Who's paying top money for Commando's

Hagerty has a pretty comprehensive vehicle valuation page here: https://www.hagerty.com/valuationtools/HVT/VehicleSearch
Seems fairly close to price reality in the US.
Here is one chart they generated this morning.

Personally I think it has a lot to do with the rise in process for Japanese bikes.

When I first started playing with old bikes a Brit bike was 3-5 times more expensive in similar condition.
The hipsters exploded the values on CBs by all wanting to play the same café racer dress up game. At about the same time the collectors really took and interest and we saw "Sandcast" CB750s and Z1s shoot up, and for good reason. But this dragged the "ordinary" bikes up too.

Now I am buying Brit bikes (mainly Nortons) for far less then a comparable Honda would cost.
And now the market is correcting again and we are seeing good prices for the best of the Brit bikes. To me it makes sense that a Norton should be comparatively more expensive then a CB.

The other factor at work is that some have been in the hobby before they were really collector bikes. For a while everything is just plan old, and cheap.
The days of $500 runners are long gone. Heck, $500 isn't worth the same as it was decades ago!

Right now the smart money from the Japanese market is going into the superbike era right now.
Have you seen how cheap CB1100Fs are right now?!?!?!?!
It is just a function of time. 1990 was 25 years ago.

I also think the rose tinted goggles of the 'elderly' who can now afford the bike they wanted in the 70's does not help. Buy the bike for top money, ride it and realise just how heavy it is for them now and can't sell it at a loss and so it becomes an ornament.
If I could just get hold of a frame, engine with V5 I could easily get the rest of the parts, but even these sort of parts are rarely seen these days. It will be interesting to see where this one tops out, there is the possibility that it may not be able to be registered in the UK if the NOVA does not materialize!!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171999982220? ... EBIDX%3AIT

The euro market seems WAY stronger then the USA one right now for old bikes.

Soooooooo
Who wants to fill a container and make some $?

I got mine 22 years ago.
Fixed it - rode it until I wore it out.
Rebuilt it - rode it until I wore it out. (again)
Right now I 'm not so sure that I really want to rebuild it again.

If someone were to make me an offer that was too good to refuse,
I would would help them load it in the shipping container.

Everyone has their price.

Fast Eddie said:

I don't think its that tricky to be honest, the real barriers are lack of money, space, patience and interest!

T140 Bonnies, later Ducatis, BMW airheads are just a few that come to mind that are currently at the low end and will definitely rise in future.

So if you've got an empty barn... and a spare $100k... And are happy to wait 30 years... There's no stopping ya!

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Story of my life. I may not have picked up the most profitable models, but the ones I picked have steadily increased in value. About 3 years ago, I started selling from the bottom (basket cases, then partials, then rollers). I still have a few incomplete rollers and then it will be time to make tougher and tougher decisions as to which ones to sell. I tend to get attached to them!

The only reason my situation ever worked out the way it did was because I was able to recognize diamonds in the rough, like old Triumph big twins with the head removed and the rear tire & seat missing, for $500. In the last 5 years, those gems are fewer and farther between.

While I've made some money selling Commandos, I never seem to be selling when the deep-pocketed buyers are looking...

Thanks for the Hagerty estimated value graph search engine link. Just used it and $8865 U.S. came up so it matches what I paid quite well in lower Cdn. dollars. A nice service.

Torontonian said:

Thanks for the Hagerty estimated value graph search engine link. Just used it and $8865 U.S. came up so it matches what I paid quite well in lower Cdn. dollars. A nice service.

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While that Hagerty graph is a GREAT tool, I used it to look up the JPN and it was very unrealistic even though Hagerty's own available data showed much higher values for recent completed sales.

So, you still need to study more than just the graph.

In '78 I bought my commando for $500. from a friend when it kept dieing on him when he rode it. He got tired of fetching it home in the back of a truck. As it turned out his issue was an out of alignment stator that rubbed the rotor and shorted out when it got hot. I ended up completely rebuilding the whole bike engine to put superblends in it...

With all the time and money I've spent on it, selling it for $6,000. might technically be a profitable sale, but it would feel like I lost money at that price. Certainly, my bike is a rider, NOT even close to show bike quality or a CNW gem...

58HP? I might pay top dollar for that!

tomspro said:

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Jaguar , not a bad idea to ship a container to where the prices are hot. Had a bud. who did that to Japan immediately after the maximum engine c.c. displacement law was repealed , allowing bigger bikes for the first time on Japan roads. Many were pre-sold by a dealer who posted pictures and details in his shop with the understanding they would be sent from North America. He told me he made very good money and wished he had put together a second container , the market re-adjusted to new after.

I did that in the early 90s when the UK had relatively high tariffs on new large cc bikes and the exchange rate was good POUND vs USD. I think I shipped 10 containers of used bikes before the pound dropped 25% and killed the profits. Paid for the down-payment on my first house.

Smart. In our Norton situation England now wants them all back home.

I've been riding zTriumphs since the 90's, one older 76' for a short time then bought a 2003 Thunderbird Sport and later a 2002 Speed Triple. Great bikes, the TBS is still my favorite go to bike,the S3 is a bit heavy and dated for the time I think. The TBS was superior to the Bonnie out in 2004 or 5 I can't recall the release.

These bikes lured me back to bikes I used to see growing up. I bought a 75 original running bike for 6k maybe 18 months or so. I like the bike, love it but I remembered why I stopped riding older bikes, I got tired of working on the constantly. I realize of course it's 40 yr old bike and it takes time to shake things down and get up at o snuff sleeping for many years.

I personally feel I paid top of the heap price for An average bike, I pad more for less miles and better condition also I paid more meeting a semi-local seller. I knew I was getting a slightly better than average bike and a runner. Of course it's been a few grand in parts by now and a few weekends of work but I'm starting to enjoy the ride.

Off to go for a ride!