Is the market going south?

[soonerbillz]

I know this could be posted in the Ebay forum but I wanted to ask that question in a more general manner.
I have no idea why the fellow is selling. But if it's profitable why sell?

https://www.facebook.com/groups/813260878763572/permalink/2374016556021322/

[85RZwade]

That's a good question Scott, but I think the more important question is: can I borrow $55K?

[soonerbillz]

LOL Wade!

[m in sc]

might just be tired of it, have to move for family reasons, lost whoever actually made the business work, sick.. or its not profitable. who knows. best thing for them would be for them to have an auction house sell it all individually. Might be a kid selling off a parents business, or a sibling selling off an estate, or a widow. who knows.

[soonerbillz]

The seller is a fellow that is fairly well known in the Yamaha Enduro collectors world he has built quite a few really nice restored bikes over the last few years that I've seen none of it really taken lightly it's really nice stuff that he's done so that's why I'm kind of surprised that he's selling I guess he's like all of us getting long in the tooth and ready to do something different a little less strenuous

[irk_miller]

I looks like a screaming deal to me, and one I wish I had the cash for.

[Economy Cycle John]

55K is an investment level purchase. It will take a very long time and a bunch of work to turn that into 55K just to break even let alone a decent return.

Just cataloging and marketing it will take countless hours, so many unknowns, so many unique parts each having to be listed individually. Space to store it would cost 500-1k/month, then there's packing and shipping all that stuff that'd be 5-10K or so.

This is a pile of used bikes and parts that no one really wanted or were picked up cheap, priced more for its potential than its actual value. And that's the problem I see everywhere with these bulk deals for used parts. If you consider the time/value of money and the OH costs, not such a great deal. That's like 20k max to me and even then not sure I'd want to do it.

And I doubt he paid anywhere near 55K for that stuff, a lot of it was probably free taken on trades or forfeited. I have a whole collection of parts and bikes that didn't work out for whatever reason, every bike shop has it to some degree. That looks like a lifetime of those parts.

[irk_miller]

I just sold an IT200 this summer for $3500.  There's one in a pic.  There's an SL, one of which I sold this summer for $2500.  A CB160 will get you close to $2k as a complete runner in good shape. Not a resto. Obviously, the SL and CB need work.  The IT, looks all there.  I will, in no way, argue with the notion that this is an investment deal.  It's very much an investment deal. But there's plenty there to make money with $55k. There's enough in that haul to bring in $30k in less than 2 years, without putting a huge dent in that stock.  I'd want to know much more than the pics show to really get an idea if the rest is merely castoffs. 

[rodneya]

I have to admit that I dont see any value in that. The amount of time and effort required to get any return is huge. Even if it was free and you already had the space to store it. Most of that stuff is most likely unusable

[pdxjim]

I've had a few friends thru the years who've run "cycle salvage" businesses here in Portland.

My buddy Kenny bought out Western Cycle Salvage, then would buy up barn bikes, and hoarder collections, parting them out on Ebay.  "CYCLE HEAP" did pretty well for awhile, breaking bikes, cataloging the parts, posting them up on Ebay, and shipping them all over the world.  As Ebay fees went up, and their vendor relations policies got more challenging, he sold off the whole pile to another group of dudes.

These other dudes tried to run the HEAP as a walk in shop for awhile ... they threw in the towel a couple of years ago.

I guess actually, I know a bunch of dudes who've tried to run the same "cycle salvage" business here in Portland.

Moral of the story:  DON'T DO IT, TRYING TO MAKE MONEY OFF A DISORGANIZED GREASY PILE OF OLD MOTORCYCLE PARTS SUCKS AND WILL DRIVE YOU CRAZY.

[IR8D8R]

Being in business like this in a niche market isn't for everyone. I had a friend who sold parts and did machine work for Italian sports cars. I worked for him for a couple years in the late 90's. He had to expand into things that didn't interest him to pay his bills like BMW, Jaguar, and Range Rover parts. He ended up throwing out all his parts for Fiat 500, 600, and 850 cars because nobody bought them any more. The BMW, Jag, and Range Rover customers were complete arrogant a**holes.

He got really frustrated with doing business with the public and restricted things to supplying specialty shops. The DIY jerks that came into the shop were so damned annoying. People waste your time and try to return stuff they shouldn't have bought in the first place. Then give them back to you with their greasy fingerprints all over and pieces missing. Destroy parts because they don't know what they are doing. Break things and try to blame you for selling bad stuff. You spend all day arguing on the phone with these guys and go home angry. The sound of a phone ringing makes you twitch after a while. "Uhh How much is a starter?" (&%$*) "Year make and model". "I don't know what kind of car you have". "No Ford parts here". 150 times every day... You have to know how every part gets removed and installed but don't get paid for explaining.

IR8D8R

[m in sc]

this is exaclty why i never got into it for a living. I've worked in a specialized repair and restoration business before (10 years). when its good, its the most satisfying thing in the world. the other 75% of the time dealing with the public... it sucks. 

IF YOU WERE RETIRED, had a pile of money to live on and just wanted to do it to do it, different story as you could then pick and choose your customers. a lot of value to telling somebody to 'fuck off' and not worry about paying the bills when you do.

[teazer]

All relevant comments.  Irk mentioned that there are a couple of nice bikes and that's the way it works.  You sell off the best stuff ie highest dollar items and as you move down the list you end up with more and more parts that no one needs or wants.

A pile of RD parts and parts bikes are potentially of use to someone restoring or building RDs.  A trove of GT parts is useful up to a point for someone building GTs but you quickly run out of stuff that anyone wants and as John from Economy pointed out, that's a lot of stuff to work through and potentially to clean and list and try to sell.  It's a lot of hard work for very low return.

To those of us that love farting around with old bikes, it looks like a pile of hidden gems, but only for those that are young enough to make it all work out and with enough spare time and cash.

I picked up a truck load of GT750 parts a few years ago and have used some of those parts for sure, and piles of it went to recycling - like about a ton of it - literally.  And I could build a bike from what's left BUT i still would have to buy a lot of parts that are not in that pile and it's not cost effective.