Mueseum Piece on ebay

[Underdog]

A Midnight Special just apeared on ebay with 1 mile on it. Never sold or serviced. No gas in tank bla bla bla... Wonder what that will bring?? Personally, I'm happier with the 11,000mi one I got. If you paid a fortune for this one, you'd lose yer ass as soon as you dump gas in it. I'm not much for having stuff that I can't drive or ride.

[Ken Talbot]

... wonder what the reserve is....

[Geezer]

I'll bet the carbs still need to be cleaned. Yamaha didn't drain the carbs after test running them at the factory.

Geezer

[Underdog]

It just broke 3 grand and hasn't hit the reserve yet. Makes me feel like I got a bargain Carbs...yeah...wonder how the spouge holes are??? I'm sure it came with brake fluid in it. I've seen this with the old car crowd. Everyone goes nuts over something that's basically been sitting around. You still end up doing the hydraulics and a bunch of other stuff from sitting. I see some Yamaha crates in the background. Must be a dealer and not much of an ebayer rateing at that.

[Underdog]

6 GRAND!! Here's the link in case any of you just has to have one

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...481714143&rd=1

[jetmechmarty]

If you want one bad enough, I'll bet it would be extremely tough to find a Midnight Special in this kind of cosmetic condition. I'm no expert, but I'd be willing to bet restoring all that gold and black can be extremely expensive if done correctly.

When I bought my new XS650 the dealer had one of the black '82 models on the floor. 21 years later, I'm glad I didn't buy it as it would have been I tough chore to keep it up. Thanks to available replacement parts, my '83 650 still looks nice today.

This NOS bike might still not be too bad a buy if that's what you really want.

[Underdog]

Maybe I'm a sceptic but I'd have to see it. I gave 2 grand for mine from the original owner. Had some defects (nicks & scrathes) but is totally original never wrecked and was garaged it's entire life. The paint looked OK from 10 feet but was dull and cracked when you got up close. I think it must have been acrylic lacquer they used back then. The gold trim also has some very minor deteriation if you get up close (I need my glasses to see). Point is, unless this NOS one was stored in some kind of climate controlled cell, I'm sure the finish doesn't look like it did in 1980.

BTW, I'm a bodyman by trade so mine is in the process of getting new paint. All 2 component urethane stuff. It's in a lot of pieces right now. Rebuilding all the brakes, Stainless lines, new tires,carb kits, fork seals, new fuse box ect. One thing about the Midnight is so much of it is painted that for me it's actually cheaper to redo than say a bike with a lot of chrome. The only big problem seems to be the "black chrome" exhaust. Even this NOS one has stains on the exhaust!! And I got news for this guy, that ain't gonna polish off. I'm sure he tried already. Not to sound like sour grapes but I really do prefer to have mine all redone and upgraded than this time capsule deal. I really thought I paid too much but after seeing this, I'm feeling pretty good. If all goes well, I will have a new looking bike that's just broke in for a small fraction of what my HD cost. Now if I could just find someone to recoat the exhaust this winter.

[Duster]

Don't you think it would make a good parts bike? I'd use it to keep what I got running.

[chevy45412001]

parts bike

If you want to pay 6 grand for a parts bike ,i got some land for sale cheap....lol

[freebird01752]

Hey what did these things go for when new???



Steve

[pathfinder]

US $6,852.50 (Reserve not met). And still climbing. I wonder what the reserve is?

[Geezer]

Originally posted by pathfinder
US $6,852.50 (Reserve not met). And still climbing. I wonder what the reserve is?

I wonder how many old used ones I could get for that much money?

Geezer

[Underdog]

I believe they sold for around $4200.00. Probably would have been better to put the money in the bank. Of course he could have done worse in the stock market

[Ralph Meeks]

Looks like the guy has 10,000 or so on the reserve and is just watching to see how high the bidding will go. One way to get a value on something that is one of a kind.

Ralph Meeks

[Geezer]

Originally posted by Ralph Meeks
Looks like the guy has 10,000 or so on the reserve and is just watching to see how high the bidding will go. One way to get a value on something that is one of a kind.

Ralph Meeks

The problem with that one eBay is that there is often some joker that puts in a high bid on something with no intention of paying. Unless the sale is completed then the value has not really be astablished.

If this bike were a 78~9 standard I might be bothered by not having the money to bid but I can't stand the riding position of the special. I've even put a lot of standard parts on a special to get the Mongrel I ride but I would like to have a midnight engine in it. They should all have been black like the 750 triple.

Geezer