Having just published the charts for classic motorcycle price increases from 2010 to 2017 and they are the most telling charts I have ever worked on. Look at how Honda CB750 K0 Sandcast prices are just starting to break out, increasing 32% in 2016 and 80% in the last year. Now there is a lot to know about these machines and I will be writing another article shortly devoted to the Sandcast, so don’t go looking on fleaSpray for one, or you’ll lose your shirt. Prices vary enormously, but I am quoting for investment grade motorcycles not for the pretty piles of nuts and bolts that are being touted around the market place to the public. As a broker, I buy 8% of the machines put in front of me, because I work for the client. If a machine is not investment grade, then I won’t sell it or buy it for a client. Shops do not work in this way. One thing you can be sure of is that, as prices rise, only the investment grade classic motorcycles will make top dollar.
From an investment point of view, the Honda CB750 Sandcast has increased most significantly and will continue to do so and join the ranks of the top price classic motorcycles and other machines will now follow the Sandcast’s lead. But there is something else going on underneath all of this. There is an enormous demand for genuine (genuine being the operative word here) MV Agusta 750 Sports, Ducati Green frame 750SS, Brough Superiors and Vincents. Prices for these top end machines have really pushed on hard and are becoming firmer without taking a rest. This means, from the clients who are contacting me, that a lot of money from classic car investment is moving into classic motorcycle investment at the top end. They view the motorcycles as undervalued and this will put further upward pressure on these top end classic motorcycles price wise.
You can be sure that the 1972 Kawasaki Z1 900 is rarer and has always, historically, been a little more expensive than the Sandcast and genuine examples of these are long overdue a price increase. Honda’s CBX1000 has been a very steady performer, but will follow in the Sandcast’s footsteps. Both the Honda CBX1000 and Kawasaki Z1 900 have increased in price considerably more in the U.S. than in the U.K. so prices will go up as people export their machines to achieve a better price. I cannot stress how difficult it is to find a 1972 Z1 900, or Sandcast that is spot on. The last time I found a Z1 900 ’72 model that was absolutely correct, it took me two years to find it. Investment grade classic motorcycles are very difficult to find, but finding pretty piles of nuts and bolts is easy, the market is full of them.
Suzuki’s GS1000S Wes Cooley Replica is a quiet (no that is not a spelling mistake) strong performer (I have not yet done the chart for this machine). It has increased 200% in two years in the U.K. and in the U.S. is worth far more than in Europe, so prices will take off on this machine.
Yamaha’s XS1100 has been a steady performer, but is due a discovery from the avid collectors, as they try to complete their classic motorcycle collections and realise that there are no machines to be had out there.
Ducati! Well what a great performing marque! In 2010 the 916 SP, Factory Replica and Foggy Replica could be snapped up for just £5,000 a piece for stunning examples. Now we live in a very different world and I believe that these will be the Brough Superiors of the future. Prices are taking a well-deserved breather at the moment making it a great time to buy one of these, but investment grade machines are becoming seriously difficult to find. Also, the legendary Bevel Drives will become Brough money too- very quickly indeed. I already mentioned the Green Frames (headed to £150,000+ over the coming years) that have rocketed since Ian Falloon’s book about them in 2011. 1970s MV Agustas are also moving upwards and showing no slow down in demand for investment grade pieces.
So what does this mean for Broughs, Vincents and MV Agustas? Well these are the Picassos of the classic motorcycle world and with China now entering the market…..something has to be the Ferrari GTO of the classic motorcycle world. The prices these machines are available for now will be unrecognisable in two or three years time. In much the same way as we look back at 2010 prices now, we will be wishing we all had time machines. If you don’t believe me, then read this article I wrote in 2013 to the end. There is a rare Sandcast coming up for auction at H and H later this year and this should achieve a very strong price which will have a profound effect on the classic motorcycle investment market and create more upward pressure on prices for investment grade machines.
Which way prices move into 2018? I’m fairly certain they will only go upwards much, much further.
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