Sell your bike at the right time

Do some research and anticipate the market to maximise profit

I’ve got to sell another bike or two. I’ve been clearing stuff out over the last couple of months but I’ve still not got all that much space, so something’s got to go.

First off is my classic BMW R60/6. I bought this off a mate three years ago, when values were around the £2500 mark for one as clean as this. I paid £2200 on mates rates and he got my Guzzi California cheap in return, so all was fair and square. It’s now worth around £3500, and I think it’s time to cash in. Besides, I’ve still got my tuned BMW R100RS, and nobody needs two old airhead BMWs, do they?

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Then there’s the 75-miles-from-new 1978 Honda CG125 I bought a year ago. I’d get my money back on that for sure, but prices haven’t yet started rising for the early Japanese-built CGs like they have for the OHC CB series. But they will.

I’ve acquired a complete cylinder head assembly for the Honda CD200 Benly that turned out to have only sea-level compression on one pot. I’m hoping it’s just a dropped valve, but there may be piston damage as well. I won’t know until I’ve lifted the head off, anyway.

Prices of these things are starting to rise as well. Time was, a few years ago, when £500 was all you needed for a nice original one, but now average examples are changing hands for £750 or so and starting money for a good one is a grand.

Interestingly, I’ve noticed two examples reappear for sale on eBay after supposedly being sold before, which suggests that the first buyer, in each case, found something nasty in the woodwork. It’s always worth checking a seller’s history to see if the bike you’re buying has popped up before. One of them might be the bike I walked away from the other day. So selling for a proper profit is all about timing.

Looking for the perfect two-wheeled companion? Visit MCN Bikes For Sale website or use MCN’s Bikes For Sale App.