Forum

[Onedayrestoration]

Hi,

Not been here for some time, but thought I'd try my luck, or at least glean an opinion, which I know you lot are very good at offering!

My current ad on Gumtree, my second recently, Ad ID: 1178022765, is just a dead loss. I've had it on the Bay' recently too. But no inquiries at all.
My own observations, on other, similar, Bullets for sale, is that Bullet buyers seem to be a very fickle bunch indeed. Some prices seem ludicrously high, others, very low.
I'm not a member of the REOC anymore, and would gladly do a deal with someone, member or not.
This is a lot of bike for less than £1500, and I'm losing bundles on my outlay, since buying the bike in 2009.
I think though, and pardon the obvious pun, I may just have to 'bite the Bullet', re-tax it, and start using it again. At least I wont have to buy any parts to keep it rolling for a while!

Keep the Faith.

Alan

[Onedayrestoration]

You can also check this item, For Sale, if the first post gets 'pulled' by the moderators here!

Ad ID: 1172984536

Alan

[nigelphoto]

IMHO its not that Bullet Buyers are a fickle bunch, more the time of year. I have been on the lookout for a Tornado for a while (5 spd left side g'change - quite rare) and eventually paid £2600 3 months ago. Two have come up recently and went for £2250 with less mileage. Ho hum!

[sofiaspin]

I am on the side of 'fickle', maybe even simply tight-fisted. It is rare to see a second hand bike sell for more than £3k, and those that do are relatively new and low mileage. I have a pal who will not, whatever it takes, pay more than £1500. This is in spite of the undeniable fact that much better bikes are £2 - £.2k, as they will often have lots of bits on them. I recently bought a Leanburn, and have spent £2k, making it a £4k purchase. I got it for a very good price, but it is unlikely to make more than £2.5k on resale despite now being a much better, lighter, faster and superior machine. It is the market and you just have to go with that!

[Onedayrestoration]

I welcome more views on this, as it defies logic to me, that a piece of Indian junk, that has had more than twice, or even three time it's original purchase price spent on it, can still only fetch little more than the original sum paid out.

As you'll note, and you can see on a near daily basis, there are stacks of little used, low mileage Bullets out there, with some very nice ones too, most, with small fortunes lavished on them. They seem to fetch a fair price, but only if they're rarely, if ever used at all. And of course, once the miles start going on, your lovely Bullet will eventually fail, again...
My Bullet is well used, compared to some, and my mistake has been hoarding too many Indian parts bought in 'job lots'. But these parts, I note, and not just through this site, are still fetching good money, and a lot of new Classic/pre EFI bits are still coming out of India.

I'm surprised though, and a little disappointed, that my recent efforts to sell this one, have proved fruitless, and I cant even attain a four figure sum for it.

It has certainly been a costly ride this one, having spent well over 4k since 2009, with over £1300 spent here alone! (Can you spot where I've spent £1300+ in my advert pictures?).
As a comparison, on parts prices alone, I had a Z1000, that sold last August after 1 year of ownership, that could have been potentially crippling in expenses, but fortunately, I only lost £300!
It's how people view things I suppose. My Bullet is sound and everything worksfine and it goes well, but it's still a pile of Indian junk. A rather costly pile indeed.
I'm still looking for a sale though, and not another bike, as I'm actually giving it up, and really, have no use for it, even though its still insured until next year.
Time will tell.

[sofiaspin]

I am afraid you are being delusional if you revert to logic, it is the market, regardless of Indian junk or not. We buy these bikes and lavish bits on them because they are close copies of Brit bikes of old, the purchase price is low and you can fiddle and fettle to your hearts content for reasonable cost compared to a Triton, but when you sell, it does not retain any real value. You have to just take it on the chin or keep the bike, as you intimate, which is probably the best option. If not, go and buy a new Triumph but you will get bored soon enough. I did.

[jefrs]

I must be doing something wrong because Gumtree Ad Id 1178022765 comes up as "Royal Enfield Bullet Spares/Breaking" whereas Ebay has a number of 350s listed around £1700 asking price.

[Bertie the Bullet]

Just had a look, and while I'm sure you have spent a small fortune doing it up, bike restoration is usually a money pit, seldom do you make money from it, unless your doing a sought after classic, and if you don't mind me saying so, it looks tatty what with the worn badges, box section, dull paint and not worth what your asking,just my opinion...

[Onedayrestoration]

You can certainly get a lot of bike for your money these days with the Classic Bullets. Plenty of choice out there I know for sure.
As most are aware though, the rarity factor makes a difference to prices of all commodities.
It may well be worth my while keeping hold of this bike too, as, in the past, I've let all my others go, all 70's Jap Fours, and we've all seen how much they're now fetching!
Possibly, another winter in the shed coming on.....

[Onedayrestoration]

Put this in the search box on the Tree': Ad ID: 1172984536 for some more pictures.
I cant be arsed with a Photo Bouquet account at the mo'!
I was being 'clever' running two ad's in there, bit makes no difference, lots of views it seems under 'stats', but I've never, ever had any success at all selling stuff via the Tree',
with spammers and scammers only it seems!
And trying to beat the Bay's 'system' doesn't always work...