1968 suzuki t500 cobra

[vernon dent]

picked this up from a guy today who traded a conveyor belt for it. 9900 miles, rough, but it runs and is titled.

[MacNoob]

Nice. Why isn't it smoking? ;)

[dpforth]

Check the front hub for cracks (webs inside the drum).

[killfile]

Are you going to come back to this thread and tell us how you flipped it on ebay or in the ADV flea market, like all your other bikes/threads?

[vernon dent]

Originally Posted by killfile

Are you going to come back to this thread and tell us how you flipped it on ebay or in the ADV flea market, like all your other bikes/threads?

oh the bike will be sold. ebay, cl, or some other web site. when i do i'll make sure i pm you so you can post it up.
some members just like to see bikes you don't see everyday, thats why i post the pictures. i don't solicit leads from these postings, nor do i imply i'm going to bring them back to running condition.
a lot of members on this site purchase motorcycles, then re-sell them just like auto/trucks, recreational vehicles, livestock, real estate, your neighbors riding mower you bought at his garage sale, etc.
yep, i buy and sell a few, no secret.

[killfile]

Originally Posted by vernon dent

oh the bike will be sold. ebay, cl, or some other web site. when i do i'll make sure i pm you so you can post it up.
some members just like to see bikes you don't see everyday, thats why i post the pictures. i don't solicit leads from these postings, nor do i imply i'm going to bring them back to running condition.
a lot of members on this site purchase motorcycles, then re-sell them just like auto/trucks, recreational vehicles, livestock, real estate, your neighbors riding mower you bought at his garage sale, etc.
yep, i buy and sell a few, no secret.

I believe that most of the people that fix, repair and up keep old motorcycles are like a loose knit family. If I had not been given some very kind free advice and been offered numerous bikes from charitable individuals, I wouldn't have the small collection that I have now (all of which I ride). Personally, I'm a little offended when I see individuals that go after exceptional deals, haggle to no end with sellers to get ultra low prices and then flip bikes for high prices.

This thread is a perfect example of that, but thank goodness the bike is now in the hands of someone that is putting some proper work into it, rather than just flipping it:
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=772319

In the 90s I bought about 15-20 bikes for between free and $300. I turned around and sold most of those bikes to people in my local motorcycle community for the price I paid, or for slightly more to cover my cost only. One of the last bikes I sold was a fairly amazing specimen that I had purchased for $300, with a number of problems. I took the bike completely apart, did some work, but didn't complete the bike before I decided to move to another state. I sold this bike to a young man that was trying to get started on vintage bikes with his first purchase. I sold it to him for $600, a fraction of what it was worth, but an amount that respected the price I had purchased the bike for, and who it was going to. When I returned home a couple years later, one of the local shop openers came and told me to my face that I had been silly to sell such a bike for such a low price, and that he had gouged every penny out of the poor kid to finish fixing the bike, to the extent of $2000. He was proud of how he had made money off a new individual into the community, I was horrified.

I believe the interconnectivity of the web has grossly inflated the profit margin on vintage motorcycle, as well as the resulting prices. Personally, I think this is a shame, as I see this as people who put money above the love of motorcycles and above working to keep the local and global motorcycle communities alive. For every post like the Kawasaki Triple post, I feel saddened by people's greed and selfishness, but those that are motivated by money are not the types to care about my opinion. I guess I'll have to keep throwing free shows for my local community and trying to broker vintage motorcycle sales at reasonable prices. Anyone want a R50/2 at a reasonable price and promises to ride it instead of flipping it on ebay?

YMMV.

[assquatch20]

Originally Posted by killfile

Anyone want a R50/2 at a reasonable price and promises to ride it instead of flipping it on ebay?

Ha, you bet I do! I don't know what a reasonable price for a /2 is though.

[vernon dent]

Originally Posted by killfile

I believe that most of the people that fix, repair and up keep old motorcycles are like a loose knit family. If I had not been given some very kind free advice and been offered numerous bikes from charitable individuals, I wouldn't have the small collection that I have now (all of which I ride). Personally, I'm a little offended when I see individuals that go after exceptional deals, haggle to no end with sellers to get ultra low prices and then flip bikes for high prices.

This thread is a perfect example of that, but thank goodness the bike is now in the hands of someone that is putting some proper work into it, rather than just flipping it:
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=772319

In the 90s I bought about 15-20 bikes for between free and $300. I turned around and sold most of those bikes to people in my local motorcycle community for the price I paid, or for slightly more to cover my cost only. One of the last bikes I sold was a fairly amazing specimen that I had purchased for $300, with a number of problems. I took the bike completely apart, did some work, but didn't complete the bike before I decided to move to another state. I sold this bike to a young man that was trying to get started on vintage bikes with his first purchase. I sold it to him for $600, a fraction of what it was worth, but an amount that respected the price I had purchased the bike for, and who it was going to. When I returned home a couple years later, one of the local shop openers came and told me to my face that I had been silly to sell such a bike for such a low price, and that he had gouged every penny out of the poor kid to finish fixing the bike, to the extent of $2000. He was proud of how he had made money off a new individual into the community, I was horrified.

I believe the interconnectivity of the web has grossly inflated the profit margin on vintage motorcycle, as well as the resulting prices. Personally, I think this is a shame, as I see this as people who put money above the love of motorcycles and above working to keep the local and global motorcycle communities alive. For every post like the Kawasaki Triple post, I feel saddened by people's greed and selfishness, but those that are motivated by money are not the types to care about my opinion. I guess I'll have to keep throwing free shows for my local community and trying to broker vintage motorcycle sales at reasonable prices. Anyone want a R50/2 at a reasonable price and promises to ride it instead of flipping it on ebay?

YMMV.

Rick Brett is probably the most knowledgeable and comprehensive collector/restorer/retailer of early kawasaki's in the world.
ultimately that bike will be restored to concourse condition, then sold for a price that makes what i sold it for look like peanuts. or he may already have a buyer for it overseeing the bikes restoration. Rick does the same thing i do, just on a much larger scale. i buy 'em one at a time, a few a year.
http://www.classickawasaki.com/
http://www.classickawasaki.com/bikesforsale.htm
i disagree with your statement that the internet has grossly over inflated a bike or a bike parts worth. i think its just the opposite.

[nachtflug]

Originally Posted by killfile

For every post like the Kawasaki Triple post, I feel saddened by people's greed and selfishness, but those that are motivated by money are not the types to care about my opinion..

given the condition of that bike what was he supposed to pay for it. that thing had more issues than bikes that are on ships sunken during WW2.

[Valleyrider]

Nice find!! Hope the crankseals are OK...

[killfile]

Originally Posted by vernon dent

ick Brett is probably the most knowledgeable and comprehensive collector/restorer/retailer of early kawasaki's in the world.
i disagree with your statement that the internet has grossly over inflated a bike or a bike parts worth. i think its just the opposite.

Yes, thank god that bike is in Rick's hands now. He fixes them up and sells his work for a profit, which is very different than buy a bike and simply passing it along for 5x the price.
I don't see how you can say the net has brought prices down. It has made parts more available and easier to find, but they are at a premium now. This price increase has filtered down to even the swamp meets out here, where every Tom Dick and Harry thinks the rusty parts they bring to the swaps are coated in gold.

Originally Posted by nachtflug

given the condition of that bike what was he supposed to pay for it. that thing had more issues than bikes that are on ships sunken during WW2.

Vernon paid a low amount for the bike and then sold it to someone else for 5x the price, without doing a single thing to it. From this post, I'm assuming that's common behavior for him, hence my post.


Valleyrider is right, good luck with the crank seals, and don't forget the 1400 cc improvement while you are in there.

[vernon dent]

Originally Posted by killfile

Yes, thank god that bike is in Rick's hands now. He fixes them up and sells his work for a profit, which is very different than buy a bike and simply passing it along for 5x the price.
I don't see how you can say the net has brought prices down. It has made parts more available and easier to find, but they are at a premium now. This price increase has filtered down to even the swamp meets out here, where every Tom Dick and Harry thinks the rusty parts they bring to the swaps are coated in gold.



Vernon paid a low amount for the bike and then sold it to someone else for 5x the price, without doing a single thing to it. From this post, I'm assuming that's common behavior for him, hence my post.


Valleyrider is right, good luck with the crank seals, and don't forget the 1400 cc improvement while you are in there.

i don't think its brought bikes or bike parts prices down, i think now their true value is now being shown in a world market compared to a local, regional or national one.
Rick knew what i bought the bike for, he also knew its inherent value. i've bought motorcycles that i know people have bought for a fraction of what i paid them for it, but i wanted the bike. and like Brett, i sold them and made a profit.
if you gauge your behavior in everyday life based on how much someone is making off you, i don't know how you survive. especially in san francisco.
i'm familiar with the gear box issues inherent in the earlier t500's. it won't be an issue for me.

[nachtflug]

Originally Posted by killfile

Vernon paid a low amount for the bike and then sold it to someone else for 5x the price, without doing a single thing to it.

so based on that it's safe to say that if the original owner of that train wreck of an H2 had wheeled (assuming it rolls) the bike into Rick Brett's shop and said "what will you give me for it" Rick Brett would have given him exactly what he paid for it on ebay. get real Vernon isn't gouging anyone he came across a bike in need of serious help and sold it for what someone was willing to pay for it. it's not some starter like you "sold to people in your community for the price you paid" the bike is one of the later year H2's which were made in significantly less numbers than the earlier ones and are in serious enough demand to warrant what it brought plain and simple. your not very well hidden premise that Vernon is gouging people is bullshit.

[nachtflug]

Originally Posted by vernon dent

picked this up from a guy today who traded a conveyor belt for it. 9900 miles, rough, but it runs and is titled.

buff it.

[killfile]

and he's going to flip it on ebay, which appears to be the usual:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1968-...#ht_500wt_1021

$2750

Hopefully it will end up in the hands of someone that will treat it right. If it sells at that price it most likely go abroad.