70s and 80s Japanese prices

[Ethanol]

So this is a broad question as there are hundreds of variables to consider but what do you think the market has been like over the past decade for Japanese bikes? To me it seems like the $100 barn finds are becoming harder to find (but still out there for sure) but on the flip side they are becoming collectible.

An RD 10 years ago wasn't of much interest to anyone who wasn't already in to Japanese bikes. Now they seem pretty collectible. Anyone have good stats about the value of ~30 year old Japanese bikes?

 

[eVo]

they are going up in price,

I own 4 rd400's and a 350 I have two 76 and 2 77 400's

Now you say stats? what do you want to know exactly? An all stock rd400 in fairly good conditon will sell for 4500 usd if you find the right buyer

 

[Ethanol]

I just meant japanese bikes as a whole. It seems like you didn't used to be able to give them away but they are becoming much more popular. Older people wanting to get the bike they had again when they were 17 and younger people who grew up in Hondas and don't think anything about owning a japanese vehicle which used to be looked down upon by a lot of people.

Just seems like an interesting time for the market. Also a lot of people have been priced out of the European and British bikes as they got smaller production runs and more collectible/expensive (and American bikes got larger and more expensive). So Japanese bikes are really the only place left to go for a lot of people wanting a sporty-ish vintage bike. I know I can't afford an Italian bike now or in the forseeable future.

 

[klx678]

I was in bike sales for about 22 years full and part time here in Ohio. One of the reasons those $100 barn finds are hard to find anymore is bacause thousands upon thousands were shipped overseas by dealers. They would buy them up at bargain prices, load them in a container, and ship them out. We had a friend in Canton Ohio who's sole job in the mid-late 80s and into the 90s was to go out and scour the countryside buying up any desireable bike he could within a certain general range. He was not the only one doing it.

This is why you don't see all those KZ650-1000s and even the formerly ubiquitous KZ440LTD any more. Many of those GS450-1100s are gone, along with all the Yamahas and Hondas. For a long time they could buy them and make good money sending them to Europe, even with the shipping cost.

I used to regularly get cards in the mail from people who wanted to buy my 86 Nighthawk S and my KLX 650 They had a list of bikes on the card that they wanted. They were exporting them.

Now it's harder to make money exporting, although it is still being done. But the thinning of the heard is done too. That's why it's so hard to find a good KZ, CB, XS, and GS considering how many were sold at cut rates back in the 80s. The customs and other models that were exclusive the US were really popular. The more common shared models weren't qute as popular.

I have no idea how they got them into the countries, past the various governmental agencies but they did.

 

[Curbcast]

I got impatient & paid $900 (from $1500) for a cb175. I havent seen many around up in Toronto area, so I paid what I could afford. I just love the barter game.

 

[dielectric]

No kidding. I remember how we'd get maybe $1200 for a very clean XS650 in the mid-nineties. Same bike is worth double now.

I also remember a guy with a whole stable of RD350s and such and I thought he was a looney. I was young and dumb I guess, but damn the old codger taught me more than he realized at the time.