So Many Insane Prices - Just a Rant LOL

[RockingThePartyDJ]

So as I peruse the listings of xs650's across the country, I see some good deals here and there and most of what I see are people that think their washed and shined a little or rusty, or barely runs, or missing parts or just barely passable barn find is worth top dollar blue book price and then some. LOL I see most of these ad's just sitting there, the same thing that most of these bikes end up doing, just sit there unsold.

When will they realize unless your bike is in excellent showroom condition, that your probably not going to get that NADA, KBB or wherever they came up with their pricing Price for their bike.
Then the next thing they have to hope for is finding the few people or one that will pay that top dollar price. No matter how much time and money they sunk into their bike, it probably just won't happen.

hey i wish I could shit gold and fart silver too LOL

The same goes for the modified, Chopped, Bobbed, Brat bikes out there, just because you sank $1000, $2000, $3000 or more and numerous or possibly hundreds of hours into your bike doesn't mean its all of a sudden worth $2500, $3000, $4000, $5000, $6000, or even more I've seen some listed for $11,000 $12,000 I've seen some beautiful bikes listed out there, but i keep seeing them listed and the ads say if the ad is up the bike is still available.
More power to you if you can get the top dollar for your non showroom or non museum quality XS650
I just wanted to throw this little rant out there.
Basically a rant of WTF
Apparently many think they have gold LOL

 

[Con88]

Oh I know the feeling bud. I'd say I could get 1000 for mine thanks to my location, but I know I'll never get the value in parts and labour back. Fortunatly(?) I like wrenching the old girl.

 

[CoconutPete]

Well.... I'll be 39 next month and there's this one piece of advice my parents gave me when I was pretty young.... it has turned out to be one of the best pieces of advice I have ever gotten. I feel it applies here as well: "remember .... most people are stupid"

 

[650Skull]

Well this has been on my watch list since 650 rider days..........i have been on here since 2010
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1979-Ya...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

 

[grizld1]

What makes me laugh is the guys who try to justify a price by writing "$15,000 [or whatever] invested." Real estate is an investment. Stocks and bonds are investments. Money spent on hobby items like old motorcycles or old cars is an expense, not an investment, unless you're dealing with high end collectibles and know your market well. Tip: price point machines produced in record high volume are not and will not become investment grade collectibles.

 

[gggGary]

I just turned away a cash buyer for my $600 asking XS650 project on CL. His "plan" was to fix it in the parking spot for his downtown apartment. Told him this was a really bad idea.
griz I crack up when I see those "invested" in a last years craze Harley custom ads also. Wow who'd a thunk a "big wheels theme" Harley wasn't a "good investment"?

 

[kshansen]

Well this has been on my watch list since 650 rider days..........i have been on here since 2010
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1979-Yamaha-XS650-XS-650-Special-II-Right-Side-Cover/360463121869?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

Well if that one is worth $15.00 including shipping what is this one worth?:

I know it does have a worn spot over to the right in the picture but is a bit more usable than the one on Ebay! Or how about the matched pair of 1982 Heritage Special covers in the same box in the basement?

 

[cweyant]

An item is only worth what a buyer is willing to pay. Contrary to what most people think, buyers set prices not sellers!!!

 

[fredintoon]

What makes me laugh is the guys who try to justify a price by writing "$15,000 [or whatever] invested." Real estate is an investment. Stocks and bonds are investments. Money spent on hobby items like old motorcycles or old cars is an expense, not an investment, unless you're dealing with high end collectibles and know your market well. Tip: price point machines produced in record high volume are not and will not become investment grade collectibles.

Hi grizld1,
all it takes is time.
Consider the Model T Ford, if ever a vehicle was produced in record high volume it was the Model T.
What did the MRSP drop to? $365 was it? Admittedly that was in 1920s money, but still.
And what does a nice one go for these days, eh?
What I need is a time machine app on my cell-phone:- "Hey Jackass, don't sell those Cammy Velos
for the price of a box of beer, crate 'em up for 50 years instead."

 

[molochnik]

I often wonder if I happened to get the last reasonably price XS out there. I bought mine in the summer of 2000 after seeing some street trackers on the web. I always liked the dirt track aesthetic and started looking through the auto trader; this was before Craigs list became a thing. I found one in North Hollywood within sight of the bank where that massive robbery and shootout went down. The guy was asking something like $700, which I probably would've paid, but I got it for $500. It was pretty much complete; just the patina of use and bad battery. I think we got it to run briefly (cuz of the shot battery)so I took it home.
After "finishing" the bike as a street tracker (took a couple years for a number of reasons) my wife rode it and loved it so much I started looking them up again to get one for her. I remember finding just a few and those were priced at $3000 for nothing particularly special.
It's nice these bike have seen a resurgence in popularity - it keeps the aftermarket interested for guys like us - but I pity those who want to get into one of these things with a complete and/or running example.

 

[kshansen]

Well I have a 1982 that is on the road and a 1978 Just waiting for someone to buy a rear tire and battery and it could be on the road pretty quick. Only know problem with the `78 is the tach is not working sometimes it will indicate 4,000 and stay there at idle and even for a while after shut down. Neither one is anything to look at as both were somewhat abused in a former life and not stored in that good place.

Point is if anyone offered me anything close to $3,000 for one of them I would be down one bike fast!

Oh! By the way if anyone is interested in the side-cover I posted a picture off above it is available! Also have a left side that says Model year 1980 blake with a sightly different logo from the silver one.

 

[grizld1]

Yeah, Fred, there are exceptions for sure; but if you factor in 100 years of the cost of storage space and maintenance required to keep a Model T in museum grade condition, the yield doesn't look so good beside other investments--real estate, for example. One exception I can think of is the Harley WM 45 ci. flat head produced for the US Army in WWII. In the mid to late 1960s you could buy them from war surplus dealers still crated and slathered with Cosmoline for $50 a whack. They didn't sell well even at that price, and they probably wouldn't have found more takers if they'd been given away. Result: most of the WMs went to the crusher, and now a decent original will fetch 5 figures.

 

[650Skull]

Well if that one is worth $15.00 including shipping what is this one worth?:
View attachment 119180

I know it does have a worn spot over to the right in the picture but is a bit more usable than the one on Ebay! Or how about the matched pair of 1982 Heritage Special covers in the same box in the basement?

My link in my post is an extreme example of someone trying to cash in on the 650 craze.........Also shows how some people think and use of words to justify trying to make it a worthy buy by stating "it is better than nothing".................probably thinks because it is an someones watch list they are interested..

 

[Ratranger]

I've noticed prices really depend on location too. I remember picking up 70s japanese bikes in oklahoma for under $1k running with title, under $500 running no title. I was shocked when I moved to washington and saw prices for about any 70s japanese bike. When I first got here I was looking for a cb500/550 4cylinder, they were all $2k+. The one that was $2k was not titled, in boxes, "ran before tear down and complete". The hassle of titling anything in washington definitely puts a premium on titled bikes.

 

[650Skull]

Here is another ebay seller here in Aus...............I guess these would work as apair if when fitting you faced the front for one side and faced the back for the other....

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Yamaha-...149683?hash=item3604d2acf3:g:FNcAAOSwRJ9XgxaO

been up for a long time........Kinda says it all about the seller

 

[kshansen]

While looking at the side-covers in Australia down at the bottom of the page were some more the one that got my attention was this one:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-XS6...m=151525087922&_trksid=p2385738.c100677.m4598

If that one is worth $89.00 plush shipping with out the "badge" what must mine I posted a picture of above be worth? I'll make anyone a "real deal" I'll sell mine for half that price and cover shipping to any US address

 

[MrBultaco]

While looking at the side-covers in Australia down at the bottom of the page were some more the one that got my attention was this one:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-XS650-XS-650-Used-Original-Right-Side-Cover-T-BX6-T-BX5/151525087922?_trkparms=aid=555018&algo=PL.SIM&ao=2&asc=20160908110712&meid=625729afc53047a7b86dd27ab0a84caf&pid=100677&rk=1&rkt=30&sd=232009149683&itm=151525087922&_trksid=p2385738.c100677.m4598

If that one is worth $89.00 plush shipping with out the "badge" what must mine I posted a picture of above be worth? I'll make anyone a "real deal" I'll sell mine for half that price and cover shipping to any US address

according to the ad...you are 'already' saving $11.00!

 

[stinky78]

hey 650skull, I’ve been into that guys shop a couple of years ago, he imports mostly 70s Jap bikes by the container, some british and Italian too, he does get some nice ones, but really expensive, he had a reasonable Z1 Kawasaki for like $25K, but I’ll never go back there just because he was a rude a;:hole.

 

[kshansen]

according to the ad...you are 'already' saving $11.00!

So you're saying ask at least triple the price and then knock of 10%?

 

[xjwmx]

Original XSs are going to be hard to find someday soon.
Re: the cheap Harleys, Harley did an amazing marketing campaign, I guess it was in the 90s. It went from a pure icon of lowlife redneck, like meth is now, to something M.D.'s and tycoons want, an icon of the other side. Best thing I've ever seen -- it ought to be made into a book.