Author Topic: Keep or sell?  (Read 954 times)

Offline masonmart

  • SOHC Member
  • Posts: 168
    • View Profile
Keep or sell?
« on: March 07, 2019, 08:46:21 PM »
I'm 68 now and I have a small stable of 4 classic bikes and use them all. I'd have no problem with using any, even on longish distance runs and think that to keep them running well it's essential. I also have a modern bike, a '97 VFR750 that I have kept despite not really using it; I don't think I'll ever use it as it can and should be used. I love VFRs and have done lots of miles on several that I've owned but, stripping out the emotion, is there any justification in keeping a bike that you don't use and are unlikely to use and you have other bikes you can use. It's unlikely to appreciate in value but it won't kill me keeping it and I don't desperately need the amount of money I could get for it. I can see two opposing options. The first is that I just keep it as it won't do any harm and I may one day use it; the second is why keep a bike and not use it, the space in the garage would be handyish and they are a bit of a heavy bike to maul around for me now. Logically I'd say that I should sell but what would others do in a similar situation?

I'm having a crisis on what I need to have as I approach 70.
Dresda CB500-4, 605 cc
CB-77, 350 cc
1968 Bonneville
1976 Thruxton Velocette
1974 Kawasaki Avenger
1997 VFR 750

Offline Nurse Julie

  • 1977 CB550/4 Mongrel Brat. 1974 UK 500/4 K1. Honda CD250u.
  • Grogu
  • *
  • Posts: 8205
    • View Profile
Re: Keep or sell?
« Reply #1 on: March 07, 2019, 08:58:32 PM »
Sell it and keep enjoying riding the others. We had a discussion about this last week. It was based around what bikes we envisage ending up with when we are old(er). We have 14 bikes between us now and the fast one seems to be getting faster and the heavy ones, heavier. Your thoughts mirror a lot of bikers thoughts I'm sure.
LINK TO MY EBAY PAGE. As many of you know already, I give 10% discount and do post at cost to forum members if you PM me direct.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/julies9731/m.html?item=165142672569&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m3561.l2562

LINK TO MY CB400/4 ENGINE STRIP / ASSESSMENT AND REBUILD...NOW COMPLETE
http://www.sohc.co.uk/index.php/topic,14049.msg112691/topicseen.html#new

Offline Andrew-S

  • SOHC Pro
  • Posts: 519
    • View Profile
Re: Keep or sell?
« Reply #2 on: March 07, 2019, 09:43:02 PM »
Last weekend I sold my 93 FireBlade as I couldn't use it due to an old MX injury flaring up every time I did.  I had two choices, keep it as an investment for umpteen years (early FireBlades are rising fast in price) and let it keep taking up space in my garage or sell it and let someone else enjoy riding and owning it. 

I chose to sell it and whilst it's still in my garage awaiting a new MOT tomorrow, I don't regret the decision especially as it means I can put some money into my recently acquired K1 which needs a little TLC.

Cheers
Andrew

« Last Edit: March 07, 2019, 10:01:09 PM by Andrew-S »
1972 UK XL250 K0 Motosport
1976 UK Z900 A4
2018 BMW R1200 GS

Offline Moorey

  • SOHC Master
  • Posts: 1666
    • View Profile
Re: Keep or sell?
« Reply #3 on: March 07, 2019, 09:51:01 PM »
If it gives you any pleasure even if just looking at it, then keep it, I did the same with my Blackbird. You will know when the time is right for you to let it go because you will not ask others. A 97 VFR isn't going to drop much more money anyway over the next few years.

Offline Laverda Dave

  • SOHC Jedi
  • Posts: 2530
  • Health is wealth
    • View Profile
Re: Keep or sell?
« Reply #4 on: March 07, 2019, 10:26:41 PM »
I would keep the VFR, they are great all round bikes. Being fully faired they make great poor weather bikes and are easy to keep clean and respectable. I'm not sure what other bikes you have but I bet they would take a fair amount of effort to clean if you took them out on a dark and dirty day during the winter months.
As an aside, I have a Jota, when I move it around it makes me puff as it has become so heavy all of a sudden, my VFR feels like a scooter in comparison!
1976 Honda 400/4
1977 Rickman Honda CR750
1999 Honda VFR 800FX
1955 750 Dresda Triton
1978 Moto Morini 350 Sport
1978 Honda CB400/4 'Rat' bike
1982 Laverda 120 Jota

Offline matthewmosse

  • SOHC Master
  • Posts: 2161
    • View Profile
Re: Keep or sell?
« Reply #5 on: March 07, 2019, 10:45:26 PM »
I just sold off a few bikes rather than keep them- not being used has a way of making extra jobs on a bike, from stale fuel to sticking brakes and dead batteries, that said my dilemma was to dither on my ntv, it ended up staying simply because if I wanted another it would surely cost far more than my ratty bike would get. Nearly sold my BMW but got fed up with hagglers - offer a bike cheap, still get chancers wanting it for less, decided I'll build it up myself - that's the big downside of selling, dealing with tyre kickers.
Got a 500/4 with rust and a sidecar and loadsa bits. nice and original and been round the clock

Offline SumpMagnet

  • SOHC Pro
  • Posts: 683
    • View Profile
Re: Keep or sell?
« Reply #6 on: March 08, 2019, 12:31:48 AM »
Personally...I'd keep it.

The 97 VFR is not ever really going to go up in value, lets be honest. Not in a reasonable timespan. The early VFR's will, as they were the genesis of Honda's reinvention of V4's after the awful VF750 disaster killed confidence.

It is, however, a very capable all round machine that will do just about anything you could want a bike to do.

If you sell it...you will get less money than it really ought to fetch, and unless you have something you really want to replace it with, you would be stuck if you wanted to replace it with something else. Enjoy the turnkey reliability of a bike that will just start as long as you look after the battery, and will not need tweaking, adjusting, fettling and will almost certainly never sulk and just randomly refuse to start.

I nearly bought a VFR800 a while back, and only got put off by the spaghetti exhaust and complexity of pipework under the fairing. Got a Hornet 900 instead. The 750's were prettier than the 800's with cleaner lines......

As Moorey said....when the time to sell is right, you won't need to ask. If you have to ask...you are not sure. If you are not sure you may regret it. If you regret it...you probably won't find another as nice as the one you have for the money yours raised.....
CB750F2 - in pieces
CB900F Hornet - the daily transport

Offline masonmart

  • SOHC Member
  • Posts: 168
    • View Profile
Re: Keep or sell?
« Reply #7 on: March 08, 2019, 10:04:14 AM »
Thanks for the replies, it's certainly a difficult one. I don't ride in bad weather now and I park the bikes up over winter so the driver to have such a capable bike as the VFR is low especially 150mph +. My other bikes are an old Bonnie, CB77, Kawasaki Avenger and a Thruxton Velo all of which are very capable bikes although the Velo is a bit extreme for most trips. I have that Dresda to finish and that will be a user so reducing the number is my long term goal I think. The real killer though is selling a phenomenal bike in a very weak market. I want to find a place for a CB500/550 too though and that may dictate selling.
Dresda CB500-4, 605 cc
CB-77, 350 cc
1968 Bonneville
1976 Thruxton Velocette
1974 Kawasaki Avenger
1997 VFR 750

Offline taysidedragon

  • SOHC Master
  • Posts: 1318
    • View Profile
Re: Keep or sell?
« Reply #8 on: March 08, 2019, 11:03:09 AM »
With a good selection of other bikes to choose from I would sell the VFR and get your CB500/550. Go for it. Spring is coming and the VFR will sell. 👍
Gareth

1977 CB400F
1965 T100SS

Offline sye

  • SOHC Expert
  • Posts: 352
    • View Profile
Re: Keep or sell?
« Reply #9 on: March 08, 2019, 11:52:49 AM »
Martin, I have a 1997 VFR750 that I've owned since new. It's only been out once or twice during the past year and covered something like 350 miles. I've dabbled with selling a few times but I have an attachment to it. It owes me nothing, is worth very little and, like yours is mint. Keeping it for the time being.

HTH

Offline mickwinf

  • SOHC Master
  • Posts: 1737
    • View Profile
Re: Keep or sell?
« Reply #10 on: March 08, 2019, 12:52:03 PM »
I wish i were in your position, many of us can only afford one bike at a time so tends to be one in so one out! If i had the money i would have more but everyone is different.
Love the 500 and 550 have a 500 called Lazarus under restoration

Offline Orcade-Ian

  • SOHC Master
  • Posts: 1079
    • View Profile
    • Older Vehicle Web
Re: Keep or sell?
« Reply #11 on: March 08, 2019, 01:28:20 PM »
This topic is coming up more and more as we get older and not so many young ‘uns are joining in our hobby.  I’ll be 70 in June and planning to reduce the collection starting with my early GL1000, one of the 400 fours and a 350 Featherbed Norton single.  They are definitely going but still dithering about the GL1500 Wing, which doesn’t get enough long trip usage now but it’s still hard to beat when needed and easily ate up a one week 1300 mile round trip to a funeral plus a Highland fling last year.  I still have a useable, relatively modern bike for longish trips and a C90 for when things get really tough.  As with the OP, it’s not all about the money or space but probably now realising that if life was only one day long, then the News at Ten has just finished!

Ian


Offline MrDavo

  • SOHC Master
  • Posts: 1369
  • He who dies with the most toys wins
    • View Profile
Re: Keep or sell?
« Reply #12 on: March 08, 2019, 03:54:06 PM »
The real killer though is selling a phenomenal bike in a very weak market.

Tell me about it. I'm trying to sell a classic car and bike at the same time, but in the current climate there's very little interest out there other than scammers and chancers. Nearly all the potential 'next' cars or bikes I've been keeping an eye on have been for sale for months. The odd ones that are very good value don't last long, but until I've sold something I haven't really got the space or £££ for my next project so I can't really bid on them.

I was having a chat with a mate who is in the classic bike trade last week, he reckons the bikes that are sought after now because they were the icons of our youth will become less so as we eventually get too old or pop our clogs. I'm not as sure, there can't be that many of us around who are old enough to remember Brough Superiors and other pre war classics from when they were the current 'bees knees', but they still command eye wateringly high prices.
1969 Honda CL450 'Scrambler'
1974 Kawasaki Z1A
2005 Harley XL1200R Sportster
1985 Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera Sport
1978 VW Bay Window camper van

Offline Green1

  • SOHC Jedi
  • Posts: 2656
    • View Profile
Re: Keep or sell?
« Reply #13 on: March 08, 2019, 07:13:26 PM »
If your not emotionaly attached to it sell it and spend more time on the others.
Its alot more difficalt if you are attached to them 
My dad is in a simaller situation at the moment wether to keep his Triumph Trophy 1200 my mum bought it for him out of the blue one day about 20 years ago. It hasn't had much use in the last three years since she died and he finds it a bit heavy now as all Hinkley Triumphs are heffalumps. Its not worth anything as its covered almost 90,000 miles and could do with an overhaul as its burning a little oil now but the parts alone cost more then what its worth
Current bikes
Honda CB750k1 Valley Green Metallic
Honda CB750k1 Candy Gold
Honda CB550k Candy Jade Green
Honda CG125
Aprilia Pegaso 650
Moto guzzi 1200 sport
Kawasaki EX650R (Mine until dave pays for it)
Kawasaki ZXR400 J

Offline masonmart

  • SOHC Member
  • Posts: 168
    • View Profile
Re: Keep or sell?
« Reply #14 on: March 08, 2019, 08:37:20 PM »
While I've had up to 14 bikes (when I was working away) I've never been a "collector" always a user except for a couple of RC Hondas which are just too good to use, so the concept of keeping and not using is alien to me. So the meter moves toward sell. I'm "attached" to VFRs in that I've had 8 since they came out but the concept of "attachment" is a foggy one that perhaps should be given little weight? Further to sell then? There is perhaps a good justification to keep it though. I bought it for £2k just to do a ride down to the Dolomites in Italy and that was the upper price they had fallen to, it was one owner in beautiful condition. Looking on e-bay last night similar bikes have an asking price up to £5k (yes, ridiculous) so perhaps I shouldn't rush into selling but keep it in great fettle and use it when I can?

The market has collapsed yet genuinely collectible bikes still fetch strong prices and go quickly. The prices asked for Triumphs like my Bonnie have collapsed after pushing up toward £20k at one time (thousands of US imports didn't help), I paid £7k for mine. Yet, I phoned last week about a Bridgestone 350 GTO (stunningly beautiful bikes) which is a disc valve twin like my Kawasaki A7 and it had sold immediately for its asking price of £13k. As said above, it's not only bikes we yearned for as youths that are becoming icons but I think that there's a move away from modern sports bikes towards the functionality and beautiful form that classics have. Imagine a CB500 four now run on modern petrol and synthetic oil? It would last forever, never depreciate and have a performance just right for modern traffic and avoiding points, a perfect road bike? It would also be a focal point in a car park full of sports bikes because it is different. Have a look at prices for Kawasaki Z900's, they are really climbing so it isn't everything.
Dresda CB500-4, 605 cc
CB-77, 350 cc
1968 Bonneville
1976 Thruxton Velocette
1974 Kawasaki Avenger
1997 VFR 750

 

SimplePortal 2.3.5 © 2008-2012, SimplePortal