Are there any affordable classics left?

[Undinist]

I know nothing about classic bikes but I've been doing some window-shopping on ebay and carandclassic.co.uk and the prices seem huge. All the '60s and '70s British and Italian things seem to cost at least three times the £1200 I paid for my BMW K1100LT. I don't understand how the people who buy all the shitty old bikes have so much money to spend.
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Current bike: K1100RS. Previous: CD200, GSX250, GT550, VFR750, K100LT, K1100LT, R1100GS, R1150GS, ZZR1100, Hayabusa, RSV Mille, MV F4 750S, R1, ZX-10, KTM Adventure 950S

[Skudd]

You need to define "Classic". In my view the Africa Twin is a classic as is the 998.
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Famous last words of Humpty Dumpty. " Stop pushing me "
Petty Anarchists look at "1984".............. The Visionary looks at "Animal Farm".

[Undinist]

I mean '70s or older I suppose.
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Current bike: K1100RS. Previous: CD200, GSX250, GT550, VFR750, K100LT, K1100LT, R1100GS, R1150GS, ZZR1100, Hayabusa, RSV Mille, MV F4 750S, R1, ZX-10, KTM Adventure 950S

[ScottT]

It's because they come from a different generation.
I'm a member of my local British bike club, im 52 and when i go along to meetings about 80% of the people there (50-60 turn up) are 15-25yrs older than me. Outside will be bikes worth anything from a couple of grand to £20k+
These are people that left school at 15 went straight into work and probably worked 50yrs before retiring, they will have skrimped and saved to buy a house many years ago for about £10-15,000. They will have no debts, their kids will have grown up and a good works pension. Any money is either spend on holidays, grandchildren or hobbies.
They probably drive a 2-3yr old car that gets changed every couple of years and is worth about £8-12k
So spending £4-5k on an old bike seems a bargain for them. For the ones who enjoy the work buying an old wreck and spending a couple of years of tinkering to turn it into a bike worth having is another option, once finished its worth a bit of cash, but they dont need the money so they end up buying another old wreck, very few have just one bike!

This is why we are seeing FS1E's go for up to £4k, the people that bought one new when they were 16 are now at that age where they can access their pension and buy it for the memories and as an investment, give it a couple of years and you'll see an upturn in the price of learner 125's as the people that bought a new one back in the early 80's will have pension money and free time and be looking to relive their younger days.

If you just want or fancy an old British bike for a bit of fun and a little hobby bike there are still plenty of smaller (Villiers powered) available for less than £1000, go for pre 1960 and its MOT & Tax exempt.
I just bought a 1957 James 150cc for that purpose, cost me £895, its in great condition, its never going to loose money and I can get any engine part for it delivered to my door far quicker and cheaper than i can for my 2001 F650.

[yen_powell]

[Diggs]

Japanese 'classics' have gone silly and I agree, it is people with a few spare quid trying to re-live a rose-tinted youth.

What makes me chuckle is the way anything old is deemed a 'classic' nowadays by the industry. If a bike was sh*t 30 years ago, it is even more sh*t now. SB200 for £1,300 anybody? Kawa z750 twin for £4,000? Somebody must be laughing all the way to the bank...
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Now - Speed Triple, old ratty GS550, GSXR750M
Gone (in order of ownership) - Raleigh Runabout, AP50, KH125, GP125, KH250, CBX550, Z400, CB750FII, 250LC, GS550, ZXR750H1, Guzzi Targa, GSX750F, KH250 x2, Bimota SB6R and counting...

[ScottT]

[Enduro Numpty]

Last year I bought a 1977 Suzuki GT500 for what I thought was a fair price, I spent roughly about the same on it again and put in a bit of time. It is considered a classic though it doesn't make the silly money of the high performance Kawasaki triples of the 70's. It's slow and while the brakes have been completely renovated, they are still crap by any standards. The 70's frame and suspension are primitive by modern standards but it handles well enough to allow me to ride it on the limit much of the time. 40 years on and the one thing that has massively improved is tyres and the grip they offer. If I ever decide to sell it I may not make a fortune but I doubt that I'll lose money on it. I didn't buy it as an investment - I've always loved 2 strokes and while the Suzuki isn't a missile by any means, every time I open the throttle and hear the low induction howl I it puts a big smile on my face.
In common with ScottT I'm in my 50's and more or less fit into his description (never thought I'd be categorised ). The bike is an occasional Sunday toy - maybe do a couple of hundred miles on dry roads. I wouldn't dream of using it day to day, it may be a classic but the all round performance of modern bikes trumps it for me

[chickenstrip]

I sometimes wish I'd been able to keep all the bikes I've ever owned. I'd be sitting on about £60k now (actually, surprisingly little, all things considered - but then, just 4 of them would stand me £40k-ish now). But then I come to my senses and just think, I got to enjoy them when they were relevant, when some were at the cutting edge of what was available then, and it's enough.

I would have to be seriously rich before I considered paying the kind of money that some of them go for now, but why bother? When I owned them, I wasn't overly concerned about keeping them as pristine, low mileage examples, I just went out and enjoyed them on the road.

I'd be more interested now in buying and riding the best of the modern crop if I had the funds, learn and experience something new. Yes, I have a soft spot for the machines of my youth, but I won't be mugged for the opportunity to relive that youth. Rose-tinted specs are good, but if you try to go back, the tint wears off quickly.

If I were to buy an older bike now, I'd probably just go and do all the mods to it that were popular in it's day; sod restoring to pristine, factory spec. People did those mods for a reason - poor handling, brakes, lack of 'go' etc, as well as the cosmetic side of it.

What I would like to see is a motorcycling museum with immaculate examples of the bikes of the 70s and 80s - that'd be enough for me to get my rose-tint fix. Meanwhile, I'll do the occasional visit to shows like the Stafford one.

Restoring for the enjoyment as a hobby is fair enough, I can appreciate that. But bikes as an investment doesn't really interest me, and whilst I'd take the opportunity to have a go on some of that stuff again should it present itself, it's not worth it to me to spend thousands to experience.
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Chickenystripgeezer's Biking Life (Latest update 19/10/18) Belgium, France, Italy, Austria tour 2016 Picos de Europa, Pyrenees and French Alps tour 2017 Scotland Trip 1, now with BONUS FEATURE edit, 5/10/19, on page 2 Scotland Trip 2 Luxembourg, Black Forest, Switzerland, Vosges Trip 2017
THERE'S MILLIONS OF CHICKENSTRIPS OUT THERE!

[Rogerborg]

[jjdugen]

Any of the good, fast small ones are generally snapped up by the classic racing crowd, Ducati 250/350, Super 6's, Yams, and the CB250 K2-3.
Brit stuff has been ridiculous for many years. Just about the last affordable and usable are the Moto Guzzi's, can be made to look tasty, spares easy as is repairing them.
To be honest, the day of picking up a bit of class for a few hundred are long gone. If you want to ride something intrinsically unreliable, with poor brakes and electrics, that's your choice. Just remember, 20,000 miles was considered stellar mileage back in the day, in other words, they did not last very long. And you want to buy one now?
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The CBR900RR has been sold. Aprilia Falco worms its way into my heart.
Try Soi 23 on Amazon for a good read.... Self promotion? Moi?

[.Bishbash.]

BSA Bantums are dirt cheap. Not overly sure why they are so cheap though.
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Current bike - GSX-R1000 k8

[hellkat]

I quite fancy the old Honda XL range as being a classic, soon.
Wish I had one now.

Mind you, been wishing that for years, practically since the day I got shot of my XL125
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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[redeem ouzzer]

GT380, excellent bike.

[Polarbear]

I had a BSA rocket 3 when you could pick up tatty examples for a few hundred quid. I sold it and bought an RD250, the first of the coffin tank ones. Modern Japanese instead of the shitty, leaky old British iron

Within a year the prices of the BSA Rocket 3 went stellar
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[Diggs]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-CD-Cd175-1977-R-/311391189112?hash=item48805c7878
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Now - Speed Triple, old ratty GS550, GSXR750M
Gone (in order of ownership) - Raleigh Runabout, AP50, KH125, GP125, KH250, CBX550, Z400, CB750FII, 250LC, GS550, ZXR750H1, Guzzi Targa, GSX750F, KH250 x2, Bimota SB6R and counting...

[ScottT]

[stevo as b4]

I kind of like and agree with Chickenstrip's comments, about it is nearly always better to enjoy a bike when it was the new cutting edge thing and first time around.

I bet the Kawasaki KR1S felt more exciting and mind blowing in 1990 than it does in 2015?

But I don't hold anything against silly old fools with money to spend either.

Im a bit like that with a 1986 125cc bike. First time around at 17 any road bike I would have had would have been a tatty example and not the best looked after.

Now I can have my tuning parts, £470 shock, big carb etc that would have been just dreams back then. No 125cc bike needs a fortune spending on it to be fun, but people do sometimes in the name of nostalgia and wanting to build something they could have wet dreamed all over at 17 etc.

The last point about enjoying classic bikes 2nd time around, is that parts that are available today are far better. Things like tyres have come on so much it's unbelievable compared to the ribbed cross plies you'd have wobbled around on in the 70's. brake pad materials, hoses, engine tuning expertise and technology etc is all so much further ahead than 20-30years ago.

Imagine telling a 1970's two stroke owner in the day that he could have a fancy 2 or 3D mappable ignition and electronic powerjet carb's for his two smoke, they would think you were from another planet.

[redeem ouzzer]

[LittleRestrai...]

[pepperami]

[Diggs]

I like riding old bikes - its all the missus lets me own. What cheeses me off is the fact that over the last few years prices for the bikes I liked as a youth have shot up to the point that it is difficult to justify buying one any more. Point in case being the KH250 - you see them on Ebay for up to 6k which is ridiculous for a 'quirky' old 250. I've had 3 in my time and regret selling them now...

One of the best rides I have had this year was on a cosmetically tatty but mechanically sound YPVS. It had modern tyres and two-stroke, but that was about it. It still went like stink (literally) and was plenty fast enough for public roads. I did toy with buying it, but even in that condition I couldn't have offered my mate less than £2,500. For that kind of money I could buy a decent 10 year old Mille with fewer miles on the clock. Doesn't make any sense.

My Mk1 Speed Triple is approaching 'classic' status now according to the pundits that make this sort of nonsense up. Its hard to get a decent, original one for less than 3k and the Owner's Club value them at twice that amount. This is a worry I don't need, as it makes me think of the cost of replacement every time I go for a hoon. 'Classic' catch 22...

I tried to sell my GSXR750M a while back and didn't get a sniff at £1,500. This year I have seen comparable bikes go for nearly twice that, which again is daft as I bought it originally as a bike I could lark about on, do the odd track day and not lose too much if I binned it. Now I am reluctant to use it in case I do just that.

Bugger.
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Now - Speed Triple, old ratty GS550, GSXR750M
Gone (in order of ownership) - Raleigh Runabout, AP50, KH125, GP125, KH250, CBX550, Z400, CB750FII, 250LC, GS550, ZXR750H1, Guzzi Targa, GSX750F, KH250 x2, Bimota SB6R and counting...

[Undinist]

I suppose I'm very lucky that the bike I like to ride - my 21 year old K1100LT - is so unfashionable. There are plenty of sound ones around for £1200. The flat twin '70s BMs cost far more because they make a good basis for a cafe racer. Fortunately the K series bikes look as sexy as Ann Widdecombe's labia if you start stripping the bodywork off. I hope they stay uncool for ever.

I can get third party only insurance for £114. Nobody wants to nick my bike but if they did I'd just buy another.
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Current bike: K1100RS. Previous: CD200, GSX250, GT550, VFR750, K100LT, K1100LT, R1100GS, R1150GS, ZZR1100, Hayabusa, RSV Mille, MV F4 750S, R1, ZX-10, KTM Adventure 950S

[c_dug]

I sold a TDR250 in 2008 for £300.

Never going to afford one of those again!
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I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[stevo as b4]

Well don't start that one, or I'll be back to mentioning the £1800 RG500 in 2001 I went to see. Then in 2002 an NS400R Jap import with a brand new engine from Honda, and a dream machine repsol paint job up for £2200 ono, or the £600 NS400R with a fucked gearbox, or even an RD500 for £1900 that ran well but the fairing was smashed etc.

Then there was the NSR250 MC21's I could have had for £2-2.2k, in 2000, and the most butt hurt of all that beautiful 1988 KX500 (never been raced) for £2000!!

Fuck I should kill myself now for being such a twat and not buying all or some of these bikes.