junk

I drove about ninety miles today to buy a 1972 450wr that was advertised as being in great shape. When I got there the bike had rust on the shocks and spokes,dents in the tank and a bad seat on it. The bike ran well and started fairly easy. Before making the trip I was told this bike was a 7.5 on a scale of one to ten. The asking price for this bike was $1200.00 which I felt was fair for a 7.5 but not a 2. How much do these bikes go for in poor cosmetic condition?

Dude,
welcome to the post Barret-Jackson / American Pickers world.... thanks to Tv shows like these and others, some think everything old, is now gold !

In this day of Digital cameras and computers I won't drive more than 50 miles to look at any bike without seeing a picture of it,or a referral from some one I trust. Just look on Ebay and you'll see what people think is Mint!

The trouble with vintage stuff a lot of the time is that the guys who buy it are going to take it to a restorer and pay like $75 per hour for every hour anyone in the restorers shop spends on it and hence think the guy with the thing shouldn't hardly get any money. That may or may not effect your thinking. You could always get a nicer one when it shows up, $1200 could dissapear quick at a vet if you have a dog or a horse and it is pretty hard to negotiate. It is only money, you found a whole one that ran and you could test out, sure someone is letting something similar go for $100 because someone else left it in their basement 14 years ago. When you start crashing or your friends crash and go to the emergency room one can come to the conclusion new bikes are quite reasonably priced. Then you have the issue of what it will bring sold in pieces. You can end up with the same kind of situation on machinerytrader.com with posted hours and find that the hour meter must have been turned over at least once once you get there.

sounds like a 300.00 project to me.

That's even too much for a 450 A 400 yes, but not a 450.

Pends on what you want

Vintage bikes are a lot like a Vegas vacation. A lot of fond memeries but you aint gettin the $$$$$ back. I just payed to much for a
73 CR400 and a WR450 motor to build a bike like I had 30 year ago
Not because it was a wise investment But because I want one and was just going to waste the money on food and electricty anyway.

$300.00 would have been about right for this bike. The thing that gets me is that if the sellers would spend a little time on the bikes they may get a little more for them.

most owners of these old bikes really dont want or care what they look like, and will likely have a great story of how bad ass the bike is...{eyeroll}
personally, i like the 450,s i love the bottom end grunt they have, and are awesome for todays vintage tracks.
with todays economy. cash talks.... if you make an offer, just give the seller you number, likely they will call you in a week or 2...

Very True and shows like Antique Roadshow.
On American Pickers they will say, "Hey, I will give you $100 for that rusted out bicycle frame..." and the owner will say, "Hey, give me $125 and we have a deal..." Picker says, "OK!!! Sweet!!"
Yes, Craigslist is full of these.

a Zundapp that hs spark???wow,, now thats rare...
however,.. i sold a 67 OSSA one of 310 built...
it was a POS rusted out pile...paid 45.00 for the bike, sold on ebay...for 1650.00 and went top Spain,...them old 4 speed OSSA,s still fetch top dollar,
my opening bid was 49.99.....
i bid a 4 speed OSSA trials up to 1200.00 that needed everything...it sold for 1800.00
they have deaper pockets them me.

A guy was looking for a 82 430XC and someone gave him my number. He called and asked if I had one and if so was it for sale? I said I do and maybe! I described the condition the best I could and told him the price, $3500. He about hung up on me, so what? He them proceeded to tell me why my price was out of line, I listened politely untill he was done. I told him that maybe he would be happier with a new 450 so just add another 5 grand to that and he could have a brand new one. He said "wow" I never thought about it that way.
I said I wasn't really interested in selling it and thats what its worth to me, what would I replace it with that I enjoy as much? I searched along time for a "survivor" 82 430XC and spent alot of time and money thereafter. I was nice about it and told him I had a good core rebuilder if he was intersted. I feel any collectable is only worth what someone will pay for it at that time. If there is no "book value" that a bank will loan money on, its value is high bid!

dirtdame///// heres the hook up//

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