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Advice Welcome, Really

3716 Views 36 Replies 9 Participants Last post by  texmawby
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....
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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.
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Just a bit of info to add to others that might be reading this and considering a bike to caffinate. Not all jap bikes are totally worthless, some are quite valuable because of their reputations and building cafe racers out of them will get you at least what they are worth stock. While there might be others, here is my list of jap bikes that you can get at least something out of.

SOHC 1969-1978 cb750. The early 1969-1971 bikes tend to go for a lot of money stock. 69 die casts have seen 10K and sand casts are more (brand new sand casts can be had for $20K). However 1973-1978 SOHC bikes can be had for peanuts (under $1000 in a lot of instances) and when cafe'd out you can get what the early stock bikes are asking. Benji in jersey has proven that through ebay.

Kawasaki H series triple: How could a bike infamously dubbed the "widowmaker" not be valuable. Stock h2 750cc triples can pull in over $10K for really good examples. Yet cafe versions of the bike don't usually see half that. Because they are tempremental a lot of these bikes got parked and forgotten which means that it isn't uncommon to find someone who doesn't really know what he has and releive him of it for a low price. The 500cc triples work in reverse, stock h1 and kh bikes from 1973-1976 can be had for less than $2000 in great shape stock, but cafe'd out they can pull as much as $4500. I have already had a $5K offer for my FZR suspension 74 h1 when it is finsihed (I turned it down). Early h1's because of the look can command h2 prices when stock (espically the 1969-1970 molded tank ones), but cafe versions of these bikes pull in a little less than a stock one. Considering junker 1973-1976 H1s can be had for under $500 bucks these are always a good deal. Beware though, as triple parts can be expensive.

T500 suzukis: Loyal following and it's adaptability to cafe parts make this bike a winner. Two strokes in general seem to do better than 4 strokes in the world fo jap vintage bikes. Probably because they are so oddball by todays standards. A good clean t500 will run you $1500-$3500. One needing work is usually under $1000. I got mine for $700 neededing a right side crank seal but otherwise in good condition. These bikes get the same money stock as they do cafe'd out. Plus there is enough of an aftermarket that you can get some nice used speed parts if you look.

kz900/Z1: Carrying the same mistique as the cb750 you can really do these bikes up. Stock examples can pull as much as $10K but cafe bikes can get a decent price too if done right. Big bore and turbo kits make these monsters espically popular.

RD350/400: the giant killer. reputation for being fast and the muscle to back it up. You can get a really decent stock rd for around $2500. Super clean museum quality stockers go for $5000. The best part is quality cafe bikes command the same money as stockers. Unlike other bikes, followers of the RD are less concerned with authenrtic restorations so much as using the bike as intended. Lost of aftermarket parts mean these bikes can be built in the swapmeet paddock.

Suzuki GS & gsx: I know very little about these bikes except for the fact that they had about a zillion different models with very little interchangibility and that the 1100s were the predecessors to the modern gsxr. Clean stockers go for some nice dosh and cafe bikes of these seem to pull a little less. It is a popular swap in england to put the early oil cooled gsxr motors (1985-1988) in to these frames.

I should add that when I talk abotu cafe racers in the above descriptions I am talking about really well done, heavily modified bikes, and NOT stockers with clubmans. The bikes must at a bare minimum have bars, rearsets, decent paint, excellent detailing. Some can include stock bodywork and seats if the rest of the bike is seriously modified (see my "inspiration post for examples").
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quote:
Also the bikes all vintage bikes are not as plentyfull anymore the numbers are dwindling dailey.
So this bike is actually a good marketing study in A.old/vintage Bikes
B.you have to put it out there in like ebay where its a world market.
C.Models that didnt get recognized before ,will gain a new buying audience. And that is based on the "Trickle Down Theory"
Bull,

Me thinks you don't know exactly how many bikes honda put out in the 1970s. It is a staggering amount almost insuring that no 70's honda bike will be rare. Cb750 sales alone were in the millions and that wasn't even their best seller. Old Hondas were so commonplace that you used to be able to buy really nice running ones for $100. Yes eventually hondas will get to be rare but it will probably take another 15-20 years before it happens. It will be a long time before the world starts to run out of cb350s and cb360s.
the 360 is a cult bike, but not in the same way a 350 for 450 is. I run into quite a few street guys who like those bikes, but not as many as the guys who like the 750s. No bike that runs and drives is ever truely "worthless".

I think if sohc4cafe lived in New York city he would get his price, but then again it is the perfect enviornment for a small bike like that and everything in NYC is overpriced.
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