[HarleyJay]

Just wondering, there might be some funny stories here.

Have you ever gone to sell a beloved bike only to refuse to sell it when the potential new owner started talking about chopping, cafe racing or said they would street fighter a bike you have lavished, loved and pampered over.

Me personally no, but if I had a nice bike and a breaker turned up or started talking about breaking up the bike that is in good condition I would.

:smile_big:

 

[GatorJoe]

Several Times on my FXR4 .. 316 Made like this one, No Way Jose .. Finally did sell it to a collector for almost double Book Value who strictly wanted it how it came off the Showroom ..

 

[vito]

I have a hard time imagining being concerned about what someone who buys my bike plans to do with it. I enjoy riding, but the bike itself is just a piece of hardware. Once I decide to sell its because I am already planning on getting another bike and that's all I am focused on. If I get the right price for my current bike, or a decent trade in price from the dealer, that's all I care about. There are only two motorcycles that I have any cares or concerns about: the bike I own now, and the one I am thinking of getting.

 

[Oz]

No, never refused to sell a bike out of concern for the bike, but I did come close to not selling out of concern for the buyer.

About 5 years ago a retired vet with a prosthetic leg wanted to buy my FLHPI Police Harley. I met with him to make sure he could handle the weight. He could, so I sold the bike.

 

[cmonSTART]

Never had the situation with a bike I sold or bought, but the PO of my old VW Bus would only sell it to me after I convinced him I knew what I was doing and could/would perform the necessary repairs.

 

[Critter]

Like your tag line there Cmon

 

[3crows]

I once refused to sell a motorcycle to a young fellow. He did not sound especially young when i spoke tp him on the phone but hen he showed up he was a young fellow, barely 18 and enlisted and about to depart for the sand box area. I asked him if he had owned a motorcycle before and the answer was negative. I refused and told him to come back with either his mom or is CO.

The bike was a SV650S with Two Brothers exhaust, cam, 750 kit and it was a beauty and it was too much motorcycle for the kid with no experience. He got quite upset with me and stormed off with some explicatives thrown in. The next day I got a phone call from his mommy. The bike, like I said was a beauty and mint and around here, the only one. So, they show back up with a note from the CO and the mom in tow. At this point I shrugged and told him I would sell him the motorcycle but that I would deliver it to his mom's place and that he could not ride it until returning from tour. Some more whining and crying ensued but mom put her foot down and agreed that he was leaving in three days and that having the motorcycle to dream upon while gone was a good thing.

I delivered it and handed the keys to mom and mailed the keys to the CO with the explanation of why and that he was not to give them to the kid until he got home. About six months later, he shows up on my motorcycle and thanked me.

3C

 

[Offcenter]

Hasn't happened yet.
But my '76 Goldwing will eventually be for sale.
I sure as heck don't want it to go to someone who'll make a damned bobber out of it.
I'd like it to go to someone who will finish the restoration that I started.

 

[FlipFlop]

The guy I bought Winger from has a GL1100 he and I were talking about and he offered it to me and I told him all I would ever use it for is parts. He told me he would not sell it to me then lol!

He has no title to it due to being lazy and not transferring it(since it was an Indiana title I would pay all the taxes on it since it has not been transferred), and it has been sitting unmaintained for the last 4 years outside in Florida (under a carport), thus my reasoning. I told him get a title and get it runnable and drivable and sell it for what it is worth, but as it sat, it was worth only parts to me.

 

[Critter]

I once refused to sell a motorcycle to a young fellow. He did not sound especially young when i spoke tp him on the phone but hen he showed up he was a young fellow, barely 18 and enlisted and about to depart for the sand box area. I asked him if he had owned a motorcycle before and the answer was negative. I refused and told him to come back with either his mom or is CO.

The bike was a SV650S with Two Brothers exhaust, cam, 750 kit and it was a beauty and it was too much motorcycle for the kid with no experience. He got quite upset with me and stormed off with some explicatives thrown in. The next day I got a phone call from his mommy. The bike, like I said was a beauty and mint and around here, the only one. So, they show back up with a note from the CO and the mom in tow. At this point I shrugged and told him I would sell him the motorcycle but that I would deliver it to his mom's place and that he could not ride it until returning from tour. Some more whining and crying ensued but mom put her foot down and agreed that he was leaving in three days and that having the motorcycle to dream upon while gone was a good thing.

I delivered it and handed the keys to mom and mailed the keys to the CO with the explanation of why and that he was not to give them to the kid until he got home. About six months later, he shows up on my motorcycle and thanked me.

3C

That is a great story and even better that he finally appreciated it in the end. Well done.

 

[ketchboy]

A neighbor of mine has been after me for years to sell my bike to him. Every bike he gets, he takes to a builder and has it cut, chopped, bobbed, whatever. They are nice looking bikes, but that doesn't mean I should sell my bike for his next project. Oh yeah, my bike is a 90% original 1966 Harley Shovelhead.

My Son is after me to sell him my 1981 Suzuki gs1000gl. All original with 44,000 miles, he told me he has visions of making a cafe racer out of it. I told him he could have it and do what he wanted to it....after I'm dead.

Just my opinion here, but I think too many of these old bikes are being butchered. I know that new owners want to make the bike 'theirs', but if it's original, leave it alone.

 

[Offcenter]

Just my opinion here, but I think too many of these old bikes are being butchered. I know that new owners want to make the bike 'theirs', but if it's original, leave it alone.

I agree one hundred percent!
These old bikes need to be preserved.

 

[WingMan71]

... Just my opinion here, but I think too many of these old bikes are being butchered. I know that new owners want to make the bike 'theirs', but if it's original, leave it alone.

I totally agree!

I restore vintage Japanese motorcycles for a hobby. I've done about a dozen in the past ten years. In most cases I'm starting with a bike that has been put up, ignored, or not well cared for, so I can easily put four to five months of effort into the restorations. I always restore them to original condition as they left the factory because that's the way I like them.

When I do sell them, I am sure to vet any potential buyer. I'm looking for those who prefer factory original like me. If I even smell a whiff of cafe racer, chopper, modified, etc. coming from a potential buyer, he or she is not going to get my restored bike. I've got too much time and energy and care into making them original.

As usual, YMMV. :grin:

 

[soupy1957]

Sure!! Especially if they couldn’t pay!!

 

[HarleyJay]

I totally agree!

I restore vintage Japanese motorcycles for a hobby. I've done about a dozen in the past ten years. In most cases I'm starting with a bike that has been put up, ignored, or not well cared for, so I can easily put four to five months of effort into the restorations. I always restore them to original condition as they left the factory because that's the way I like them.

When I do sell them, I am sure to vet any potential buyer. I'm looking for those who prefer factory original like me. If I even smell a whiff of cafe racer, chopper, modified, etc. coming from a potential buyer, he or she is not going to get my restored bike. I've got too much time and energy and care into making them original.

As usual, YMMV. :grin:

That happens a lot over in the UK, especially with these hipster type people who buy old Honda CB's and turn them into Cafe racers I have to admit some of them look really good but more than often enough they looked like savaged POS usually made from old bikes in great condition.

I had a bike sold to me really cheap that needed a load of work done on it and wasn't running I spent a lot of time and money on it getting it back to being road worthy, all it needed was brake pads/shoe tires and chain and sprockets I had cleaned/fixed the bike back to good, swapped it with a guy who told me he wanted to return to riding a cruiser, got told later he actually bought it to chop, got to admit my heart did sink and I thought should of kept it.