Is an '80 Std worth a grand?

[Scott Underwood]

Greetings all. Long time.

My newish neighbor has an '80 Std that I knew nothing about. Turns out is that it is for sale and he is asking $1,000. 16K miles and supposedly was running fine when he parked it a couple of years ago. The throttle is very stiff and he thinks the problem is with the slides in the Mikuni's. Tires are shot and fork seals leak. Still, I think this bike would be a whole lot easier to get back on the road than my SF. Plus it has the benefits of having the factory faring & bags. All in all, this looks like a very solid bike that his father bought in 1984. There are a few extras that will go with the bike such as a 2nd set of wheels, carbs, oil filters, engine gasket set and so on.

Think I might offer him $800 for the bike. Sound like a fair price for a non-running 27 year old motor bike?

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Scott,

The throttle cable doesn't actuate the slides, only the butterfly shaft, vacuum makes the slides rise. Most likely just either corrosion/rust inside the line, or at the butterfly shaft!?

As has been stated before, a bike is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. As you stated, it has extras, with full fairing and bags. Will need new tires, probably battery also, carb cleaning, etc.! You might be able to get him down to the $800.00, worth a try!

Just remember that the 80 uses USUALLY a different style of carbs, so parts are not interchangeable, different sized vacuum slides, jets, etc.! Also the other differences between a standard and special applies for possibility of spare parts from one to the other! It does have low miles!
T.C.

[stoked]

Sounds worth it to me. You'd have two transmissions, middle drive units, engines, ect.... Throttle plates could also be getting stuck. It doesn't take much moisture over time to corode the throttle bores enough to cause interference. But that wouldn't stop me from buying it if I had the cash.

[mason79]

hit him were it hurts offer 400.00 start from there ya never know... unless you really think there is no work involved...

[mro]

only worth what your willing to pay

faring & bags good condition $300.00?
gasket set $70?
set of carbs (nothing broken) $100.00+
set of wheels $50.00+
non running bike (me $50, to $300.00 if exhaust is good)
____

personnally would not pay more than $300.00 for it all...
but I've got 3 runners, at least 3 more that can be runners and a MNS ssssllloowwwlllyyyy getting restored

____
I prefer the standards for highway riding.


mro

[fredintoon]

Hi Scott,
OTOH, don't be a cheapskate. Make your new neighbor a fair offer, rather than hope to feed of his presumed need to sell. I know a guy who does that, got lotsa bargain bikes and no friends at all. Being a cheapskate can turn round and bite you in the arse.

[mason79]

yeah give him what he wants so it's a win win situation

[Crazcnuk]

I paid $500 for a complete set of luggage, fairing, carrier, mounts and lowers this summer, and I thought it was a good enough deal to drive to Saskatchewan to pick them up, just ask Fred!

I bought my XS for $500, and it had a fairing and luggage, etc, but most of it was in pretty rough shape, and/or rusty. I probably have almost $2000 into it now. I still think it's worth it, although there were some doubt along the way.

I also have an extra engine, that I am rebuilding, for later.

You can either buy one cheap and do to it what you want, or you can pay a lot more for one in perfect (looking) shape and still not really know what you've got.

[mason79]

i got around 3500 in mine and i know what i got, it's customize for my wants and needs

[TopCatGr58]

Originally posted by mason79
i got around 3500 in mine and i know what i got, it's customize for my wants and needs

Yeah Mason, but for a man .... quote:

i have 2 cars one 99 dodge stratus,...snip... i also have a new 2 seat sports car ..snip.. my new mercedes.

with a M-B SLK280 $3500 is chump change!
T.C.

[jwoell]

Give em hell TC! JK

But nah man, there's no way in hell I'd pay a grand for a bike that doesn't run! Basically anything at all could be wrong. The frame could be bent for all you know. Until you ride it and check it out, all bets are off.

Make him a deal where you will pay once you've made sure it's not a POS.

Just my opinion man.

[Scott Underwood]

Interesting. 8 replies ranging from $300 to the full $1,000 making it a win/win situation. What to do, what to do...

I know how hard it is to have an actual conversation online, especially when the topic can have so many variables. So I will tell you a couple of things about a conversation I had with a coworker this afternoon. I have known Warren for 3 years and he buys at least two bikes every year to fix up and sell for a profit. In fact he recently bought some sort of new Yamaha V Star with those profits. When I told him about the bike, he said that he probably wouldn't pay more than $600 for a non-running 27 year old XS1100 and that that my neighbor would probably jump at my offer of $800 for the bike. He suggested that I "insult" him and offer $500 just to get the dialogue going more seriously. "Never know until you try" is Warren's philosophy I guess.

I know this low-ball approach is frowned upon by many, including Fredintoon, but at the same time you have to have a starting point. You can always go up in your offer price, but never down. Fred, what does OTOH, mean, btw?

As far as what appears to be the main problem - the carbs. It has been probably 20 years since I opened the Mikuni's on my SF, but I did know them inside & out at one time. I remember that there where a few differences between the F & SF model carbs in 1979 and that there were some significant changes with the 1980 models. Still, I think that I can get the 1980 bagger's carbs sorted out over the winter months.

I do not know this neighbor, but I live in a good neighborhood and am a fairly decent judge of character, so when he said that the rest of the bike is in good condition, I tended to believe him. At the same time, I haven't looked down into the gas tank yet, or done any presale inspection such as pulling plugs, checking the brakes and what not. If the weather hold this weekend, I am going to look the bike over closer. It does not have the fairing & bags on it at this time and they are 75 miles away at his father's.

So, I have a few days to think things out.

yeah give him what he wants so it's a win win situation

Mason79, you aren't my neighbor Chris by chance are you?

Thanks for your input, guys.

Scott

[mro]

cheapskate

Nope....i'm just frugal...
If you add up the goodies...and if it is in pretty good shape
then it's almost what the guys asking price is.
A cherry stock exhaust...$600/$1,000.00 ???
Just a half ass useable exhaust $200.00 +

Look what some guys here sell a set of carbs for...$200.00+
I've sold several sets of carbs for $100.00 that only needed to be tuned for their bike, as well as several other parts Ive just sent for cost of shipping as well as a few freebee's. I stopped selling parts as I got slow in shipping em. I've also got a few guys back on the road and provided a part or two free.

One of the "most endearing" things about the 11's (beside this site) is that there inexpensive and hold up so well.

Will admit that the Merriam did cost more than $300.00
But after turning the guy down several times he made me an offer that was just too hard to refuse


mro

[fredintoon]

"I know this low-ball approach is frowned upon by many, including Fredintoon, but at the same time you have to have a starting point. You can always go up in your offer price, but never down. Fred, what does OTOH, mean, btw?"

Hi Scott,
On The Other Hand, 50% of your neighbor's asking price is a fair start point for a friendly haggling session. If both parties really want the deal to happen, you will drift towards a mutually acceptable selling price, right?

[prometheus578]

Well...
Firstly, never buy anything from a neighbor... Nor sell anything to a neighbor. I shouldn't have to explain why.
He sold a Honda 50 to my son while I was overseas.
"Just needs a chain"
No.. needed a rebuild.
The generator I bought for $150 "Just needs a tuneup."
No, it had burnt valves.
See where I'm goin' with this?
Can cause a lot of hard neighborly feelings.
So... I didn't feel badly when I bought his non-working hot tub for $400(the boob was trying to run it on 110v when it needed 220v)
Now then.. a non-running bike. Especially one that's been sitting...
An XS in good running condition might be worth $1,000.
Nice if you can do the work yourself, but suppose...?
What would a shop charge you?
$225 for carb work.
$150 for fork seals.
Tires can be $50-$100 per, and then there's mounting cost.
So.. we're already almost into it $600.
The bike really isn't worth $1,000, is it.
More like $400.
It's always hard to low-ball, but then again, it's your money. (And he'll be glad to take it)
Do some research on what it'll cost you to fix the bike so that it's actually worth $1,000 and then step forward.
Tell him,(nicely) that due to the condition of the bike you can't afford to pay him $1,000(No, and you won't make payments, either)
But, kindly mention that if no one steps forward to buy it(They would be a fool to do so), that you'll give him $500 if he still wants to get rid of it.
Then, the pressure is on him, not you.
He wants to get rid of the bike.... He thinks it's worth a certain amount of money but it's not.... After a while, when nobody else buys it for that price, he will face reality.
Hell... I've got three non running 1100's out in the shed, Scott.
You want one? They are in the same condition as his.
What are they worth to you?

Of course, all the extra parts he has does raise the value a bit.
I'd go $600/$700 maybe.