This bike means a lot to me, but I just became a full time student and can't keep up with how expensive maintenance is on this 40+ year old bike. I've restored the seat, the tank and fenders on this and done some work here and there. No known major work is needed at this time. Any ideas on what you might expect to see this posted for in the Portland, Oregon area? I want to post for sale, but need some ideas of what I could/should ask. Thanks in advance! Leslie
Why not put it in storage until you get out of school? That said, nice examples seem to be going in the $2,500 to $3,500 range.
Bought one of these a long time ago. Rode it a lot, then went to school. Maintenance suffered. It ended up under a bike cover for a good ten years, moved around occasionally. Didn't *need* the money, really couldn't get anything for it as these bikes weren't in demand at the time. Dug it out about 2006 and started to get it back together. Took it to the national in 2016 and looped around Lake Huron on it. Didn't miss a beat. Don't think I'll ever sell it. No need to. A data point from the other side . .
You’ve spent the money, and now it really doesn’t need anything? You’re past the crest of the hill. Keep it. Go to the monthly barley therapy downtown, you’ll meet a lot of good airhead people who will give you a hand if you need it. (I don’t get there because of my crazy schedule. I think they post a note on the local CL, or perhaps OldGreen knows where & when.) Apart from weak & cranky electrics, these things are dirt simple and shouldn’t need much upkeep. Nice looking bike. Someday, you can put bigger jugs on it if you like.
Back in the mid 90’s I went of to uni and sold off both of my vintage Ducatis. I remember being very pleased with the cash they had generated. During those years I was able to enjoy riding my father’s bikes. Often I would keep one for a couple of weeks at a time. One evening after returning his r1100rs, I got thinking about my old bevel, so I tracked down the fellow who bought it from me a good 5 years prior. I bought it back for the same figure and with the same mileage on it! Turns out he never got around to riding it. I still love that bevel that I bought when I was 18, some 25 years ago... You might not be as fortunate as I was. Then again, these are fairly attainable production bikes, so you can always buy one down the road. Good luck on all fronts.
I agree the $2500.00 - $3500.00 price is a pretty realistic selling price. Hopefully on the higher number. You see people asking $5 - $6 grand for them but I think they seldom sell for those prices. I'd love to think mine's worth $5 - $6 grand but it just isn't. I likely won't sell mine until I'm no longer able to ride it.
I thought that when I sold my 1969 bmw 2002 twenty years ago. The market proved me very wrong. But that led me to the bliss of mercedes 123’s!
Thanks to everyone here, I think I am going to keep it. I never really considered storing - just thinking that I'd love to have a reliable daily rider, and don't have the cash to make this one that bike right now so I could turn it over and find something cheap to tide me over. I'll figure something out, but ultimately I do wanna have old Boris with me when I'm ready to spend more time and money with him.
If you have any more info about where to find this and when, I'd love to make it down there some day this summer! I also have a crazy schedule, but the trip would be worth it just to talk to some other airhead people.
Wise choice! Taking Boris for a spin now and then it would be good for the both of you, and better than storage. If you can do the basic maintenance yourself I have found these bikes very inexpensive to run.
East coast.....$4,000 at least......it needs a few things......looks good......keep it.....looks like 1/2 year long wheel base unit.
Lezmachine, I'm not too sure why You think this isn't a reliable bike, but since You are young I'm wondering if You believe You need to upgrade ignition, charging system and electric and spend 2-3K in the process of doing it. This is not the case! old system do last very long and are quite cheap to fix if needs be. Then again it may be a whole different story and the engine is falling apart... However my point is not to assume you need to upgrade these bikes to make them reliable, they already are. luca
It works! It totally works! The problem is when pesky small things pop up, and I need to fix them. I don't have much time to fix things, but I do when I can. However, when something comes up that's just a bit too much for me time and skill-wise, it always seems to cost about 400 to 500 to get it done. Steering bearings being the most recent issue that was a bit above my knowledge level.