moto reselling

[Wayne]

Just a question to any of you guys that sell bikes on a regular basis. I have been thinking about starting to buy old bikes, fix em up and resell them for a profit. Is this worth my time and money? Is anyone out there making money doing this? Just looking for advice.

Thanks

[rockyr74]

When buying and selling bikes you can make money by
a) buying low and selling higher like a bike dealer.
b) improving the value of the bike thru work.

I think the odds are much better to make money by wheeling and dealing than through wrenchin. If you get a deal on a poor condition bike, odds are you could turn it and make a hundred bucks or so without putting a penny into it.

Usually guys who boast about turning mechanic work into money put no value on their time or mileage. Plus, shopping for parts deals is harder than shopping for the used bike itself.

Thats why there are so many crappy bikes at swap meets and so many parted out bikes on E-bay.

I would love to see the spreadsheet of an xs11s parts split up like on E-bay. I bet it would exceed 700 bucks. Any other guesses?

I stay happiest buying junkers, fixing them up and riding them for a couple years. I get a lot of wows when I say " bought it for just two hundred bucks " - they don't need to know that I put eight more into it !!

Good luck whatever you do -

[chopper]

i have financed my hobby like that for years wayne,you get to ride all kindsa bikes too,the secret is keeping a large cash sum handy to snap up the lucky deals.also dont buy bikes worth a lot of money unless there's an instant profit(dearer bikes can take time to sell).i find bikes sell so much quicker if people see you use it daily,plants the seed,and proves reliability...dont buy a bike you wouldnt keep,unless its a total bargain...most important learn to spot a "ringer" or "clone" best of luck p.s. why not start off with what you know well, xs's? they seem to be around at good money.

[sixtysix]

I have lost money on every bike I have ever sold. Here's why...I won't sell something that is broke, if I can fix it. I also would not sell a bike with a bad battery, tires, brakes, all fluids changed, valves done.......etc, etc, etc. Once I invest the money to make even a cheap XS roadworthy, dependable and RIGHT, I have more time and money invested than I can ever get back. If you dont mind selling bikes with black brake fluid and oil, old tires, old battery, rusty tanks and wonky carbs...then you can make some money doing it. Me, I would let my wiife ride a bike that I restored because I know everything is new or reconditioned. I usually like to put 500 miles on a bike too just to make sure everthing is right so I also have registrationn and insurance costs too. I will not be building anymore XS's unless they are for personal use, selling bikes sucks.

[captjerry]

Interesting topic. I've never restored one or bought one with the purpose of reselling. However when I go into a project I have an idea what it will cost me to put it into MY shape. (MY= ride anywhere, look good etc)
Is that price worth it to ME...... yup cause I'm going to be riding it,
and the wrenching and beer consumption is therapy
It never fails when you have something nice that is not for sale someone will offer enough to part ways with it........
TRY to sell something, cant even get a sniff.
Your right registration and insurance is not recoverable. I dont think maint. items are either, tires, oil etc. Because Im riding it.
If you have a bike you have 1200 bucks total invested and its a first class machine, that you ride for a year and sell for 1200+ youve made a profit. IMHO.

IF I were to buy one with the intention of making money on...... I'd lose my shirt.

Serious money can be made in parting out bikes. I have one parts bike (silverwing) I bought for my own needs. In just tidbits Ive sold off of it Ive tripled my money, have taken everything off of it that I want, and still have a Honda Clarion factory stereo to sell that is also the same that was in GoldWings and CB900's, as well as a bunch of other good parts left. People pay rediculous amounts for this stuff like the stereo.

[nwilley]

Sad but true, old bikes are worth more as parts on eBay than as whole bikes. The only way to reliably make money after buying a $300 bike is to sell it off in parts. A reasonable bank of XS11 carbs will get US$150, half the price of the bike. The big hassle comes in dealing with money, and shipping. One XSive, who does not appear to be on the list any longer, kept insisting that the cheque was in the mail. Eventually he stopped responding to my email queries about "the cheque", and I sold the unit on eBay with no problems.

Moral of the story...restore bikes for you to ride, and if you have to make money, sell parts on eBay. OK, I'll get of this box now

[MartyA]

I agree with nwilley, sad but true. Parts are worth more than the whole.
IF you are going to get into restore and resell, you will probably have to focus on the elite, unique, or short run or 'not too many left' stuff, say a '40's or '50's Indian or something. You will buy high sell higher, unless you luck into one or two that are in terrible shape and go really cheap and then you can re-sell high. Tough but do-able. And then you are relying on luck to steer your business profits. If you want to rely on luck, buy stock, it is easier and you can always blame someone else...

If you get into the cheaper, less unique bikes, you can buy at almost any price since you will part out most anything you get, and will make some money. Buy a old, poor 750 Honda, fix it up, and after figuring parts and your time you will probably not make back what you put into it. Part it out as is and you can get back much more.

Looks like parts is the way to go. You will need acreage, trailer, contacts, and so on.

This is a place I just came across researching this:
http://jackscyclesalvage.com/index.html


But, as a hobby (or therapy?), I can't think of many other things I would prefer to play with than an old bike that needs wrenching. But then hobbies are usually not intended to be too profitable, anyway.

My 2¢.

THINK SPRING!!!!