2 Strokes Down Under

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/yamaha-RD35 ... 0005.m1851

$710 with two days to go

You would have to pay me to take it away - there is nothing good on it - everything would have to be restored or replaced - AND some hard to find bits are missing.

Good to see though if you are an owner of such classics.

Not sure I share that view sorry OE.

Matching numbers and largely complete for less than a grand. Solid enough basis for a resto in my opinion and I have fixed up worse examples to be honest.

Pooraka isnt all that far from me

I'd have some reservations about how seized up it might be and how much a resto might cost but if it's all or 90 percent there and you're up for a project it's tempting. So long as the title and ownership aren't questionable.

No papers with it. In SA you'd need a bill of sale and you'd be taking a potential risk if any previous owner objected or if there's any bad history. People down here seem to be quite unworried about these things though.

Ended at $1500.......that's $1500 more than I would pay.

Depending on my financial position and opportunity to work on it at the time, probably $500 to $700 more than I'd "want" to pay for that one. If the title could be sorted out. If the thing wasn't too seized up and rusty.

I guess some of the main the questions are probably:
How much, realistically, would a nice one cost?
How much does a buyer balance wanting to "make money" on it versus do a resto.

The "economics" of these things is weird. In modern times we think of every damn thing as a financial investment.

A given type of bike becomes popular, has a core of enthusiastic people with emotional/historical attachment to it,
price goes up a bit,
then becomes something of a fad or fashion,
price goes up a bit more,
then extra people attach themselves to it,
price starts to accelerate,
Then it becomes "a thing" that bike X, or types like it from a particular time are "collectible/worth a lot/appreciating"
Becomes "investment" material.
Price goes ballistic.
All the speculators start putting anything from farmyard scrap to poor resto's to immaculate resto's out there at very steep prices.
The original enthusiasts are now priced out of it, unless they already have a few tucked away.

At that point I say "What could I buy for that kind of money?" and it's often a really nice 15 year old superbike with enough change for a full set of plush leathers, two hookers and a hotel room for the weekend. I made the last bit up to see if you were still reading ;-)

Have to say that there’s a great deal of sage thought in your post BRG. There is some guy on Gumtree asking $11.5k for a restored Elsie - utter madness in my opinion. My own LC won best Yamaha at the National VJMC rally and I couldn’t ask that sort of money for it and sleep at night frankly.

Bargains are still out there if you look hard enough (I recently picked up a very tidy 1983 KE 175 for a grand) but as you say, some folks think anything old and 2T is worth a fortune.

Whilst I am happy enough with my collection, there are a few desirable models that are already out of reach price-wise, so their owners may end up finding they have to lower their expectations if they genuinely want to sell and not just win the lottery.

Anothery..........



https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/dapto/m ... 1188595076

Any one we know? (SA) I don't like the general but I like the effort and the 'stressed' paintwork - the detail like the OEM foot pegs with DG pipes are lacking.

It's a bit Hipster, but overall I kinda like it.
Not sure about those tyres in a hard corner though.
Five grand to you Sir, if the ad is to be believed.

Utter shite imho sorry. No RD should ever have that pain inflicted on it!