Canberra Motorcycle Centre Auction 20 June 2004

This was a commercial venture by CMC, their first auction, and Canberra's
first motorcycle-only auction. After Googling around, I see that
motorcycle auctions are more common than I first thought, and popular,
so Canberra's time has come. The people at CMC had a build-up of new and
used stock, as often happens in winter, and thought they would try an
auction to attract more interest.

They had plenty of advertising, including a massive balloon tethered over
the shop, and branded baby balloons tied to each bike. In the blustery
conditions, it made quite a sight, the long row of bikes on the footpath
outside the shop with their balloons flapping and waving at us. I saw
some blown ones later, and half-expected one myself; I imagined dozens of
people twitching as balloons popped intermittently during the day.

The advertising covered both the auction, and an accessory sale on the
Saturday, that attracted a large crowd to the shop, including Postman Pat
(he didn't say he'd be there).

I showed my son around the large racks of clobber, and found myself a
pair of winter gloves made by Stagg, a famous Australian company still in
business, a vast improvement on my el cheapo plastic ski gloves and with
20% off gloves, a pleasing deal.

Thinking of more bargains, we struggled through the throng in the shop
outside, to join the throng inspecting the bikes. We weren't surprised to
see a mix of sport, cruiser, commuter, dirt bikes and ATVs, with a few
big tourers for completeness. Most were modern, half of them were new or
demo units, with others up to 30 years old. The used bikes looked like
top-line dealer stock, all clean and tidy, someone had taken a lot of
trouble to polish them all, complete (many with accessories such as
racks, panniers, and adornments), registered or registerable (except for
the ATVs); some good choices for most people.

It was closing time by now, and we just had time to register for the
auction, and receive the list of lots, before we headed off for the
remainder of our Saturday. All bikes had reserves, but they were
reserved.

We returned just before noon on Sunday for the main event. I wasn't
surprised to see a large crowd of at least 200 people, many obviously
biker enthusiasts, with many others ill-clad for the sport, the art or
the pleasure of motorcycling, having come in their mobile lounge rooms
(with their kids).

The Ulysses crowd did a sterling job of warming people with their snags
and coffee, and everyone jostled for position, in the sun or out of the
biting antarctic wind lashing the yard. The venue was well organised,
with a working PA, a professional auctioneer, a big tent over the yard in
case of (more) inclement weather, and even a side attraction, several
trestle tables at the rear groaning under masses of oddment parts like
seat cowls, air filters, and dozens of mufflers and exhaust systems. At
the front, close by the auctioneer, was a dais with two on- and two off-
ramps where the bikes were to be displayed.

The auction got under way in good time, with the auctioneer enlivening
the news (previously advertised) that the first 10 bikes sold would come
with a free X box. An X box is the exact opposite of a Microsoft product
to me, but no doubt this would have swung a few bids amongst the
youngsters in the crowd.

The first lot offered was quite a rare bike, a Honda dirt bike from the
70s with, remarkably, a 2-stroke engine - an MT250. This was in
immaculate condition, an SL style with the high exhaust and heavy chrome
heatshield splashed over the side of the bike, possibly better than new.
After a bit of cross bidding, this was knocked down for $1,000. If you
think an X box is valuable, this would be a great deal, a collector's
bike in gorgeous condition at a very nominal price; but still outside my
son's budget.

The next bike, a VN1500, rumbled into the yard, but attracted no bids.

The next, a cute new Honda scooter with 50cc of raw power and flowing
curves attracted a few desultory bids, and was passed in at $700.

Lot 4 was a 20-y-o XJ600 in, once again, quite good nick. The auctioneer
dragged out many bids, and it eventually sold for $1,250, a great deal
for someone.

Lot 5 was an ER5, a modern commuter, passed in at $5,000.

Lot 6, a '91 GSXR1100, failed to attract a bid.

Lot 7, an '87 VFR400, sold for $2,500, and so it went. The first ATV
didn't attract a bid, nor did a new XJR1300. AN XV535 failed to draw much
interest, and was passed in at $2,500. The first of many GPX250s, a new
one, sold for $5,390. A VTX1800, Honda's heavyweight cruiser, couldn't
raise a bid. It started to seem that no one wanted large bikes today. A
new KL250 sold quickly for $5,000, a VTR1000 was passed in, a ZX12 had no
bids. Lots of bikes had no bids, lots of other bikes were passed in after
fairly weak bidding. Anyone with money in their pockets was holding out
for either a genuine bargain, or a particular bike.

There were several bikes sold in the early stages: a TL1000 for $9,750
and a CBR600F for $9,250. I don't know if these were good value (I'm a
bit allergic to modern sports bikes), but I had to wonder about a '92
CB250 which sold for $3,000. A Suzi GS450, one of the few bikes that
interested my son and I, very clean but a pretty ordinary bike and 15
y.o., was passed in at $1,100.

Further into the auction, 10 bikes in a row were not bidded on or were
passed in; a new ZX636 at $12,250, a 15-y-o Harley at $11,000, a demo
ZZR600 at $10,000, and the first big tourer, one of five GTR1000s, at
$12,400.

But then there was a rash of sales; six bikes in about ten minutes. A new
VFR800 went for $13,700, a new Transalp won the heart of a mature-age mum
near me at $11,100, a very very clean and tidy K100RS went for an amazing
$3,000, a very nice near new Triumph TT600 went for $8,650, a gruesome
XLH1000 for $4,300, and an interesting LTD450 belt-drive, liquid cooled
with a custom exhaust, another rare bike, went quickly for $1,350.

This was the last bike that interested my son and I, and the vicious wind
wore us down, so we shot through, not having made a bid. We were there
for half the auction; in that time, 16 bikes were sold. I guess that's
good for CMC; there would never have been a Sunday, or any other day,
that they sold so many, nor had several hundred people in the shop. There
were some bargains to be had, which is good for CMC's customers, but a
lot of bikes attracted little if any interest, and I'm left wondering
just what sort of bikes, and deals, the riders of Canberra are seeking. I
will suggest that they could spice things up with more varied bikes, such
as trade-ins or owner's bikes. We can only hope that CMC will continue
its marketing research.


Gary

--
Wealth without Work
Pleasure without Conscience
Science without Humanity
Knowledge without Character
Politics without Principle
Commerce without Morality
Worship without Sacrifice

The Seven Deadly Sins of M.K. Gandhi

 

Yowser, they were apparently selling new Transalps at the Sydney MC show the
other month for $9900. She paid well over the odds on that one.
Stu

 

Did they have starting prices on units, or just first bid was it?

Passed in at $1100?? I thought they would have thrown in full leathers
at that price for a POS like that!

ODD auctions...

 

Yowser, they were apparently selling new Transalps at the Sydney MC show the

1) it was a she = no idea
2) she is happy...

 

She obviously wasn't at the show. RRP is $12,990[1]

See above. She got the new bike she was after, with a 15% discount.

Gary

[1]
http://www.hondamotorcycles.com.au/motorcycle+range/off+road/trail/xl650v
+transalp+04.htm
--
Wealth without Work
Pleasure without Conscience
Science without Humanity
Knowledge without Character
Politics without Principle
Commerce without Morality
Worship without Sacrifice

The Seven Deadly Sins of M.K. Gandhi

 

Bit of both. The auctioneer made a suggestion if no one bid.

There you go. It had a handlebar-mounted colour-matched fairing and was
very clean, 38000km from memory...

We noticed. There were several gasps from around the crowd when this one
was knocked down. Someone is gonna be very very happy...

Gary

--
Wealth without Work
Pleasure without Conscience
Science without Humanity
Knowledge without Character
Politics without Principle
Commerce without Morality
Worship without Sacrifice

The Seven Deadly Sins of M.K. Gandhi

 

Auctions are weird. You always get some idiot paying new prices for old
shit.

 

On 23 Jun 2004 20:26:24 +1000, Gary Woodman <> scribbled in chalk:

*snip*

What kind of nick was the LTD in? just curious as that is the same model
bike that i've got.

Mike.S

 

It was very nice, original condition (except for the exhaust), we would
have bought it if our budget extended that far. Low km for its age, no rust
spots, very few scratches, seat recovered...

Gary

--
Wealth without Work
Pleasure without Conscience
Science without Humanity
Knowledge without Character
Politics without Principle
Commerce without Morality
Worship without Sacrifice

The Seven Deadly Sins of M.K. Gandhi