VJMC jumble

There were some nice bikes ther.... but I notice that the supply of
parts, new or used, for anything over 20 years old is definitely drying
up.

Top moment was watching Timo picking over the plastic crates marked
"Honda XL250S Motosport". Have you ever seen those wildlife
documentaries depicting sort of semi-emancipated baboons hopefully
turning over twigs, leaves, stones etc just in case there's something
edible underneath? That was him.

Then there was my mate Andrew, whose judgement just goes to ratshit
every time he sees something green, air-cooled and beginning with Z. He
came pracing up, waving a Pitman's Bikebook (a sort of horrible cheapo
bowdlerised Haynes-type manual from the 1970s) for the GS1000.

"Wow! Look at this!" he thused. "There's an extra supplement n it about
the GS1000S. That could be really, really...."

His voice tailed off.

"No, it's crap," he concluded. "I've bought a book about a bike I don't
even own any more. How sad is that?"

However, I claim the Daftest Impulse Purchase Award for snapping up a
still sealed-in-bag unused genuine Honda toolkit for a 1978 Honda XL250S
- a bike I've never owned and never will own. Seller wanted 20 quid. I
offered a tenner while Timo and Andrew pissed themselves laughing.
Closed on 17.

17 quid for some brand new Plasticene spanners.

However, I reckon I've got the last laugh. You see......

.....I've been painstakingly assembling a second toolkit (the first is
under the seat of The Doctor's 400 Four) and although I couldn't break
open the sealed bag to check the contents of the XL250 kit, I was
gambling it had what I wanted to complete the set.

It did.

And so, ladeez and gentlemen, this is actually the longest Ebay auction
spam in recorded history.

Check auction 7966102343

Who'd like to guess what it sells for? My bet is 50 quid.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, The Older

Four hours in, 99p start, and two bids have taken it to 21 quid.

I'd start planning my retirement right about now, IIWY...

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Manufacturer of the "Champion-105" range of rearsets

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
ZZR1100, Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"

 

Ooogh. Oogh oogh.

 

<Checks>

Wow! Result.

Shame they've axed Concorde, really....

 

Monkey get nice banana! In Honda wrapper!

 

fuckin' stroll on. 24 quid now. There are some sad cnuts out there...

 

It's got a dozen watchers already. A mate reckons three figures is
possible, even likely. Sheesh. But then, if you are going for absolute
originality and as close to ex-factory spec as possible - where are you
going to find another kit?

I really, really hope some of these sad cnuts have deep pockets )

Mine Dew, it makes one think twice about going out with the standard
toolkit. I mean, a quick lever up of the seat of my 400 Four and you
could walk away with a tidy little sum.

 

hmmm. there's a thought...

--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.fsnet.co.uk my opinions are just that
Too Busy: Your mind is like a motorway. Sometimes it can be jammed by
too much traffic. Avoid the jams by never using your mind on a
Bank Holiday weekend.
from the Little Book of Complete B***ocks by Alistair Beaton.

 

Nope. Never figured it out. Worrying, isn't it?

 

I bet most of that dozen are people from here, watching out
of pure curiosity...!

Nick

 

You're probably right

 

<Yank holds his hand up. A couple of times.>

Had one of those with my SS125: wish I'd known how much it'd bring.

doc

 

I've got another complete kit in my existing 400 Four. I always sell
bikes with the things that "belong" to them, like handbooks, toolkits,
etc, but I tell you - for 400 Four stuff, I might make an exception.

I've also got factory set-up manual, service sheets, parts book, period
ads and roadtests.

I'd kill for a genuine period brochure. Well, not kill, but definitely
pay well into three figures. Sterling, not dollars.

 

beats me, really. OK, when new, the 400 Four was an impressive bike,
compared with the other bikes of its day (and indeed, compared to others
after its day), but it's not *that* good.

's a bit like the mania for any british bike, which gets shite like a BSA
C15 ending up fetching 4-figure money. OK, *some* of the british bikes of
the 50s, 60s and 70s were good, went OK, handled well etc. But the C15 by
all accounts wasn't one of 'em. Personally, I fancy a Velo Venom (which is
reckoned to be a good bike) but the prices are such that there's no
realistic chance of me ever having one, bar for winning the lottery or
nicking TOG's toolkit and hawking it on eBay.

 

Really?

Does that mean the mouldering pile of X7 tat that I keep meaning to take
to the tip might actually be desirable to someone? Or does everybody
have the same bits of crap left & they're all looking for the same
unobtanium items that were all chucked in the bin 20 years ago.

I suspect there is still a huge amount of old tat getting chucked
because people just don't realise there's any demand for it - I was
talking to an old bloke recently who confessed that he'd chucked a
complete GT250 into a skip because he didn't think anyone would be
interested in it - "didn't think Japanese bikes counted as classics".

 

A lot of people still think that way, which is bizarre. That said, an
old bog standard GT250 isn't worth much, and an X7 isn't massively
desirable either. And so many bikes are just beyond economic
restoration - it's better to break them for parts.

<Checks side of house thoughtfully>

I'd disagree with what Austin says about the 400 Four, though - the
impact that bike had was massive. It was "only" a 400, but in everyday
road use it was as quick, A to B, as a 750, and it was technically
incredibly advanced for a mere 400. I suppose a modern equivalent would
have to be a miniature R1, 400cc size, stacked gearbox, USD forks,
trick frame, the lot. And one that would be capable of keeping up with
an R1 on ordinary roads....

It made people realise that small bikes can be better than big ones,
and that a lack of outright grunt can be made up for with lightweight,
small dimensions, and a decent chassis. It really was a miniature
superbike, and only the NC35, I'd suggest, has come close to the
original concept.

As for Jap values - yes, they're getting silly. But remember the top
prices are only being paid for the very best stuff (same as with Brit).
The trouble is that there's this "trickle-down" effect. Not every Jap
bike is a classic. Old Honda CD200s, 400 Super Dreams, CB500Ts, Suzuki
GS425s, GT250s and GN400s, Kawasaki Z250s, Yamaha XS400s, etc etc are
the latter-day equivalent of old B31s and 3TAs. But people think
they're valuable classics. They aren't. They're just old bikes.

 

Tog- you may be right but some of us sad people buy one of these because
we had one as a teenager and can. Logic and VFM don't come into it. I
loved my old GT250 when I had it and i'm enjoying the new one almost as
much. After years of riding modern bikes its somehow quite pleasant to
potter on something so basic.

 

Absolutely. But this is why CB is moving more to 1970s/80s stuff,
because while most people can appreciate the intrinsic qualities of
(say) a Vincent or an early Bonnie or Goldie, the more humdrum bikes
are only sought out by people who used to own them. Buying an old
machine because you used to have one is as good a reason as any.

This explains why fewer people are interested in horrible old B31s and
3TAs - the people who used to buy them are dying off.

 

On Tue, 05 Apr 2005 04:48:18 -0700, TOG@Toil

Many people I know consider CD200s to be classics. And ISTR you spent some
effort acquiring a decent one

Agreed about the rest though, I've owned or known people who did, most of
them. The X7 version of the GT250 wasn't too bad but the rest were crap.

Regards, Ian

 

Yes, I did, but only for its intrinsic value as a bloody good farty
commuter - the sort of bike they don't make any more.