Thinking about commando prices , what’s your opinion ?

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Atlas Commando said:
One thing that's changed, 50 years ago 'a lot' of people could and did complete their own maintenance and repairs. Fast forward (slow forward?) to 2022 and I know very few people who are competent on the tools. What's the impact on the value of our bikes? Does anybody want one just to prove that they can keep one going? Sort of a greaser status symbol?
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Most of the guys I ride with are my age and have been riding for a long time. Most ride Harleys. All of them do their own maintenance and use the dealer for stuff that's outside the realm of home mechanic. Labor rates at the Harley shop are outrageous and nobody likes pissing away money for simple stuff. I don't see that as changing any time soon. My nephew is a very competent mechanic with all the tools and nobody touches his Yamaha but him.
 
Just to add to Paul's post ie making a profit. I have done this a few times lol you know for money!
More usually though, I've worked my way through four project bikes & ended up with one that stands me very little.
My boys racing Honda 350 K4 history. It started out with a half finished project racer, cheap rubbish, with spares, that we raced. Added £600 of someone elses spares stash. Then a better engine! Before being written of in someone else's accident. Collected a couple of frames & enough spares for 3 engines. Built & raced this one. Then brought a front runner with spare full race engines, spares & wheels. Then the Drixton & again complete with spares, starter rollers & a spare race engine.
Five bikes eventually completed. Still have spares & a new alloy tank & seat.
Break even ? Maybe lol.
 
grandpaul said:
I disagree. If you buy basket cases, have a decent shop, have decent skills, and have time, you CAN make a profit. May not be a BIG profit, buts actually not hard to do
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You were in it at the right time. You aren't doing it anymore are you? Those $1 per cc days are long gone. People think their basket cases are worth $3000, which is nuts IMO.

It might be possible with the right basket case if just knocking the rust off, inflating the tires, and getting it to run again was all that was required. If the motor, gearbox, isoelastics, suspension, instrumentation, electronics, and frame were in poor condition, it would take one heck of a nice shop to do it all right, and profit would not be that good without a wealthy benefactor lined up to pay for the labor. Baby boomers reliving their youth through an old motorcycle aren't going to live forever. The market is shrinking.

I'm not disagreeing, just not seeing it the same. My remaining time on earth is worth way more than I could ever ask for it. ;)

I could be repeating myself. Time to go back into the rubber room.
 
Fast Eddie said:
I imagine a scene in the not too distant future…

A bike meet outside a cafe, a Starbucks or Costa (seeing as all independent establishments will have died).

There’s a crowd of immaculately clean, wealthy, middle class, mainly male (and some who prefer not to say), they’re all dressed in very safe, very bright, electrically operated active safety gear.

They’re with their bikes, all electrically powered, semi autonomous, totally silent and odour free. They’re all very expensive machines and their owners are taking it in turns to plugs them in to the charge points.

They’re discussing the latest downloads and apps for their machines with great interest and bold claims and the odd lively debate and bit of banter.

Then they all stop and stare in bewilderment, a noise, a smell, a sight… like folks today watching a steam locomotive pass by.

It parks up. It’s still making noises as it tinks and creaks as it cools. It’s still making smells as the hot oil and fuel vapours linger. Heck, it’s even leaking a drop or two of liquid fossils on the floor.

They stare in amazement at such quaint antique features as carberators, spark plugs, exhaust pipes, plus mysterious levers and pedals connected by cables all operated by the RIDER !?!

Our hero on the liquid fossil burning relic doesn’t quite get lynched, at least not today, not by this crowd, but he, and his clothing, and his oily hands, are certainly looked at with mystery and interest, and perhaps a little pitty…
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Sounds like the makings a movie scene..... :cool:
 
Most bikes end up being non-original. That is how you lose value. These days, most of the old Manx Nortons have been modified. They might go faster, but they are worth less. A few years ago, I was at Phillip Island and I saw a nut and bolt perfect Thruxton Velocette. It was a joy to behold and I do not like Velocettes. The same will apply to old Commandos. For what thery asre, thery are a very good thing. But modified, they are worth less.
A race bike is a different kettle of fish. I had to laugh - I was at an historic meeting and there was a group of old snoozers there who had really beautiful old road bikes. One of them told me they had been looking at the historic racers and were horrified. I know what he meant. If you have a look at most of them, they are eligible for racing, but as one of my mates said 'you would not ride them to the pub'.
When historic racing started, the excuse was it was it is intended to preserve the old race bikes. It has destroyed thousands.
 
Schwany said:
You were in it at the right time. You aren't doing it anymore are you? Those $1 per cc days are long gone. People think their basket cases are worth $3000, which is nuts IMO.

It might be possible with the right basket case if just knocking the rust off, inflating the tires, and getting it to run again was all that was required. If the motor, gearbox, isoelastics, suspension, instrumentation, electronics, and frame were in poor condition, it would take one heck of a nice shop to do it all right, and profit would not be that good without a wealthy benefactor lined up to pay for the labor. Baby boomers reliving their youth through an old motorcycle aren't going to live forever. The market is shrinking.

I'm not disagreeing, just not seeing it the same. My remaining time on earth is worth way more than I could ever ask for it. ;)

I could be repeating myself. Time to go back into the rubber room.
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The thing is, you have to have play money and plenty of time to go fetch those lot deals, garage clean-outs, etc. that is where you can make it work. Plus, doing 3 or 4 projects at a time you can realize volume discounts on all trades like plating, polishing, painting, powder coating, etc as well as bulk parts purchases
 
Schwany said:
You were in it at the right time. You aren't doing it anymore are you? Those $1 per cc days are long gone. People think their basket cases are worth $3000, which is nuts IMO.

It might be possible with the right basket case if just knocking the rust off, inflating the tires, and getting it to run again was all that was required. If the motor, gearbox, isoelastics, suspension, instrumentation, electronics, and frame were in poor condition, it would take one heck of a nice shop to do it all right, and profit would not be that good without a wealthy benefactor lined up to pay for the labor. Baby boomers reliving their youth through an old motorcycle aren't going to live forever. The market is shrinking.

I'm not disagreeing, just not seeing it the same. My remaining time on earth is worth way more than I could ever ask for it. ;)

I could be repeating myself. Time to go back into the rubber room.
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I have a friend who makes a living from old bikes. Another friend sold him my old race Triton 500. It had 7R AJS wheels which are sold for $5000 each in Australia, It also had a 5 speed Triumph Gear cluster. It was sold on with Commando wheels and a 4 speed gear cluster. A very nice little profit has been made. But the bike is virtually useless as a racer now.
personally, I have never made a profit from motorcycles. Road racing is one of my interests and I am willing to pay to pursue it. In some ways my Seeley 850 resembles the Gus Kuhn Seeley commandos, but it has an 850 motor, NOT a 750. It is valuable to me, but I do not care about what other people think of it. Most seem happy to see it, but that is irrelevant.

Most people are too obsessed with money. My bike is worth more to me than a slightly bigger number in my bank book. It keeps me alive. These days, thousands of Australian kids study hard at school so they can get a better job. Money is a very poor form of motivation. When you have a genuine interest, life is much easier. I never went to university full time, but I still became a scientist and rose to the top of my profession. I only ever studied what interested me, but because I studied part time while working, I got almost every job I ever applied for. In itself money is worth nothing.. I only ever worry about money when I have got none.
 
grandpaul said:
The thing is, you have to have play money and plenty of time to go fetch those lot deals, garage clean-outs, etc. that is where you can make it work. Plus, doing 3 or 4 projects at a time you can realize volume discounts on all trades like plating, polishing, painting, powder coating, etc as well as bulk parts purchases
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Yes indeed it would be a serious commitment to make it work. Social Security pays more than $3 an hour without me lifting a finger though. :)

Seriously, I think it is great that there are still individuals around that have the heart and money to help vintage bike owners keep the old iron on the road and track.
 
Schwany said:
Yes indeed it would be a serious commitment to make it work. Social Security pays more than $3 an hour without me lifting a finger though.

Seriously, I think it is great that there are still individuals around that have the heart and money to help vintage bike owners keep the old iron on the road and track.
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I'm getting almost $7 / hr from SS (based on 40 hr work week)

I'd still be rebuilding / restoring for money, but I don't NEED to any more.
 
Not sure if this is relevant but in 92 I bought a Mk 2 BSA Rocket 3 for GB £3000, at the time a fair wad. I met up with the dealer about 6 months later and he told me he'd paid the original American owner US$ 200 for the bike , yes that was 200. That was some profit margin !
 
trident sam said:
Not sure if this is relevant but in 92 I bought a Mk 2 BSA Rocket 3 for GB £3000, at the time a fair wad. I met up with the dealer about 6 months later and he told me he'd paid the original American owner US$ 200 for the bike , yes that was 200. That was some profit margin !
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That happens ALL THE TIME.

It's a matter of being in the right place, at the right time, with either the right buyer or seller present, and the right amount of money in your pocket. There's money to be made every day...
 
Dommie Nator said:
I once thought I'd had it with bikes, finished for good, no interest left at all. I sold the bike and was instantly cured.

View attachment 83920
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But, in practical terms - that is an excellent bike. And probably cheap to buy. I had a K75 for some years, it was an excellent machine, in technical terms probably the best bike I ever had. But it was a bit boring.
 
grandpaul said:
I'm getting almost $7 / hr from SS (based on 40 hr work week)

I'd still be rebuilding / restoring for money, but I don't NEED to any more.
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Reality is it's a little over $10/hr with SS in my case. Good for Costco food runs and gas in the fuel tank. ;)
 
I rode and restored my ‘72 for 20 plus years , I really loved that bike , had lusted after one from day I heard my neighbour fire one up to go to work one morning …. once I had a taste of modern Ducati I rode my combat less and less , the bikes I had from Japan were all good just had little flavour , this past summer , I had surprisingly ended up with 5 mc’s in my little shed …. after several sleepless nights , I sold the combat and my beloved Griso , got very fair prices for both , no profit but I was more than pleased …. the 2 Dukes in shed will no doubt still be there when I’m done , the GT1000 is so reminiscent of the Norton it weird , except it has more power ,starts on a button and has better stopping , I can sit and look at it all evening …. there is a ride life after Norton ownership …. my wealthy sister even offered $ so I could keep combat ( which I didn’t need) and I passed as had found keeping 5 bikes on the road cut my ride to zilch … if I trusted someone enough to work on my rides maybe I would have done things different …. when I got the Norton I was over the moon 20yrs is long time , longer than a lot marriages , I still miss the Norton but at this point I just look , the $ was always secondary , if you after just the $ invest in real estate …..
 
Schwany said:
Reality is it's a little over $10/hr with SS in my case. Good for Costco food runs and gas in the fuel tank. ;)
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grandpaul said:
Apparently you earned a good deal more than me in your peak taxable earning years...
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With my paltry GM pension combined with SS my income is about $15 an hour. I put in a lot of 7 day weeks at GM.
 
grandpaul said:
Apparently you earned a good deal more than me in your peak taxable earning years...
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I wasn't really making that much money IMO, but I made some. I think more would have been better. I still have my health though, so that is a bonus and a good tradeoff.
 
worntorn said:
That was on the Commando. The young guys don't know what the Vincent is or what century it came from.
Nonetheless, for every old Vincent owner that tips over there is a younger guy waiting to buy the bike from the heirs. The selling prices make the Nortons look like a giveaway.
The point is, the specification of 5 year old bargain BMWs or Hondas is not even on the radar for these buyers. Those bikes could have a thousand HP, weigh 50 pounds and cost $50, it doesn't matter.
They want a Vincent or a Norton and that's that.
One day it will change , but that is the market at the moment.

Glen
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"They want a Vincent or a Norton and that's that."

Crystal clear in your mind & that's that. Meanwhile, here's some reality.

"I’ve been approached by Harley and Japanese bike owners while on my Norton before, and nearly all of them say they never heard of Norton. Only a few of the 65+ year old guys know what a Norton is."

The above even given Brand new Nortons were on the market in the last decade.

As far a comparing Norton Vs Vincent values, Norton might as well be irrelevant.


www.accessnorton.com

The next new Norton...

Scott, did you ever make your cross country trip? I'm thinking about getting a bike I can do miles on. My daughter is moving to San Fran in a few months and have always wanted to do a cross country trip on non-interstate roads
www.accessnorton.com www.accessnorton.com
Voodooo said:
I’ve been approached by Harley and Japanese bike owners while on my Norton before, and nearly all of them say they never heard of Norton. Only a few of the 65+ year old guys know what a Norton is.
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