Thinning the Vintage herd.....

Assuming we all love (and maybe at times hate) these old bikes, when do you decide to let one of them go....? And when there is more than one ready to leave the nest - which one goes first?

not the project...

but the one(s) you've put a lot of time, energy, $$$, and contemplation into etc. over the years. The restored runner or damn close to it.

It was a labor of love and now you have to, want to; let it go. But not really!

Its hard to do I reckon.

Never gonna happen.

At gunpoint... and maybe not even then.

Some guys even keep the rusted frame that was on a bike they had as a child,nothing ever leaves their hands.
It does become a sickness at a certain point.

Make a list of the bikes you have. If you forget to list one or more of them, then you don't need them. Also, consider ditching whatever's at the bottom of your list because you don't care about it as much as the rest.

In order to fund a motorcycle trip, yes.

HTML:

In order to fund a motorcycle trip

or fix one of the other ones?

I'd like to think I could sell just 1.

Never sell guns,tools or motorcycles. In hard times guns can defend and feed,tools can earn a living and motorcycles can maintain your sanity. Advice from the old man. Now that he's gone and I'm getting old he was a lot smarter than I thought.

I've regretted almost every bike I've sold, so never gonna happen again. I seem to get very attached, most have a pretty good story, and there is pride in bringing one back from the dead. If I were given a choice to get rid of some bikes or kids,,well....

I'm tossing and turning on selling two of my BMW's, but it'll probably never happen. I just need a bigger shed, I think.

Great advice.

I been thinning my herd recently, If I let one go I usually do it because I 've had the bike for years and it's time for a new guardian, the best thing I've found is to give 'em to family. I gave a really nice Sears SR 125 to one of my nephews and a 250 Jawa to another nephew The boys know how tough it was for me to let the go and they both appretiate the bikes that much more and I gave a '74 YZ 125 and a real nice Puch 175 Six Day to my brother, saddly they were sold when he fell on hard times. I've found when I sell a bike I regret it almost immediatly And when I give one to a family member or close friend there is no remorse because I know how much it means the the person. No I'm not wealthy but for me it's not adout the money, I don't collect big buck motorcycles so maybe that has something to do with how I feel. I know some won't understand but thats ok that's how I work.

Pm me if you do that. Lol.

I sell them from time to time. Life is to short for just one bike. I am going to ride as many diferent ones as I can before I die.

I just pulled a 1979 Yamaha XS650 out of my shed and into the garage to dust off and sell.
It took a little work but once I got it fired up and running smooth it all came back to me what I loved about this bike.I'm not so sure I can part with it now.

I have to sell bikes.
Still never had a garage.

I can fit 3 in various parts of my house;
so whenever I get the itch,
something has to go.

EXACTLY!

The ones that don't jerk my chain, move on. But the future projects, the ones I've ridden or have history with and love, that's a whole different story!

I don't see myself making much money fixing them up and selling, so the monetary aspect isn't it. But the space is. The big difficulty is there are a couple bikes I really want, but don't have the space, or the cash. Good thing is I could sell a couple bikes to make room and the cash, but can't decide which I'd be willing to let go. And then it's making the time to spiff them all up to make them saleable, at which time - I fall in love all over again...

It's a vicious cycle!

+1

I've sold a number of them over the years. Each one hurts a bit to let go at first, but was the right move in the end.

The Norton and BMW would be the hardest, and it would have to be for something major that I would let them go. My Commando was my first bike, and still a favorite to ride. The BMW I brought back after it sat for 10 years. I've had it for about 8 years now and It has taken me on many long trips. I've finally got it set up how I want it as a runner. To think I almost sold it instead of my Ducati a few years ago.