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How MUCH?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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02GF74

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My jaw dropped when I saw the price of this one; ok, it is low mileage, late model in very nice conditon but £ 10k??? (looks identical to mine except for the black instrument surround but more shiney; also notice how they lined up the logos on the tyres = attention to detail, and those square mirrors aren't original)
(It does appear that prices over here seem to be rising ...)
Yamaha Vmax 1200 1996 Black, One Owner, Low 5141 Miles, Original, Rare. | eBay
s-l1601.jpg

compare to similar for just over half that.
2001 YAMAHA VMX 1200 V MAX : 6,413 Miles! Stunning Full Power Carbon UK VMax | eBay
s-l1600.jpg
 
Making the wheels powder coated in black is a cheap way to avoid polishing. I’ll be polishing Trigger’s wheels this year sometime, it is apparently done by (a Vmax enthusiast) soapy steel wool ( brillo pads in UK speak) and Mothers allum polish. I have both here ready to do the job, but it’s bloody freezing here so will do it later.
I think Vmax’s all over the globe are rising in price. I bought mine 1999 carbon 8 years ago for 4k Ggp, they are selling for more even now if mileage and condition is good. I hate the mileage thing as low mileage does not mean mech/elec is in good condition or well cared for.
 
The 96 came with black wheels and exhaust but that is crazy for the price of the bike !
 
"Limited Edition" which was limited as-to how many they manufactured and could sell of the standard-issue, though I suppose in a different market, there could be such a thing.
 
We call them Brillo pads on this side of the pond as well.
LoL
I worked in the US for a few years and take it for granted few things are named the same.
Every day is a school day mate. Polish away till ir heart is content 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
 
Looking at it in a different way, the seller is very optimistic but anyone paying that much needs their head examined.
 
If there is one thing my dad got me to understand years ago is what makes a collectible vehicle. Growing up in a restoration shop in sarasota fl. (Custom auto restoration svcs.) I watched my dad turn over cars that were never going to be worth anything.

He now lives in nashville ga. and owns Hemee heads, a buisness that deals in you guessed it chryslers. In 2017 he sold off a few cars 30 or so I think most of which were not considered collectible a few years earlier. He also has a large fleet of cars he leases to movie studios for films and commercials. He also has many motorcycles ranging from vintage woods bikes from his racing days in the early 60's to things he thought would be "a good buy" in the 80's.

My point is while many might not think the ill handling,bloated,rather homley,not very popular vmax might not be worth 13k now im not so sure I would count it out in the future.

In the early 90's you could buy an 86' Benelli sei 900 for $1500. I can get one for you now for $14,000 cash.

How about everybody's unfavorite boat of the 80's the honda cbx1100. You couldn't give them away in the late 80's to early 90's hayday of gsxr's and zx's. Today a top example will set you back $20,000. Don't believe me. Mecum auction Las Vegas 2019. The lucky ones that have those masterpieces are indeed lucky.

How about that suzuki t500 Titan for $5,000.

That 78' elsinor 125 that clearly knowbody thought would be worth anything as they were raced and beaten mercilessly are now worth $8000.

The vmax? It had the hoopla, it had the hype, it has the myth, Everybody either had one or knows someone who did. It had peewee gleason, It had low sales and many of those were wrecked or stripped for parts. Countless more fell under the modifiers knife. How many unmolested originals are left now? How many in 10,20,30 years?

$13,000 now? probably not...then again who would give $50,000 for a gas guzzling, ill handling, uncomfortable, big block, manual trans. 1970 chevelle.
 
I agree to a point, but there are probably better values in investments. Vincent's V-twins 1,000cc and Brough SS100's whether JAP or Matchless. Crockers. Pierces. Older Bimota's, MV Agusta 4's, from the 1970's, Indian 4's, Indian Chiefs, Harley-Davidson 'Knuckleheads,' and vetted factory competition bikes of the time up-to maybe the mid 1980's, Honda RC-30's and RC-45's, and factory motocross specials of the late 1960's/early 1970's, I think those are the bikes to appreciate the highest. Do you want to wait 20 or 30 years? That last interval would place me in triple-digits, I'm not likely to wait that long! Bikes do use less space than a car or truck, one reason I have some.

I do think a VMax could appreciate, the more-stock, the better. First year, 20th anniversary and last year models may enjoy a slight premium over other years, but I suspect it's not gonna be much. I'd rather have a great low-miles/original '86 than a ragged-out, modified '85. I suspect the market would bear that-out.

One point, the CBX is (1,047cc) in displacement. Not an 1100cc as you mentioned. But I suppose who's quibbling over another 53cc? Me. That's all I got.
 
fine 1047. as long as the rest of the world is on your side.

If i had half the bikes I crashed or bought and sold for nothing... I went through a period in the 80's in s.w. florida where i couldn't make it home without another pre 77' honda 750 four in my truck. It seemed like every person that retired from the united steel workers got a free honda and moved to florida upon retirement. Those early models with the heavy metalflake paint ar pretty salty.

next time i get down to my dads house ill get som pics of his bike building.Hes got some pretty neat stuff. Most of it i'm not allowed near.

win some races when you were young you're the favorite son...crash a half dozen bikes you are off the list.
 
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paying a lot of money for an investment bike of low mileage will mean you can't ride it to enjoy it, if you put miles on it, it will become 'just another one', which means it's just an ornament (not my idea of ownership)
that being said, if I won the lottery and had millions to spend I'd buy that bike just to ride as I'd love to have a bike with no blemishes
 
Whatever happened to good old biking when everything was filthy, including the riders!
Ah the good old pre jet-wash & leaf blower days in the late 70's & early 80's.
 
My first bike was a Yamaha YZ80 back in 1978. I was 11 years old.

My older brother sneaked it out without me knowing and poured it full of gas with no oil in it. Locked it up permanently. Dad sold it for scrap a week later.

I rode it only twice.
 
My first bike was a Yamaha YZ80 back in 1978. I was 11 years old.

My older brother sneaked it out without me knowing and poured it full of gas with no oil in it. Locked it up permanently. Dad sold it for scrap a week later.

I rode it only twice.
Suzuki A 100 for me. Got it in a swap in 1978 for 200 cigarettes. Damn good bike, stripped it and learned loads from it. After a year sold it on for again for 200 cigarettes.
 
The vmax? How many unmolested originals are left now? How many in 10,20,30 years?

I can almost answer that. Here in the UK there is a website that will list how many of a certain vehicle are left.

That number is 750.

Numbers for MOT mean it is roadworthy, otherwise it is SORN
(tucked away in a warm garage waiting for better weather)

There is probably a few more that are neither.
Now let's see if I can attach the picture.
Screenshot_20210108-202048.png
 

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