The New And Improved Unofficial R65 Forum V2
General Category => Chit-Chat => Topic started by: wilcom on August 22, 2016, 03:33:57 PM
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I sold my forks to a guy a 100 miles away in Los Angeles this morning. He rebuilds bikes and sells them on the side. He got the crashed R65 for 800 and was fixing it up. We chatted for awhile and come to find out he was cafing the bike. You know why? cus of $$$$.
He was not a beemer guy but was a mechanic that contracts himself out to Exotic shops and when it's slow he rebuilds bikes and sells them. Works on Ferrari's and Lambo's so he is not with out talent.
He said he can double the price of a bike if he rebuilds to cafe standards as opposed to original. He said that the bike was worth 2500 original(which I, unfortunately, can attest to) and cafe'd it will bring $5-6K with them beating his door down to get it.
Odd how we lose sight of the general public sometimes.
Who'd ah thought, huh
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I think it may be a regional thing. Over this way - you could put a 5G price tag on your customized airhead cafe racer, but it may sit for a year or more for someone buys it. Clean standard airheads get snatched up for fair prices every week.
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I think it may be a regional thing.
Could be you're right, we've never been short of crazy people here on the left Coast. I sure wouldn't buy one, but that doesn't mean much, never been too close to the "main stream" myself
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I've seriously considered it from time to time.
Consider this:-
Take a perfectly good (if a little rough) R65, remove the instruments, mudguards, original lights, air cleaner, mirrors, centre stand and seat.
Paint it a ghastly colour (like "colonial brown", fit an after market "chopper" style speedo (who cares about accuracy) Chinses head and tail light, pod aircleaners, "cafe" seat and whatever cheap and nasty block tread tyres your local shop is most keen to rid of this week.
Then wrap the headers in dirty brown fibreglass, remove the reflectors and black out the forks, wheels and final drive.
Viola! now advertise the "masterpiece" you have just created and sell for $US5k.
Wait quietly a few months and then start selling off the stuff you removed on Craigs list or ebay.
Quite likely you will be sellign to the subsequent owner +1 of your bike who purchased a monstrously bad "cafe" conversion real cheap and is now hunting the bits to turn it back into a motorcycle.
I reckon you would make $5k from the sale and at least as much selling the original equipment.
I'm tempted, I really am!
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Well explained Tony.
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This is what you mean Tony
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1088.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fi329%2Fravengta%2F9a486fd748520a54d7e6b5b44d015db5_zpsb6gp4hwl.jpg&hash=870f152aada1752aa18feb860a8bcb230ec4dfb9)
Here is the link
http://www.bikesales.com.au/private/SSE-AD-4089768/1992-BMW-R-80/?cr=0&psq=%28%28%28Make%3D%5BBMW%5D%26Model%3D%5BR%2080%5D%29%26%28%28SiloType%3D%5BDemo%20%26%20near%20new%20bikes%5D%7CSiloType%3D%5BPrivate%20used%20bikes%5D%29%7CSiloType%3D%5BDealer%20used%20bikes%5D%29%29%26Service%3D%5BBikesales%5D%29&pso=0&pss=Premium
At 19k not my cup of tea.
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This is what you mean Tony
At 19k not my cup of tea.
Not my cup of tea either. At least they retained the stock aircleaner.
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This is what you mean Tony
At 19k not my cup of tea.
Not my cup of tea either. At least they retained the stock aircleaner.
Pretty popular look with the New Age Hipsters here in 'Murica. BMW R-NineT aimed straight at 'em.
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This is what you mean Tony
At 19k not my cup of tea.
Not my cup of tea either. At least they retained the stock aircleaner.
Pretty popular look with the New Age Hipsters here in 'Murica. BMW R-NineT aimed straight at 'em.
And the R-NineT is not my cup of tea either.
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Talking to a m/c dealer here in the UK, the 'hipster' thing is really driving new bike sales.
Aside from the R9T, the Yamaha XSR is doing very well.
On the used market, there are a number of restoration boys doing great business by chopping R100's etc into cafe racers, a local BMW specialist is getting phone calls almost on a daily basis asking for a donor airhead to be made into a cafe racer.
These guys don't mind paying £££$$$€€€ for the right 'look'...
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Here's one of the main reasons this is happening in the UK, this moron and the stupid hipster girlfriends saying please look like him,
https://goo.gl/images/AQ3kYK
There is no accounting for taste...
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Here's one of the main reasons this is happening in the UK, this moron and the stupid hipster girlfriends saying please look like him,
https://goo.gl/images/AQ3kYK
There is no accounting for taste...
[smiley=ROTFLMAO.gif] [smiley=ROTFLMAO.gif] [smiley=ROTFLMAO.gif]
I hear he has a new Tattoo.... hope someone checks the spelling for him.
Lou
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Would appear that "Hipness" comes with a rather high fashion price. 8-) Cool, Daddy-O!
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Ah Beckham, so cool. If I could only bend it like Beckham with my steel capped boots on. His boots look like they have done the tonne.lol
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Spotted this just this week.
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And on top of it all, the bloke who spent all that careful time with the fancy-stripped off bike appears to have put the valve covers on the wrong sides! Note the upward angle on the ribs pointing north of the exhaust port - ignorance...
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How's this for radical !!!!!! ;D
http://www.bikeexif.com/bmw-r65
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Can anyone explain to me what the point of up side down forks are other than making it hard to put the front end back together?
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Can anyone explain to me what the point of up side down forks are other than making it hard to put the front end back together?
I'd guess it has to do with less unstrung weight.
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Ok, I guess that makes a little sense.
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I love the bingo game. By the way in 6 months all these bikes will be back in the custom shops to be turned into scramblers. Its the next new thing for all the cool kids.
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I can attest to this first hand. I had a cafe bike.
I bought (and still have) my first bike 4 years ago. It was a tired 1980 R65 for $1900.
I bought clip on handle bars and a cafe seat then sole the instrumentation console and put on an acewell all in one speedo/tach.
I don't like the idea of ruining a bike so that's as far as I went with it.
Fast forward to now and I hate my uncomfortable seat, sold the handlebars for something less aggressive which amounts to R90s bars. My bike sucked to ride but it looked cool.
r90S style bars and a slightly more comfortable seat and I love my bike now.
The problem I see with the recent obsession with cafe bikes is that people have taken it further than a simple handlebar & seat change.
I see bikes all over the web & instagram/social media where builders are buying a decent rideable bike then doing the following:
-low bars
-cafe seat
-rear set pegs
-removed airbox and relocated battery
-new headlight/turn signals & taillights
-hacked front fender and removed rear fender
-offroad tires
-lowered rear shocks
-lowered(compressed) front shocks
They took a comfortable bike with a nice seat, nice riding position, decent shock travel and decent tires and removed all of that. Sure it looks cool, it does....but the issue is that the person who pays $8k for it will ride it for a week and realize it's the most uncomfortable thing ever and then try to revert back to the baseline or just stop riding and sell it.
Everyone I know who had a cafe bike reverted back at least a little bit and the reason is because they suck to ride. :-X
Now when I see a scrambler/cafe/whatever bike with no suspension travel and dualsport tires I feel bad for them. They may be fooling some people but they're not fooling me with that uncomfortable weekend queen.
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This is not really a new development. Think of all the singles and doubles British bikes that were turned into horrible choppers and bobbers in the 70's. Lots of fun to ride in a straight line for a short period of time :). You can still find these basket cases, they would be nearly impossible to return to stock.