Wow, the custom Harley market is really in the gutter
 

I can't believe $9,995 buys something like this. I remember when these were going for $70,000!

Custom Pro Street Bike

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1486396244.jpg

Thats a man's bike!:cool:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1486396360.jpg

I never really liked the famboyant bike craze, though I really appreciated some of the workmanship.

They have aged about as well as the over the top 80s porches. Painting that thing black would be a huge improvement IMHO

Don't do that! It seems like everybody is panting everything black, don't bastardize some one's hard work.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1486397018.jpg

I have no idea what is going on in the bike world, but there is no way I could ride around on that chrome and near florescent pink thing. It seems perfect for the affliction tribal arm tatoo crowd though.

Even at 9995, that's a lot of cash for a device that turns gas into noise (and won't go around a corner).

I wouldn't ever have a bike like that - just not appealing to me. I like my simple Yamaha. My guess is the high prices they brought back in the day resulted from the time people were using their houses as banks. Now that's gone by the wayside and so has the allure of those flashy motos.

Everything motorcycle related has 'imploded' after the recession. MO, regardless of the brand or style of riding, the market was over- saturated prior to that and an 'major adjustment' was inevitable. Toys; especially low $$ ones like motorcycles, personal watercraft, small boats are usually the first to go when things get tight around the house.

I do believe that there has been a huge leap in technology that continues today in everything 2 wheel ( even 3 wheel) transportation. There definitely was a trend for the outrageous in all areas Harley related to 1 - up the next guy just like Detroit with excess chrome and tail fins on late 50's cars. Except those bikes won't be increasing in value anytime in the future.

Exactly! Couldn't have said it better myself.

"Custom" anythings never really hold their value.

Custom Art
Custom musical instruments
Custom homes
Custom . . . 911.

Etc. :)


Seems like that bike is ok, probably cost more than that in parts for sure!!!

That's nice work but the last time I rode a hard tail I needed chiropractic. I don't think HD is the only one taking a hit. I'm thinking of selling the R1100S but it's worth so little that parting it out may have higher value. (but that's ALOT of work).

Everyone that I know that owns a similar bike hates to ride it, so that probably plays a role...

JR

Uh...old custom pool cues, those made by a handful of now deceased craftsmen, still demand gold.

Forgot your green font? :)

Custom Art? LOL

Agreed. What is a used tattoo worth?

What really kills the value on most bikes like these is that, while we refer to them as "Harleys", there typically is not a single Harley-Davidson produced component anywhere on the entire bike. It's a bastard collection of aftermarket parts. And it doesn't help that it well and truly sucks to ride, and when you get there, the rest of us just yawn and walk right past it.

I remember when the fat-tire "store-bought custom" bikes were all the rage. I had a riding buddy who forked out 28K for an Iron Horse, and another acquaintance paid over 35K for a Bourget. Never understood the appeal as they are not even really "custom" machines. They look like every other "custom"--raked front, wide rear tire, weird air cleaner, fancy pipes and chrome everything. :confused:

The bike in the OP is a soft tail.

I guess "bespoke art" is the word I was looking for.
Like . . . paintings of loved ones or pets.

And custom musical instruments almost NEVER will resale to the original cost to make them.
If they have an association with a human that makes them valuable, that's different.

The insanely expensive fixtures and finishes in high-end homes will hardly ever raise the resale of a home in proportion to their actual cost. Quality fixtures installed with a good idea will bring just as much at the sale. That $40/ft kokobolo floor is pretty, but not 4 times as pretty as a nice $10/ft oak floor.

Etc. I -think that's what I was aiming at. SmileWavy


This motorcycle is beautiful to the guy who made it and hopefully he got the same amount of enjoyment as $$. Until he sells it, of course. :)

Kind of like modified cars. By modifying to your taste, when it comes to selling time, the buyer pool becomes narrower. One man's beautiful custom is an eyesore to the taste of another, but all potential buyers will look at an unmodified vehicle in the model/year they're interested in.

Same in the collectable market...the more original, the higher the price. condition-condition-condition.

Kinda sorta maybe, but not really. "Soft Tail" is a registered trade mark but, then again, so is "Harley" Both have taken on pretty generic meanings and are often used to describe products that are not made by H-D.

Ferinstance... That's not an H-D frame. Nor is it an H-D swingarm. The motor has "Rev Tech" (or something like that, too small to tell) on the heads, which may mean Rev Tech heads on a real H-D Evo motor, but more likely means some big-inch Rev Tech motor. The whole bike is like that.

I bet a real H-D Soft Tail of about the same vintage and condition would fetch about the same, if not more.

To me, a hard tail means rigid frame, no rear suspension except maybe in the seat. A soft tail means it has rear suspension.

So this bike has a mono-shock and spring in the rear making it sorta a soft tail.

Has the Harley market improved any in the last year? A buddy had a 2 year old one which he paid $24K for. He said he was trying to sell it at $12K and had few people looking.

It seems like the crowd that is for (the fuzzy dice and Hawaiian shirt type crowd) is a herd that is starting to age out.

The used H-D market is absolutely saturated. Fifteen years ago, you couldn't buy a Harley for love or money, and dealers were selling for substantially more than MSRP because of that shortage. Well, H-D bumped production until they wound up with unsold bikes left over from the year before still sitting in showrooms when the new bikes were arriving for the next year. They have not yet recovered from that, in spite of large reductions in production. The market remains saturated. Used, low mile, very well cared for H-D's are a dime a dozen right now. No better time to buy one. Really sucks to try to sell one.

That would be nice. Old Ironheads in any kind of decent condition are getting kind of rare. Their values, however, have not begun to reflect that. They lag well behind British bikes of similar vintage.

So many of these poor bikes have suffered at the hands of the lowest rung of H-D owners and "mechanics", being chopped and bastardized beyond all recognition. The most neglected, abused, and unloved motorcycle perhaps of all time. They have a real reputation of "buyer beware", because God only knows what they've been through and what lurks inside. Truly unmolested examples are rare indeed. Too bad their value does not reflect that.

I've had this '76 since 1980. At her last rebuild, just a few years ago, I lavished her with the very best of everything. She easily outruns similar vintage British twins, and is at least as reliable. Parts are everywhere, and cheap to boot. Yet those British twins are worth three to five times as much. I'm not sure I ever see that changing.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1486425386.JPG

Aging out? NEVER!



http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1486425696.jpg

I really hope west coast choppers is doing well too .... ;)

He's got a new party partner, Alexis "why the long face" DeJoria.
Her daddy has enough money to keep them both ..........

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1486426285.jpg

I remember the Sturgis hate on PPOT:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/877142-tow-truck-operators-perfect-storm.html

Yeah, pretty much everything inside is an aftermarket performance part. S&S flywheels and rods, Wiseco 10:1 compression pistons, Andrews R5 cams, Jim's "Big Axle" lifters, Crane chrome moly pushrods, heads by Dan Baisley of Portland, OR featuring his custom roller rocker tips and porting, along with Kibblewhite springs, valves, and retainers. The tranny is fitted with Andrews gears and it runs Barnett clutch plates and springs. It breathes through an S&S Super "E" and Cycle Shack slip-on mufflers. I converted it to right hand shift as well, as the '75 and '76 Sporties had that horrible Rube Goldberg cross-over shifter to comply with Federal regs for left hand shifting. Real Sporties shift on the right...

Very fun bike. It sure surprises the EVO Sporty riders, or the old Brit bike riders. It is actually starting to get a bit of notice at the local ride-in events, so maybe there is a future for the old Ironheads after all. We'll see. This one probably isn't going anywhere, though.

Surviving members of the Village People?



http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1486425696.jpg

^^ That leather looks brand new - like it just came off the rack from the Harley dealer.

There's a Harley dealer in town offering weddings on site. Must be a way to boost revenue...

You know, I'm really not sure. Hand-shifted "Big Twin" H-D's always shifted on the left, and when the hand clutch / foot shifter took over, they remained on the left. All foot-shift Brit bikes shifted on the right, as did early Ducatis. Many others as well, like Bultacos, etc. American flat track may have influenced that a bit. Japanese bikes, on the other hand (or foot) as far as I know have always shifted on the left. I think BMW's and Guzzis have as well. Seems like it used to be that big touring bikes shifted on the left, and sport bikes on the right.

Then again, Indian offered a left hand throttle / right hand (hand shifted) shift for law enforcement use. The idea was that most cops were right handed, so it was easier for them to fire their revolvers from a moving motorcycle if the throttle were in their left hand. I kid you not...

So, who knows... our over-seeing nanny did, however, decide in 1974 that it was a matter of national importance that all bikes shift on the left...