Subject: Converts - THANK YOU
Author: John Prusnek
Date: Mar 14, 2003, 6:16 AM
Post ID: 1712244612
Ian wrote:
| Hey All, Correct me if I am wrong but a rough number for a decent restoration (doing a lot of the assembly yourself) runs about $2500-$3000. That includes purchase price of the "barn queen". |
ballpark depending on what the acquisition costs are. You can easily
spend a grand on a good paint job, several hundred on chrome and
powdercoating. Any serious engine or tranny parts can go up from there.
Still, restoring these old loops is a joy compared to something like
an old Indian. While more Indian reproduction parts are coming on the
market, original stock parts are like gold, if you can find them. The
average price for a speedo is $1000. And this is after you spend the
time and money to roam around a swap meet for a weekend.
| I remember a few years ago I could have bought a decent running Eldo for $1200. |
complete, cosmetically challenged, but running. I came across a major
bike find in '96 which included a '71 Ambo, '73 Laverda SF1, two Honda
160's, a Benelli fold up bike, a snowblower and a plow (the kind that's
pulled behind a horse) all for $750. Everything was partially
disassembled and had been rotting into the ground for 15 years. I did
get the Ambo and Laverda restored and sold the 2 Hondas for what I paid
for the lot.
| To me what will be significant is when the supply of restorable Loops disappear. Not a lot of people are interested in a $10k restored bike but lots are interested in fixing them up and getting them running. |
for, I suspect it's aimed at making the bikes look more valuable in
order that their customers will be more inclined to spend money on their
own restorations. As a business, however, if you figure in $40-$60/hr
labor plus parts, a frame up restoration can easily go to $10k.
I figure there's about a 30-year lag before vehicles start becoming
collectable, and we're witnessing that right now with the loops. Prices
for them have been steadily rising although since it's such an unknown,
wierd marque to the general public, some good barn finds are still out
there.
If my tank decal sales are any indication, people are steadily
restoring these bikes. What started out as selling off a few extra
decals that I made up for my own restoration turned into a constant
stream of requests for them. In the past seven years I've sold about
300-400 sets; I'm assuming that they're going on 300-400 bikes that are
being restored, or at least repainted. And those are just the ones that
have found me, I'm sure there's more.
John Prusnek