top prices or what

[chris.vredenbregt]

You are partly right but the probleme is all these traders that have nothing with motorbikes,but just go for good money,they make prices go up.

[john.nash]

..if we all had just ONE ariel each ... (and that does include those in bits) . then the availability would be higher and the prices less....

How many of us do have just ONE bike ?
.. you can count mine at the bottom here and that excludes additional engines, primaries etc ... and I am not that unusual (or indeed over-endowed in the bike department when compared to many others I know)

[ABMartin]

You are partly right but the probleme is all these traders that have nothing with motorbikes,but just go for good money,they make prices go up.

Chris - It is buyers not sellers who drive prices up. Besides, without traders to make bikes available to a wider public, markets would be far more local, thus depriving prospective owners of their dream bikes.

Bruce

[chris jane]

Don't the last few comments bring us full circle as to why there is a lack of younger members in the club, cost and availability of machines

[nevhunter]

Speculators can push the prices up. They usually go for the most wanted varieties. ( Vincents Norton Manx's Crockers Brough Superiors ) Possible sq4's fall a bit into this category too..Bikes have a real value, but determining what it is is nor easy. Some restorations would be better if they had never been done. A stripped project gives opportunities to asses the article in detail and is generally much cheaper . Many go for the "shine" factor. An unrestored original is usually worth more but can be quite worn. Damage by bad workmanship is the most dissapointing thing to find and is more commmon as the bikes get older, and the people who worked on them and knew how to are less available. A complete bike is not a big advantage if some hard to get parts are nor serviceable in it. Nev

[GuyH]

I'm planning on selling my 1939 Square Four 600 OHV and 1933 Ariel 600 VA projects. I will probably stick them on e-bay with starting prices of £500 each as I don't know what they're worth these days. I'm selling because I have too many projects and too little time to get them done and also to pay for the restorations of my other '39 Square Four 600 and '39 OG 250.

I've been following the debate about prices and while I would love to sell them at a low price to a fellow enthusiast I have to face the financial reality: My '39 4F tank cost £1,000 to restore including removing dents, re-chroming and painting by a specialist, my magdyno £550 to rebuild, the engine has just been rebuilt by a well renowned specialist at a cost of £5,500 (beautiful job though), the wheels have cost £750 to re-chrome, rebuild, re-spoke and fit with suitable tyres, two original rear guards which can be made into one good one cost £400 plus innumerable other parts running into the thousands. That's without the purchase price which was not cheap. As for the '39 OG: that's not far behind in cost apart from the engine which I rebuilt myself with parts from the club and Draganfly but it still ran into the many hundreds. When the bikes are finished the restoration costs will far outstrip their value.

I guess my point is that if everything connected to restoring the bikes didn't cost a fortune then I could afford to let the bikes go cheaply to someone who will restore and ride them but as it is I need as much money as I can to pump back into getting a couple of magnificent 74 year old Ariels back on the road after they've lain dormant for the last fifty years.

[brett.hayhurst]

All Classic prices certainly going up.
Recent high quality ex vintage and classic racers in Auction all going to the middle east sheiks for huge sums.

I too would rather a non restored good bike over one of these over restored bikes coming out of big wallets/workshops.

When I was managing a large crew of Diesel Mechanics I told them to take their shifters home (adjustable spanners) and they had to use proper sockets or ringie's.
I hate them, especially after seeing or getting a bike and finding the results of past owners using them or open enders unnecessarily.
Makes me shout at the idiot box (telly) when I see a supposed tradesman using a shifter the wrong way too.
Pull toward the shifting jaw if you MUST use them.
Will not take you long to learn from looking at the nut etc the size required and your still "manly" if you take a couple of ringies to the job because your not sure !!..
Give it a go and save your nuts !!

[john.whiting]

I allways advise young beginners to buy a restored bike,preferably done in the eighties,of which there are many about,and to buy it privately,which means waiting or not being so particular as to make and model..Being of the older generation I hear stories often of dealers who chase widows and family at funerals,con relatives out of valuable parts etc.Unfortunately these creeps are often fellow club members.If you need to dispose of a bike quickly,see what these dealers offer.About one quarter of what they are asking,take it or leave it.Regards John.

[brett.hayhurst]

Just had look at the picture and see it has the Girder side spring which were not present until '39, but I'm only an apprentice Ariel nit picker so may stand corrected.
Maybe my '35 with correct Girders will bring a thou or two more ? any one ?, any one ?
Just like finding a good Real Estate deal, Death, Divorce or Default.

[Dave.Thomas]

I think it's a one-way street unfortunately, once prices start rising .Some people will just view their bikes in financial terms and use them less and less. Project bikes are thin on the ground and attracting a premium as people understandably fancy the challenge and have the money to win the auction. I watched a plunger A10 last summer go for the best part of £2k on eBay , it looked like it had been under the sea since rolling of the production line!
It's a good point of Johns that a lot of us owning more than one bike doesn't help availability, but there's not a lot we can do to remedy that now. The vast majority weren't bought as investments anyway, and the longer you go back, the easier it was to end up with a garage full if you fancied it.
I'm 44 and got into British stuff through my dad owning bikes as I grew up, and going to classic events, but half the events I go to now I'm still one of the youngest. I do pre 65 trials and I'm one of the youths in that too!
As time goes by, the relevance isn't there for young kids anyway, and if their family is not already involved, there isn't really the connection. We ( my brother and i)had Bantam field bikes in the late 70's but they soon disappeared for elderly far-eastern and Latin stuff.
I think though that young bikers today are used to paying much more for their bikes and insurance/depreciation etc, so those that are interested in the classic scene may not be as concerned at the prices as we are?
Edited to add, been following a 175Bantam engine on EBay that just sold for £410, and a square barrel Villiers motor that's at £650 with 20 mins to go !