Pretty straightforward, look for old bikes that were or are raced. They will have a huge aftermarket and lots of proven performance improvements.
Cost is generally a red herring.... buy the best specimen of the make and model you're looking for that you can afford. For a beginner, a sub-$1000 vintage bike is generally a terrible idea.
Also, prices vary wildly between states, regions, and countries. For example, I could easily sell my '79 GS750 for $3000 in New England or the west coast... but here in central/north texas and in kentucky, nobody wants it for even $2500.
Hello Hipster,
Welcome to the junk pile. Since we started racing vintage motorbikes the one thing I've learned is that the thing that is most important in what a seller is asking for a bike and why he's selling it.
1. Loves the bike but health/wife/insurance is forcing the sale. These will often have a high price because the seller doesn't really want to sell the thing in the first place, so be careful.
2. It is a project that turned out to be far more than they had expected. These are many times a great deal but be watchful as everyone will tell you "all the parts are in these boxes".......
NOT !
3. They pulled the thing into the garage 5 years ago and just never rode it again. The seller is tired of working around the thing and has lost interest. These folks usually have totally lost interest and haven't even kept up on prices. This usually are really good deals.
Always make sure you can turn the engine over. This need not be with a starter (that would be good) even if you need to put it in gear and bump it without plugs. Engines that are locked up can be no real problem to you or you are totally F#*ked 'cause the reason it's parked is that the engine is broken.
One last thing that I shall pass along (this is not necessarily a guide to buying cafe rebuild bikes) when you are looking at a motorbike that is clapped out, crashed, doesn't run or has been sleeping out in the rain. If the engine will turn over or even start then the bike is really worth what you can get for the engine alone. This wee bit of info comes from a old friend that was and still is a rather successful breaker. The engine is the value everything else is gravy so when I look at a pile I only add value to the price I'm willing to pay if it has things such as a perfect OEM seat (restorers will give you top $ many times for these) or aftermarket bit that I'm going to use in my project and can be rebuilt..
One last thought. Many times I have gone to see a bike that has sat for years and as soon as the seller and I start talking I make my offer and he's come-back is "but look it has brand new tires" New tires that still have the little mold nipples and all the tread but have been sitting there for years are not new. They will only be a pain or cost to change so to buy into that.
By the way that GS750 is a great place to start there were a lot of those bike sold and many were raced. The 1100's are hard to find parts for because these engines were pulled out of the motorcycles and used in race cars they also were a favorite drag race engine. Lots of race parts out there (some even will work on the 750) but basic OEM engine and transmission bits (not to mention whole engines) for the 1100 can be a bitch to find and can be costly. Body and chassis bits on the other hand are everywhere because people stripped them down to race and stuffed the take-offs in boxes.
Cheers and have fun.
Rich
Kinda like when I sold my old Honda FT500 to a friend last year for 400$ with the expectation that he will never likely get around to putting it on the road but the thing was useless to me, I only paid 1450$ when it was brand new and it owed me nothing. A grand is not much money any more, I can spend that on one shopping cart full of groceries at costco.
