วีดีโอ

Very good take on the current situation. Well done. Thanks

Same thing happens that happened to the model t. Old guys my dad's age wanted the. Prices shot through the roof. Ten fell hard.

Some things are more labor intensive and require skills that many people just don't have anymore.

The parts for all classic bikes with the exception of Harley Davidson are getting harder and harder to find. Classic British bike parts are almost obsolete in the USA. Classic Japanese motorcycle parts are also getting harder to find. Unless you can find a motorcycle salvage yard chock full of old donor bikes. The classic British bikes that were brought to the USA and sold were few and far between aside from having low production numbers to begin with. You better have a good connection with someone in the U.K. to find those much needed parts. The Sand Cast Honda CB 750's are the only CB750's that are worth $5,000 plus. The rest of the CB750's are $1,000-$4,000 dollar bikes period. It's ridiculous to pay $3500 for an original Honda trail 70 or Monkey bike.

I am 84 and have owned and ridden bikes all my life . Japanese bikes will be the winners no doubt . British bikes were rubbish in comparison . They needed far too much attention . They all leaked oil. Hard to start with the kick . Japanese were far more user friendly and easier to ride and maintain . Ok British bikes are nostagic but for a younger generation are just hard work to keep running . Wow they never even bothered to fit indicators or electric starters . I changed to Jaoanese many years ago and never looked back . I now have three old Hondas . Sadly modern bikes are much too complicated and electronic . Becoming thow away items like the cars and many other modern products . Because of my age I now have smaller lighter machines . My go to bike is an old Rebel 250 in mint condition and low miles . It's not fast but does the job just fine .

I'm glad the prices are dropping too many are just for investment instead of true enthusiastic people wanting to buy them

The value goes off nostalgia also so people My age have NO nostalgia for something made in the 60's and even for Z1's etc I am old enough to remember them being £2k- £3k bikes

Classic Bikes hold a good price but some are way overinflated esp.in the american market where "investors" try to greed out the market.People have had enough .Anything collectable is only worth what somebody is prepared to pay for it.There are thousands of some models still in existence.Most owners are riders and wont pay stupid money unless they are very rich. I am in a large classic motorcycle club in Greece.

Lots of people bought the bikes as an investment, but as you said the financial market has fallen and so has the money available for buying bikes. Those who paid good money for a bikes don't want to lose out by selling when the market prices are low in comparrison to when they purchased..... but inflation is rising so prices need to rise exponentially before the older owners will sell and there is a point where people will not pay for something even if it is rare because really old British bikes have no value in today's world because to ride them simpley devalues them ! I am british, living in England and rode British for 25 years but gave up on them as they are just not everyday transport - they need more maintenance tham a boat for chrissakes and the parts make the bikes economically unsustainable/ As for keeping them in a collection in a garage, well it is a bike, bikes are built to be ridden and if thay aren't ridden then they are just ornaments.... ornaments to the past, and the past is like another country - I don't live there.......

It is our current economy. All collectables have lost value. To own a vintage motorcycle or car as a hobby is expensive. It requires that you have excess discretionary income.

It has become harder and harder to get parts for older bikes AND cars. Pick and pull junkyards many smaller places have shut due to health and safety (insurance) and environmental issues, so the second hand parts market has almost died. New fuel doesn't like sitting for more than a few months, clogging carb jets requiring rebuilds if not used. I'm only in my 40's but that has been my observation locally

New generations are uncapable to fix things

All motorcycle sales are dying in western countries. New especially. Kids today are not into vehicles. They are into phones & games.

New - Old, does not matter...................It is like people hate motorcycles now. Tried selling my Ducati Hyper on CL, not 1 response.................So lower the price to a number I will not even sell it at, just as an experiment, not 1 response and was way cheaper than the rest.

I hope not.. I am about to sell my C11 and my Jawas..

The simple answer is, find out when the purchaser/owner was 17. You then have the magic era for which that same individual will hanker after bikes from that time. 17 in the 50’s you’re damn near dead now. 17 in the Sixties (you can’t remember it because you were there) old British and your riding time is coming to a close. 17 in the Seventies (me) it’s the classic early Japanese bikes and maybe very late British. As a gentle aside I did but the bike that I used to draw on my school books - a 1973 HD 1200 Electraglide. Looked stunning, was disappointing to ride. There’s a dream down the pan. I don’t know what the answer is - I’ve moved onto boats now. That’s a very impressive way to blow your money! And the boring Old Man’s BMW GS sits in the garage and goes to France one a year. I shall watch the market with interest.

Just watching this young kids are not into bikes E bikes are so powerful now & no licence no helmet kids go for E bikes I'm 50 now & my RC nitro car hobby is dying the 2 stroke petrol RC cars are dying people don't like getting hands dirty & play racing Sim computer games & internal combustion engine is in trouble society is moving to EV and hybrid !

TH-cam is the first stop, especially for bikes pre '70s. Allows you to check what are common problems with bikes of that age and if they are repairable without major engineering work.

I believe that you are quite right!.. Everyone is getting older and will die off.. Just a fact of life.. Younger people do not ride motorcycles either.. Younger men are also very simpy.. You don't have to be a mind reader to see the future!

In the world of vintage or collectable motorcycles, there has been a trend over the last decade or so to label anything over 40yrs of age as a classic or vintage, collectable, the true collectables are rare because they are in the hands of collectors, this is across the world, these bikes were purchased for their long term investment value, what is happening now is many of the so -called collectables in the hands of non-collectores are being cashed in due to the owner's financial position. as a collector of decades , i see so many piles of junk advertised at silly prices with a claim that is a sales pitch hoping a dill will buy it, even with internet resources people still buy junk that someone said was a classic.

This is so true in regards to bikes in Australia. A kwaka 900 over here are being advertised for ridiculous prices, way over the top. I put it down to maybe the first models reaching their 50th anniversary, and also the movies Stone and Mad Max(original) helping them to hold prices up. But in reality, even a bloke my age (62) baulk at paying so much for a bike that age, when tbh, money is bloody tight nowadays. I'd love a z9, but I'm not going to fork over an insane amount of money to get one.

It’s all about what bikes we wanted in high school. Those are the bikes we want when we get old and have money..

royal enfield bullet early 1980 still going strong basically all the cashed up fo;ks who had a brit bike in their yoof are fading away and the prices are droppin to what they SHOULD be

In my recollection, English machines, even as new back in the day never were "cheap". If you wanted one, new or used you had to pay up. So how do you figure todays market prices are unjust? There never has been a "free lunch".

Best explanation of ANY "collectors" marketplace

They made around 2600 82 CBX, s

The 'vintage market' has been hostage to cheque book investors. They bought up everything that could be made shiny. The prices demanded, and paid, for bikes which were ordinary at best and often a pos, were stupid. Take a Norton ES2, in 500cc form it was a slow ohv long stroke single, pushed out under several badges. It was never a big seller, one of those bikes that people bought because there was little else. The 350cc version was an even greater slug. Those bloody things were snapped up by 'collectors'. Then 'restored' to a level that if they had left the factory they might actually have been a half decent bike. The engines performed better than new, the paint was better, the chrome deeper. Like many restored bikes they had components in them that were far better than new. The prices asked for them, rising as fast as the new investor could write a cheque. The infestation of the Pebble Beach polish and trailer set is long overdue for a reality check. Motorcyclists will buy an old bike because they want to ride them. Not spend hours polishing them with extract of some rare rainforest plant. Then boast how much their investment has appreciated.

I agree with this video. I'm now 66 years old and grew up with what are now vintage Japanese bikes as well as still owning and riding 80's,90's Y2K's etc. Seeing the BYT prices falling by early 2024 I purchased a very nice original 1973 Honda CB350 four that is in excellent cosmetic & running order purely for sentimental reasons. It's asking price had dropped AU$3,000 to AU$5,500.00 or (US$3,400.00). It's not 100% concourse however it's a decent 8.5/10 and that's without NOS sump, gauges, headlight bucket, surround and lamp and alternator & points covers. Fit these and it becomes a 9/10. But I'm in no hurry as the existing "original" items are still a nice 6/10. However would I buy a CB750 in similar condition as my 350 four? No way! In Australia 90% are USA imports and as of 2024 are still asking AU$20,000.00 or (US$12,500.00)!!!!!???? The problem is that Honda made 550,000 of these but only 70,000 of the 350 fours. Subscribed from Australia! Have a safe and happy Christmas.

🤩🇺🇸👍⚖️👁️👁️⚖️👍🇯🇵🏁

Hard to get parts, hard to fix, takes gobs of time, hard to convince a buyer or build client what it costs to restore. Etc, etc.

Congratulations! That is my ultimate dream bike! Currently doing a full nut and bolt restoration of my Grandfathers 1962 BSA A10 Super Rocket Once that’s complete and have enough cash one day I will get an original Goldstar

The market is always changing, every decade is different from the last, it may go up, then go down and will always be a market. If anything it’s a win/win for me as I love British Vintage Motorcycles! While it’s low I’ll buy more and I’m 42

With shrinking sales you will also get shrinking spares. I have a '79 T140, my late brother's. At the moment there are lots of newly replicated parts. As the demand for those bikes falls so will the demand for those parts, and they will become very hard to get and expensive. This will lead to those old bikes being broken for spares and lost forever

Very good points. I think it is also, when people reach mid age and can invest in vehicles they want those cars and bikes of their youth that were out of their price range.

The classic bike market is being killed by demographics. There is not the interest in bikes in the younger generations as they have less connection with motorcycles. A lot of these old bikes will be taken to the grave.... New retro bikes are also having an impact. I learnt to ride on a 70's CB250. Just traded my Goldwing on a GB350; all of the nostalgia none of the dramas. There is no real point in owning a bike and never riding it. Sure a CB750 is a landmark machine but now way too heavy and problematic for us older guys who are the only people interested in them. You can't take it with you and if you can't ride it, why bother? Downsize, buy something reliable, a bit safer and have fun on the road rather than only in the shed.......

Wow! Thank you. I'm hoping that my xb12xt with the same symptom has such an easy fix. Like you said, the bike is "raw" & thats what's great about it.

It was made to compete with the British Twins in the late 60s and early 70s, it did just that. The early XS 650s did not handle like the British bikes but the engines were always superior. I have one built to a street tracker form and it is fun and good looking.

You could have said all that in a 45 second short. Listening to the sound of your own voice ….!

It is the money that dropping the value the dollar is collapsing, same with the Pound. People are losing their income.

Fuel consumption will be a big issue in the years ahead.

Kids aren't really interested in motorcycles and even less in classic motorcycles. When there's no buyers then the old iron become worthless.

Brit bikes are falling because the skills to run them , maintain them and ride them is disappearing as the people who desired them are giving up bikes ,passing away of just have found the riding of them too much also available money ,over inflated prices are out of reach , One thing that pushed prices up os it became fashionable to own one and the trend moved from British to 70s superbikes then on to two strokes now its the GSXRs and Fireblades ,

Demographics has a lot to do with it, and also the fact that for too long folks had become used to the expectation that an old bike would make money, not lose it. That idea held for a good few years (the last 30 or so) but not any longer. Now, perhaps, the market for old brit bikes is more realistically priced, and if viewed differently, is a good and affordable time to buy. Put in short terms, most pre '60 bikes are selling at prices far closer to what they are realistically worth. The market is favouring those with the interest/desire to ride and learn about old bikes. The prices may be viewed as "crashing " but only if you view the machines as "investments". They are not, and realistically, never were. Recent years have been somewhat of a fiscal "bubble" and we have all become used to/expectant of a positive upward outcome. Not any longer....

Between Photobucket deleting millions of pictures hosted by them, making thousands of technical forum threads worthless, and discussions moving from well structured and moderated discussion forums to Facebook groups, where you can't find ANYTHING, and the same rookie questions get asked every other day, a lot of useful information is lost forever. Basically, we are approaching the pre-internet days, where information and parts were near impossible to get.

I've never had anyone recognise my stock 83 FXDG .. Most recognise my 81 Sturgis, but the much rarer FXDG... mine is the only surviving one in my country of Switzerland.

Modern bikes with full electronics and fuel injection etc. will be ( when major issues arise ) worthless because of parts availability/cost and/or the skill sets needed by the average rider to repair them.The automotive industry likewise.From a hobby point of view, most of the "common old bikes" still have reasonable parts supply & some are better than 30 years ago due to the supply and demand criteria.

Old bikes have been overpriced for to long, which is a great pity because young riders are missing out on the fun and frustrations of keeping one on the road. The horders have destroyed the market and now they are getting to old and dying out. The market in the UK is very volatile because the government is coming down on every section of motorists, meaning if a bike is 40 years old there is no tax or yearly inspections so even Honda 125 s are £1000+ if its old enough to qualify. If its older than 10 years then it probably won't be euro 5/6 therfore you will be punished by going into a restricted zone in a big city so bikes like yamaha fj1200 and suzuki 1200 bandit can be had for the same price of the 40 year old 125 so which is madness. The market hear I the UK is all over the place due to these reasons. There is still a company that buys bikes in the USA and ships them back hear because they are old....... Odd world at the moment 🇬🇧🇺🇲👍

That Gold Star is a real beauty, hope you'll enjoy it 😊

I've seen most of the rare bikes at one time or another at the Toronto motorcycle Show (the one at the International Centre in January). Broughs, Vincents, Triumphs, BSAs, Nortons, Vellocette, AJS, Gilera, etc. To me these bikes are mostly antiques. Something like a first gen GPz that I lusted after when I was in high school is more my speed. I bought a 2000 ZRX1100 in red, silver and black when it was new.

The generation that grew up messing around with cars and bikes is being replace by the generation that grew up messing around with computers.