My old bike ??

[leevtr]

I know it was being sold as I was offered first refusal. I was wondering if it has re appeared on the forum ??

Red one 99 with white numberboards.

[popkat]

I went to see it, lets just say the current owner stretches the truth a little it also has a knock/rattle on the front cylinder, probably just needs cct adjusting and valve clearances. it wasn't for me. he wasn't too happy when I said no, but I did make it clear I was going to look, if it had been as described and without the engine noise I would have bought it there and then..

[leevtr]

I went to see it, lets just say the current owner stretches the truth a little it also has a knock/rattle on the front cylinder, probably just needs cct adjusting and valve clearances. it wasn't for me. he wasn't too happy when I said no, but I did make it clear I was going to look, if it had been as described and without the engine noise I would have bought it there and then..

Thats a shame, it was perfect when I sold it. ( well, as close as poss for a 10+ year old bike )

[popkat]

It wasn't bad Lee, just the owner told me it was immaculate and the cleanest bike I'd see, it wasn't !, but wasn't rotten either, but it does say lots to me about the owner.. I'd say it's fair condition for the age and mileage. It needs a full service and a proper clean and polish, I would have gone for it had it been all good, he had been honest and it was priced accordingly.

[StormingHonda]

Is it on EBay?

[leevtr]

Is it on EBay?

It was but not now. the fella mailed me telling me he's had an offer but offered it to me first. Might have been a load of b*ll*x, but i guess he sold it.

I must admit it still amazes me as to what some people regard as mint. I'd have thought it wouldn't have taken much to get it back, it was proper nice when I sold it and it had only done 4000 miles since.

[popkat]

I don't think it's sold, I only saw it last week and that was after the ebay add ended.

A day spent cleaning and polishing it would see it in the best condition it could be. still got a few scratches, chip on lower side of the tank (easy to touch up) and the white boards are cracking a little, but it is 15 years old so it's not like it's a new bike.

It was up for £2100, I got him down to £1750, but to me it was worth only £1400 max as I'd have had to do shims, check/adjust cct, balances carbs etc (and hope the front cylinder noise was cured) it still has the original chain so that wouldn't have lasted much longer, tyres were ok, still the ones you put on Lee, rear was probably 3/4 worn.

I was looking for something that could get me a few thousand miles without spending on it, and it was described like that. If I had to spend time and money I'd be looking at a cheaper bike.

As I said it's not a bad bike and condition is pretty good, It's maybe worth £1750 to someone, but not me.

* £1750 was NOT including the ventura luggage, tank harness and bag.

[StormingHonda]

I really do rate Firestorms as great bikes but pre 2002 bikes I really wouldnt pay anymore than £1200 for one in really good condition.

[agentpineapple]

I really do rate Firestorms as great bikes but pre 2002 bikes I really wouldnt pay anymore than £1200 for one in really good condition.

I disagree storming, it's all about condition, I've seen some ropey late model bikes and mint early model bikes. as popkat hinted, if a bikes well looked after a new owner might have nothing to pay for several thousand miles, lets be honest a new chain, sprockets and tyres will set you back the best part of £350 to £400.
so buying a well maintained bike for £1500 be it an early model bike is the equal to buying a poorly maintained bike for £1100ish.
you also need to take into account the cost of mcct's if needed, and has the bike got some nice upgrades, exhaust/shock and so on.
storms should be worth more imho, it's a hell of a lot of bike for the money, if I was in the market for another one, i'd have no issue buying an early model well looked after bike, the only thing that would put me off, was if I commuted 75 to 100 miles a day, having to fill up every day would soon become a chore.
i'm sure there are some £1000 bargains out there, but I bet there's a lot more £1000 nightmares. and as for late model bikes, I've seen some rough 40.000+ mile bikes for just under £1500 and mint low mileage bikes sell for £2000, which is crazy cheap, i'd like to see late model low mileage bikes achieve between £2500 and £3000.
if lee's old bike is as malc described it's probably worth £1500 to £1650. nothing a days hectic tinkering couldn't put right. but I don't blame the owner for trying to get the best price possible, if owners stuck to their guns on price, perhaps our bikes would increase in value, rather than be seen as a cheap all be it decent run a rounds.

rant over

[Watty]

I really do rate Firestorms as great bikes but pre 2002 bikes I really wouldnt pay anymore than £1200 for one in really good condition.

Hell are you called Robin? Robin Barsteward .

[StormingHonda]

No seriously I would not pay any more than £1200 for a storm in good condition with around 30K on the clock, they just don't hold their value, I really like them, if we started talking about the new models then I would expect to pay a fair whack more with them in good condition and low mileage.

I really like V twins and I really like V twin sports, but Storms are getting very old now and never held their value in the first place, they are a bargain bike, a lot of bike for little money always have been.

I'm pretty sure if I had the money I would be able to get get a good 1998 bike for for £1100-£1300 tops, even if it had £1500 on the advert the owner would part with it for a lot less.

Go and take a look on EBay even the dealers have got some bargains for around £1600 I bet if I made an offer for £1450 he would take it.

[monkeymatt]

I suppose it comes down to "it's only worth what someone is willing to pay "
But as an owner of an early storm you wouldn't see my bike listed for giveaway money

[StormingHonda]

I suppose it comes down to "it's only worth what someone is willing to pay "
But as an owner of an early storm you wouldn't see my bike listed for giveaway money

Yeah exactly, I can understand why people would say I was undervaluing the storm money wise, but the problem is exactly how you said, its what its worth in the market, its the same as my X 11, absolutely awsome bike but the problem comes from high insurance premiums and just not being a popular bike, it was worth more to me than what it was on the market.

Come ' riding season ' the bikes value will go up slightly, but its always going to be a bike that is worth more then the sum of its parts ( hope I got that right ).

If I was buying a Firestorm NOW I would be looking at a few facts, 1, there's still plenty of them about 2, I know they are a cult bike and not a popular bike 3, I would have the pick of the crop with cash and could afford to be very cheeky.

[VTRDark]

As a seller we are always going to want to get as much as we possibly can and as a buyer we are always going to want to buy as cheap as we can.

That's what Lee does. Holds out for the right bike at the right price and then holds out to sell at the right price

How you doing Lee Hope life is on the up for you.

(:-})