Cheap bikes you have had?

[JimVonBaden]

I've had several. These are all after shots:

2009 650 Versys, paid $1100, total $1718, sold for $2600:

1991 K75 $1000, total in $2126, sold for $3200:


1994 R1100RS Free, $1275, sold for $2200:


1981 Vespa, $750, final $2995, sold $4400.


1999 R1100R, $700, total $1058, sold for $2300:


2005 R1200ST, $2500, approximately $3700, sold for $6000:


1980 XS400, $350, approximately $1100, sold for $1400:


2004 R1200CLC, $1800, total of 3250, sold for $4300:


One more. R1200C, paid $1500, total $2300, sold for $3700.



These are just recent samples.

 

[twerth]

Those are nice looking bikes, but I feel like you're showing the "before" price with the "after" photos. As a fellow flipper, I'd be interested to know what you've got into those projects.

 

[woods]

$1100, as shown above minus the fuel tanks. My first bike. Rode all through New England and into Canada on it. What a blast.

$3100, as shown above. 6000 miles. Ohlins suspension and full luggage. Still own it. Rides on a rail. Fantastic bike. Keep thinking about a 1L bike, but I have no reason to get rid of this.

$2200 as shown above. It was a little 650. I installed 6" extensions on it to fit. After I did, the throw on the shifter was so bad, I had to lift my leg every time I upshifted. Sold it and make a decent amount back on it.

 

[JimVonBaden]

Those are nice looking bikes, but I feel like you're showing the "before" price with the "after" photos. As a fellow flipper, I'd be interested to know what you've got into those projects.

You are right. I'll add costs and sales prices.

 

[Madmx]

Gs750l for $500
Gn400 for $80
Rcm clones for $350-500 new
Xj550 for $900 from a dealer in 2017
Few others if I can remember

 

[Madmx]

Cm200 for $450 and used as work commuter for 3 yrs..great snow bike

 

[87warrior]

$200 '78 DT250 in the back of my $200 Jeep Comanche:

Same DT after $600 of love:

I haven't tried to sell it, so I am not sure if there is any profit margin...

 

[JimVonBaden]

Just picked up this 2002 BMW K1200RS for $700. Needs battery, tires and ABS work, but in decent shape and only 43,000 miles.

 

[matty]

Had a few cheap bikes over the years, but in 2015i bought a Kawasaki EN500A3 for £300 off fleabay. was running 13K miles and MOTed and taxed, I rode it home from near York.
It was an impulse buy and after i won it it was one of those " now what the hell have i got myself into now what am i going to do with this thing".
Well was a nice spring afternoon wife drove me down we got there about 2Pm 3 hours or so back up home. The bike looked ok had been stood surface rust but not ingrained. it started ran great. I was very surprised at the power this little basically ladies starter Metric cruiser actually had, a lively pokey dare i say flexible twin with lowish overall gearing with 6 well spaced ratios a light clutch slick gear change and half decent brakes and surprisingly stable safe handling for such a pretentious glitzy glam iron.
The couple of hundred miles home i knew this, The cruiser bars had to go the seat was comfortable and i was strangely kind of used to the feet first forward controls already. The Bike felt very nimble and i was sure a set of Drag bars would transform it. OH! i knew this too. it was going no where in a hurry 1. who the hell would buy it, and 2. i liked it and wanted to explore it much more.
the bars came off Next morning, Polished on ebay £40 Gone Front mud guard ebay £35 gone Headlight £25 Gone Tail light Rear guard section £25Gone . Chrome guard stays £35 the pair Gone. Seat unit £50 i had silly offers but held out got my £50 it was mint.
Genuine Kawasaki Indicators the set £50 Gone . Now mistake, Air BOX £25 gone Pods i had off an old project put on. BAD idea.
Mistake number 2 sold the warning light unit for £35.
Mistake number 3 sold the chrome belt guard for £25 Gone and the pair of mint side covers £40.
I can nt remember anything else. was given a pair of 1 inch Triumph speedmaster drag bars i did try some sportster raised bars but sold them for same i bought them for.
I bought a cheapo chinese bobber seat which cost £15 is still on it its too uncomfortable needs canging i have a triumph exlorer riders seat i am on with adapting but thats been ongoing for over a year now. kept the Stock exhausts the front under engine crossover pipe dispite the low miles had rotted away since new in 1993 and had been ugly poorly welded repair to stock cans fron tidy front pipes, so i left it alone its held out fine in 8 years or so.
Air box off was a mistake the pods were a pain to fettle i got it running ish but ended up getting a used air box off a scrap bike i had to plastic weld as it had been sawn off, but repaired it and its awesome been like that 8 years now.
Its basicaly a free Bobberesque metricy cruiser come ratty run about thing. I love it its mine its fast its reliable its agile it looks a mess i guess but i like it. the Belt guard i bought another slightly rusty one of ebay for £10 free post that was a mistake selling it . the warning lights never did get a replacement panel just a Pice og black plastic cut from an oil drum and Push in warning lights on diy soldered loom. it works and will probably stay like that, but in hindsight would have left it on.
Had several headlights a Really light Cruiser light off a chinese 125 lives there has done 7 years now as for tail light its a bobber stop light thingy of ebay a 35 or something. indicators are ebay china bullet type about £4, still work but chrome is now wearing off looks kind of goldy brassy looking now which i kind of like.
Its a toy i use it a lot love it its not really my style but its cheap honest mine and i will keep it forever probably because no one else would want it anyway.

 

[Ausfahrt]

I flip bikes sometimes and here are a couple that passed through my shop.

I picked up this '72 R75 with the wrong tank and other weird stuff for $2700 and sold it for $4200 and I never touched it.

This early Yamaha was bought for $1200 and barely ran. I really wasn't keen on splitting the cases so I managed to find a guy that just had to have it for $1800.

KLRs have been good to me and I have flipped quite a few. This one was acquired for $1800 and after rebuilding the forks and some basic maintenance I was able to get $2900.

 

[JimVonBaden]

Forgot one. KLR bought in 2004 for $1200.

 

[Alan F.]

Just picked up this 2002 BMW K1200RS for $700. Needs battery, tires and ABS work, but in decent shape and only 43,000 miles.

Jim how's this one going, is there a build thread?

 

[JimVonBaden]

Jim how's this one going, is there a build thread?

Slow, but yes. https://advbikes.com/threads/21-year-old-bmw-k1200rs-gets-a-new-lease-on-life.3075/

 

[oilhed]

Ive gotten bikes cheap but the two cheapest new bikes Ive bought, this century, were a Yamaha TW200 and a BMW G310GS. Sold both after a year cuz I rarely rode them and wanted to get my money back before they depreciated. Id happily have either in my garage right now but probably still wouldnt ride them much

 

[Ridefreak]

'74 RD350 $600
This is what it looked like after some detailing, a carb clean and a tune up. A stocker was kinda boring compared to the other RDs I was use to.

After I had a little fun with it I sold it for $3K to a guy on the east coast and sold the stock pipes for $400. I was glad to see it go, it was a bit antisocial but it turned a nice profit and was a fun project.

 

[Madmx]

I think cheap is a perception. Cheapest bike I bought was a gn400 for $80 and sold back to the owner for $120 two months later. My new xt was expensive for a piddly bike. But that piddly bike went through 30k of hell....literally fire and ice. And scored my only race and 1st place win on an ama half mile flat track race.

So my tse250r seems expensive...but an electric start 2 stroke with the "motorcycle" mso. The bike is epic for grin factor. A smile that was 30 yrs waiting since my $400 1976 it400.

I am sitting on alot of bikes. Like my rxv550 bought new at less than half price. An airhead hack. A Harley touring last year shovel. Even have tomos peds stashed away. Really the hot scene in the north was an $80 minibike with some love and attention could fetch $1000.

If I had another chance..I would have scooped up everything that never had a battery. Mx bikes, trials bikes, trail bikes, minibikes, race bikes...like a JAP or Jawa speedway bike.

It has always been storage and batteries that cost real money. Everything else that was cost effective was rode and resold at a similar price. I guess that is passing the dream with something like a $450 cm200 used for 300 days a year for 3 yrs to get to work....I replaced the light bulb with a h4..that's it.

But last year shovel 1340 engine only will cost some money. I have another bigger engine for the chassis. No hurries because....patience is cheap! And it is a long term deal. I blew way more cash having other fun. Wakeboarding/wakeskating and boats was one of many. Boats are now $70k-280k.....ha maybe I need a new kx112!

 

[Soggy Biscuit]

I once had a Huffy mountain bike. It lasted until somebody stole it from my front yard one mild night in the LA suburbs. I also had a Haro. I rode the hell out of that thing. I busted the weld at the front fork after clearing a massive gap and overshooting the landing. I always thought those bikes were unbreakable until then. I've had a couple of Diamondbacks. Heavy and very extremely durable. I used those for the same purposes as the Haro, but for more rigorous BMX activities. I also rode around on a Schwinn road bicycle as a means to get to and from high school. That thing was fast as shit!

 

[Madmx]

I once had a Huffy mountain bike. It lasted until somebody stole it from my front yard one mild night in the LA suburbs. I also had a Haro. I rode the hell out of that thing. I busted the weld at the front fork after clearing a massive gap and overshooting the landing. I always thought those bikes were unbreakable until then. I've had a couple of Diamondbacks. Heavy and very extremely durable. I used those for the same purposes as the Haro, but for more rigorous BMX activities. I also rode around on a Schwinn road bicycle as a means to get to and from high school. That thing was fast as shit!

I broke a very rare gjs frame. Cracked at the tube gusset. Also had a race Inc that was a build nightmare. I actually have a new huffy. Aluminum frame and 3 piece cranks. This bike stays indoors. I also got 2 mongoose freestyle completes for $200. One was turned into trike with a predator hemi engine. The trike is one of the cheapest, most crashed and wildest motorized anything I have owned.

I almost forgot. 26" Kent beach cruiser with bmx parts and a ported 66cc two stroke engine. This bike holds my personal trail speed record. And a record for folding rear wheels. Runs about 38mph and I can bunny hop alot of obstacles or case em

 

[robert]

I like buying older fixer uppers as a hobby. Problem is my business model is buy hi sell low. My friends say its no problem because I make up for it in volume.

 

[762x54]

You are right. I'll add costs and sales prices.

I'm curious; did you allow anything in the finished prices for the time you spent working on these bikes?