and relist it again. also you might try a local college/university/art school. hang a flyer up in a local "biker" hang out or bar.

i hope you come to hang around here more often. we need more fartbags!



tex

 

[Geeto67]

If I had to take a stab, I'd say its because you are trying to sell in the wrong season. Motorcycles to the general populance are only good from april to september. After that all but the die hards put their bike in storage for the winter and worry about other stuff like paying for christmas presents and eating too much turkey.

It also does not help that you are in tulsa, OK, which probably draws less buyers than say LA, New York, or Dallas.

The bikes exhaust my be a little antisocial as well, personall I don't have a problem with it but there are some that might. I also don't have $3000 to spend on your bike but there are some that might.

My question is how much did you expect to get for it? America is not really a small bike place (because we really don't have small people or small interstates). At $2750 you are way ahead what a stock cb360 would bring in this country and closing the gap on what benji's cafe racer cb750s brought here in the east, Between $5K-$10K.

Only the brit bikes bring the big cafe racer money. Something about the mistique. Jap bikes are the bastard children of the motorccyling hobby, too many made to be valuable, and too reliable to be rare through service failure, and saddled with the stigma of being an "old bike".

Keep trying, you'll get what you want for it eventually. Ebay is not the final answer for these bikes. Try getting the bike in a few magazines. Exposure will determine the final sale price. Maybe create a nice looking webpage detailing the build with lots of pics. It is obvious you have a nice looking bike, maybe not enough people see it. Too many people think that ebay is the easy path to highest value but truth be known, it is limited by the number of people who see it.

The way I have sold my bikes for the best prices is I take them to cruise nights, and motorcycle shows. If it is a standout someone asks if it is for sale or makes me an offer. The only bike I refuse to sell this way (or at all) is my first cb750 which I already have standing offers of for $2500.

 

[jbranson]

It all goes back to my vintage Japanese bike formula....take what you have invested in the bike, subtract 60%.....that gives you the probable HIGH price you would get for the bike. More often it will sell for about 30% of the investment.
See....people have to be IN LOVE particular bike/marque to pay more than a $1000 for a vintage Japanese bike.

In the final analysis....you have a Honda CB360....unless a person is in love with Honda CB360s all the other work doesn't count. Cafe bikes in general appeal to people that are very knowledgable about bikes.....which would in most cases preclude any interest in a CB360. Vintage Japanese bikes are in most cases a bad investment....unless rare, very popular or in Pristine NOS condition. Modified vintage Japanese bikes....well I just can't think of a market that would provide LESS return on your dollar than that.

Lest you think I'm just being negative. I have probably $15,000 invested in a couple of Honda CB175 race bikes.....I'd be very happy to get $3000 for one if I sold it....where as I have a bone stock, low mileage 1965 CB160 than I have about $500 invested in that would probably sell for $1000.

This is going to sound harsh....but I'd be surprised if you get more than $1200-1300 for it. It's a cool looking bike, very nice work...but for the most part it's like trying to sell a very nicely done "Elvis on Velvet" to an audience from the Louvre.
JohnnyB

PS. Course if you did some crazy ass paint job on it and sold it as the turdburger special....you'd probably get your price and then some....why, cause you'd be appealing to a whole different crowd.

 

[LiLBull]

well it did well for TURKEY Day season, ending around 2300 so it did well.Its not what it is worth in our eyes,We think more.
And there is where the fustration lies we know its worth it, we have to create a market for it like a movie featuring ...Hopefully the Bad Guy riding it.
But realisticly it was timing this time of year is, hold the wallet time of year, spring and fall is the sell times of year.
Doesnt mean it wouldnt sell this time,just choose KEY WORLDS wisely. How I choose Key Words is I search and see what comes up and how it comes up and then Ill be sure those key words are in the title,to get broadest amount of audience.

A little cheating goes a long way ,the sucker punch is ,to list it in another separate and total different catagory, like maybe golf accessories or musical instruments some other broad subject so it gets in different faces, and as many as posibble.Or post it in with british cafe racers and when they see the price comparison, they may see your bike, has all that the, more expensive bike has in looks and dare we say reliability to lucas.
I looked under completed sales on ebay and I used cb cafe racer as key word search, your bike came up and the four or five others they were all sold all the same time within a week or two or a few days around your sale .So its possible it will still sell at your price.
Also dont start so low that the few people bidding get fustrated not hitting the reserve post starting bid higher so it doesnt take to many offers till the see the reserve is met.
And welcome back and stick around and send me those rearset pictures you promised you fartbag!!!
George





Edited by - LILBull on Nov 29 2005 7:31:19 PM

Edited by - LILBull on Nov 29 2005 7:34:33 PM

 

[jbranson]

Someone offered $2300 and you didn't take it????
JohnnyB

 

[LiLBull]

hey he has a lot of new stuff on this bike with zero miles on that stuff ....Id hold out too. sohc4cafe... just incase you dont know JohnnyB builds serious tools to build serious parts then builds serious bikes with them so he feels your pain.check out his website



http://www.jrbranson.com/HondaRacer/mainpage.htm

 

[joe c]

i would have jumped on 2300 personally. as far as the gereral buying public, i think you really get one of about 4 buyers.

the people who want a cheap bike to learn to ride on. the beginers. they want to spend about 500 on something reliable they can crash and not feel too bad about.

the guys who have wood for that bike they used to have, or the one the neighbor had. or that guy had in highschool. the norton 750, or 650 bonnie, or kz1000. etc.

the people who look at what they can get for a certain price. they want the biggest bang for the buck. 2700 will buy a nice newer sportier machine. not an old bike that you cant get parts for, or will have to figure out if those really are cb360 forks, or cb450 forks, or cb500 forks etc...

then there are the people who know what theyre looking at. and they wont buy something, no matter how trick it is, unless they can look at it and see exactly what theyre getting. it can have all the carbon fibre, chromed, billet shit you can bolt onto a machine, but unless it runs, they dont want anything to do with it. and putting a picture on the internet isnt going to prove any of that. jbs equation is right. although it was probably stolen from car builders.

there is definietly a ceiling for these things. i think the amount of crap thats turned up and just the poor build quality of alot of bikes has scared alot of people away. not to mention committing to spending that kind of cash without actually seeing/riding the machine is asking alot of buyers. i think tex has a good idea, hit the cruise nights. go to the car shows. hang a freekin sign on the thing, and get a charicature of it to put next to it. (plug!!!) you might hit on something. and be sure to ride it in, and ride it out. always helps. personally, even though i do really like the 360's, tex, id buy something alot cooler for 2500. tex, how about buying it and running in fcb next year??? 360 6 banger in a 350 frame at mosport. now yer talking! we wailed the crap out of mike os 360. that thing couldnt be killed. and it hauled the lumber too. a little porting, some stock pistons, a cam, and carbs and that thing went pretty well.

anyway, i have to go finish the damned ark. its fucking pouring out here.

jc

 

[texmawby]

joe,

no disrespect to sohc, but a properly tuned 350 would eat the 360 anyday of the week. ask c. marsh about it. why don't you buy it? just think, it's turnkey, now your ready for vir in march.

tex

 

[joe c]

dude, 6 speed??? i know guys whove done upwards of 100 on a stocker 360. you cant do that on a stock 350. the 360 is a great bike. way better on the street than the 350. way more substantial. otherwise, everything about them sucks as much generally speaking. yeah, if you shove a grand into anythng it'll go faster. even a 360. mike did pretty well on his modded 360. and that thing was as ratty looking as youre 350. ive seen him win and place or show in lwsv on many occasions on that thing. and they won thier class in the endurance race one year on it. now, if youre talking about eeking out 48hp, thats a different story but i bet it could be done with the right brain behind it. its just that there arent any classes out there where its worth doing that becasue for the most part youd get your ass handed to you by other machines. ahrma for one, and wera for another. and ive read stories about guys shoving 360 boxes into 350's ive heard theyre just too fragile when its done. so its not worth doing. not that it cant be done. im actually interested in seeing the first 360 show up in fcb. id like to see one go against the 350's.

jc

 

[UngaWunga]

$2300 for a CB360 and you didn't take it... <img src=icon_smile_dissapprove.gif border=0 align=middle>

Its a CB360. They're a dime a dozen. And yours isn't even complete. Or is it supposed to be missing the mufflers?

<img src=icon_smile_dead.gif border=0 align=middle>

I have a CB450 that I've butchered into a cafe racer. Fun to ride, has some expensive parts on it. When I get rid of it, I'll strip all the nice parts off of it and sell/give it away as a parts bike.
No one would pay what the bike is worth.

 

[monkey]

you can buy a ducati monster 600 for 3000 bucks. should have taken it dude. i purchased my racer as a bone stock cb with 5000 miles in awesome condition for 100 bucks. after cleanin carbs etc... rode it for 3 years on the street before raping it for the track. doh!!!

shit my cb has a pvl , 750gt front end , brake cool paint and plastic... 500 bucks right??? screw sellin... just horde shit like mike o

matt

 

[texmawby]

joe,

buy it and race it against me for pink slips.

(no not the one i normally wear)

tex

p.s.- damn rob, a little harsh?

 

[jbranson]

Like LilBull says...I do feel your pain. I'm not trying to bring you down or anything... I've just bit the bullet so many time selling these machines that I now know when I'm building one I'm building it for ME.... and selling it isn't a way to recoup any cost...it's just a way to free up some shop space and have money for a few trick parts for another bike.

If someone offered me $2300 for my race bike I'd almost think about selling it.....and I'd go right out and by a modern RS125 to race. And $2300 pays for everything from let's see....about the top engine mount to the cylinder base gasket.

Building these things is a hobby, a love affair, an adventure...from an investment point of view a person is better off throwing their money out the window....literally.
JohnnyB

 

[joe c]

i'll race ya from baltimore to harrisburg up 83. or how about the newly renamed dc beltway. the now dubbed "eganbahn". my frind patric claims its his own personaly autobahn at 430 in the morning. even though the cops insist its not only his road.

jc

 

[texmawby]

if i ever get an extra coulpe g's i'm buying a modern 250gp bike to sit next to my 125 bike.

the 125 scares me, the 250 has to be frightening.

tex

p.s.- back on all fours, YEAH!

 

[jbranson]

For some reason I'm reminded of Tony's famous words...

..."Let me introduce you to my little friend"

Don't know why...it just came to me.

JohnnyB

 

[texmawby]

i can dig it!

tex

p.s- still up, but running out of gin!!!

 

[sohc4cafe]

Good advice and recomendations from all I thought about selling on the previous listing(s). The current listing(reserve $2X00)seems to be doing good so we'll see how it goes I have lowered the reserve and added some to the description. As has been previously stated "you have to fall in love with it" I agree with that totally I know what the two values (hobby&investment)of the bike are so it's not such a big deal I don't feel like I am really losing at anything over $2000. But like anyone else I have a price I want for it. I know I'll never see my time and money out of it. BUT I think if I put OCC on the tank, throw in some fake tattoo's and a maltese cross T-shirt the bid's will go through the roof.

Being shot out of a cannon will always be better than being squeezed out of a tube. That is why God made fast motorcycles, Bubba....

 

[texmawby]

how about if you get your price you sign the tank.

good luck!

tex