1972 Dealer Ad

Glenn R

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My XS2 has the dealer sticker on the back of the front fender from Midway Yamaha in Akron, Ohio. I stopped to see if they had an XS items. Parts we all gone but gave me a 73 brochure and photocopied a 1972 newspaper ad. Glad I went because they closed in 2019 after 52 years in business like most ma and pa dealerships. XS2s were kind of pricey!
 

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My XS2 has the dealer sticker on the back of the front fender from Midway Yamaha in Akron, Ohio. I stopped to see if they had an XS items. Parts we all gone but gave me a 73 brochure and photocopied a 1972 newspaper ad. Glad I went because they closed in 2019 after 52 years in business like most ma and pa dealerships. XS2s were kind of pricey!
I called and they said the leftover 70s and 71s had all sold. :cautious:
 
That's really cool - thanks for sharing!

Bike prices back in the day are interesting to recall. I recall paying $900 CDN for a slightly worn 1975 XS650B in the spring of 1978 or '79. Two years later I traded it in on a new leftover 1979 Suzuki GS850G - at the same dealer where I had bought it. He gave me $1500 against the Suzuki - which I think was over-priced...:rolleyes:
 
That's really cool - thanks for sharing!

Bike prices back in the day are interesting to recall. I recall paying $900 CDN for a slightly worn 1975 XS650B in the spring of 1978 or '79. Two years later I traded it in on a new leftover 1979 Suzuki GS850G - at the same dealer where I had bought it. He gave me $1500 against the Suzuki - which I think was over-priced...:rolleyes:

The very first XS650 I bought, was a trade deal. I answered an ad in the paper for a 1976 XS650 that had been customized, Like this but with the stock seat.
CF42C688-3CC9-434B-9A83-4B7F49E3D1CD.jpeg

I rode my hotted up XT500 over to his house to look at it. We rode each other’s bikes and the guy was so hot for my bike he offered me his bike in trade plus $300 to me. :D
 
$1471 would be $9190 adjusted for inflation according to CPI calculator. List on a 2020 XS700 is $8924 including $425 freight.

Sooooo, about the same then. Very interesting.

In 1971, I was about 13 but I lied about my age and got a job at McDonalds where they paid $1.50/hr which was 5 cents more than the Ontario minimum wage of $1.45/hour. The present minimum wage in Ontario is $15.00/hr so 10X as much as then.

Thus, the 1971-72 XS-2 cost about 1000 hours of minimum wage work back then and the modern XS700 equivalent bike costs only about 612 hours at minimum wage now. Thus, the modern bike is significantly cheaper - at least by that metric.

Of course, the new bike is inferior to an XS-2 in some ways (no chrome mufflers, looks like a plastic praying mantis, sounds like a blender....etc.) but it is also greatly superior in other ways (ABS, EFI, cast wheels and tubeless radial tires, triple disk hydraulic brakes, halogen headlight and way better electronics) plus it prolly makes about 50% more horsepower and with liquid cooling it will likely run better for longer.

Again I say, interesting.
 
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Minimum wage on Ohio is $9.00, So your minimum wage of 1000 hours still applies.
In the 70s, an 18 yr old could walk into any rubber shop in Akron and get a union wage job. Had a friend who was 19, lived at home and had a new Camaro and Z1 Kawasaki. No wonder the motorcycle market is dead. Young buyers are out of the market. Kids today do not have the opportunities we had in the 70s.
 
I was working at UPS in 72-73 and they paid very well back then I was 18-19 and was able to pay cash for the 73 TX650, I was also into the chopper scene and was building a bike with Amen frame and CB750 engine at the same time, cash for everything. Of course I was living at home and going to school. Had to pay rent if I quit school.
 
Minimum wage on Ohio is $9.00, So your minimum wage of 1000 hours still applies.
In the 70s, an 18 yr old could walk into any rubber shop in Akron and get a union wage job. Had a friend who was 19, lived at home and had a new Camaro and Z1 Kawasaki. No wonder the motorcycle market is dead. Young buyers are out of the market. Kids today do not have the opportunities we had in the 70s.

True - but now it is the insurance that wipes out the young folks (and some...less young folks....:rolleyes: who like to twist the grip a bit...).

I don't know what a sport bike costs to insure in the US, but here it could easily be 20-40% of the price of a new bike per year.
 
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