| Author | Message | ||
     Buell_bert |
I hate to say it but it is the truth. These bikes are definitely worth more (a lot more) but no one wants to pay for them. Is it any wonder owners sell them for a song or just say "to heck with it" and part them out. Hey it all boils down to supply and demand. It really torques me off. | ||
| Harleyelf |
Too good a job of marketing leads to over-supply at the used-vehicle stage. It happened to air-cooled Volkswagens and that leveled out after a long time. The current worth of a Buell lies in what it can do for its owner as a motorcycle, not how much it can bring at auction. Twenty years ago, people would ask me to put a value on my '66 microbus. I would tell them, "Its value is in what it can do for me as a truck, not in what kind of profit or loss I might turn selling it." Today, that bus is worth ten times what I paid for it. | ||
| Steveford |
One fellow on this site commented that it looks like we're in the second mass Buell sell-off and I believe he's right. It feels similar to when the British motorcycle industry tanked in the 70s. EBR is in limbo and Harley is putting the screws to us on the parts prices. Most of the dealers pretty much hated us, anyway - not enough assless leather pants and snot rags on our heads, I guess. Will our bikes ever become valuable collectors items? That's hard to say but as time goes on there will be fewer and fewer of them left. I've decided that the thing to do is to purchase a few more modern motorcycles (I decided upon Triumph) and to keep the Buells, fix them up a bit and enjoy them. After all, Erik produced some of the most unique and finest handling motorcycles ever made. It would be stupid to not get out there and hit a few corners on them. | ||
| Ratbuell |
With there not being an active "company" involved (to be helped or hurt by perceived "values")...I really could care less. I don't have to sell mine, I don't WANT to sell mine, I just enjoy tinkering and riding them. And...let's be honest, with an S2 and S1W in the garage...just LOOKING at them is fun  Market value? Pffft. Don't care. They're priceless to me, for the joy I get out of them when I ride them. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Exactly. Makes them hard to value as a seller. That just means you are a genius if you buy one to ride, and a fool if you buy one to sell. You need to be planning to use it in such a way that you don't really care what you get for it, because you feel like you got your money out of it 5 times already anyway in enjoyment. Which is easy to do with just about any Buell ever built. I've been watching the collector vehicle market for a while. Here's the dirty little secret... pretty much the only vehicles there with value are ones that were ruined. How were they ruined? Because you had to keep it parked, pampered, and un-personalized. You could put less than 1000 miles a year on it. It had to start as the magic hard to find model and color, and then it had to not be used for a really long time, at which point you pass it on to somebody else who won't use it. So they can pass it on to somebody else, who's idea of "fun" is to take a car they won't drive to be parked on a golf course after they spend 100 hours cleaning it with a q tip and arguing on the internet about the proper amount of fade for "burnt umber" and if the crappy stock mechanical ignition system is better than the crappy stock electronic ignition (when the car runs like crap with both of them but could run great with a $75 modern replacement). So anyway, unless you have a 1000 mile RR1000, or maybe a low mile S2, go ride the motorcycle enough that you don't mind later handing it and the title free to some bright eyed 21 year old with the time and the talent to put it back on the road so *they* can ride it into the ground too. | ||
| Mnscrounger |
On the plus side, with no love from the motor company, and a strong community of almost rabid fans, (based on what I read on Badweb, with a few exceptions, it seems a good number of them are pretty smart too.) I think a few of us will just go ahead and make repro batches of whatever parts we need. The number of Buells we'll see on the road will go down, but HD will pretty much leave us alone to do whatever we need to do keep them running. You need only look at the sponsors here to see some have already turned aftermarket support of Buells into a business for themselves. Could they make enough on Buells alone to support themselves full time? Probably not all of them, but the ones that are there will be just as dedicated to the brand as we are. The faces of the sponsors, and the riders, may change as new people discover the brand, and others move on to other interests, but their/our passion for the brand will always be there. The best examples are the Studebaker, Edsel, AMC/AMX, and the MG,clubs and websites. On the bike side,there are groups dedicated to the Ariel, Norton, BSA, old Triumph, pre-Polaris Indian, and even the short lived Excelsior Henderson brand has a group of fans dedicated to keeping them running. Enjoy the modest prices while you can, and enjoy the machine for what it is. you are in on the great open secret that these bikes are FUN! Few people buy motorcycles to make money. With all the donor bikes out there, I can afford to wear mine out, buy another to ride while I rebuild it, and then wear it out again. We're in good company here. However different we all are in our personalities and politics, we have a common interest that ties us together in fellowship.While you may need to turn the wrenches yourself, there will always be a friend here to hold the manual for you. I wish all of Badweb, wherever you are, a happy Thanksgiving. | ||
| Dannybuell |
Reepicheep - Yup! At 106,000 miles my 96S1 will surely please some bright eyed kid with big plans will see the farkles... I don't know what the miles will be when I give up the keys to that beast... My 1125 has 23K miles and sits on the battery tender, I prefer the S1. | ||
| 34nineteen |
Owning a Buell is like dating a porn star. Yeah, the porn star is high maintenance, frustrating and annoying... but the ride makes it all worthwhile! Probably not worth it, but a hell of a lot of fun! | ||
| Midknyte |
It boils back down to the simple general rule - bikes / cars are not investments. Parts support? I take solace in that my dream car is a Corvair. I want one. Someday. And I want to say that there were far fewer of those made than our bikes, and yet, folks are keeping them not only running, but in minty shape. I'm not worried about parts yet. My Buells are totems of sanity. That is their value. | ||
| Harleyelf |
Corvair? '69 turbo or '62 Greenbriar bus? My first car was a Greenbriar Corvair van, with six roll=down windows in the back. The 1969 they stopped making was a fine car. Last I saw, there were still about ten Corvair vans rolling around Monterey/Carmel, California. Clubs exist which can get you in touch with your dream. If you put the best engine in the lightest car, it will do wheelstands like a VW=powered trike. Put separate hand brakes on the rear wheels so you can steer. Totems of sanity, I like that. | ||
| Midknyte |
Yup. Would seek a 65 to 69, with the improved rear axle. Probably a convertible. Got the bug real bad this last summer for a manual trans convertible and happened upon a 1 series BMW for about the same price that a restored Corvair would cost. Holding off on the Corvair because I don't want to ruin one as a daily driver, even in fair weather. Irony - we kept the other car and I'm parking the 1 for winter (s) just the same... Never knew the 1's even existed. I like the smaller cabriolet body much better than a 3. It's got a shoulder line reminiscent of the first model Corvairs. I might be satiated for a while here. Nothing beats the oily smell of an old Corvair though. That's locked in as a favorite smell for me. I get a tinge of that from my X1 and is another reason I like that bike.  | ||
| Led |
The Buells are one of those bikes, that will have no collector value.... Until WE have passed on......AND our children....I am afraid. WHY?? I have NO idea.....In a Hundred years, Folks will be beating down the door for an original Unmolested Buell..... (Message edited by Led on November 30, 2015) (Message edited by Led on November 30, 2015) | ||
| Steveford |
Harley guys dismiss them as crotch rockets, sport bike guys dismiss them for the Harley motor. | ||
| Zac4mac |
I spent 20+ years trying to make my Sportster do what I wanted. Then I rode a 2003 XB9R and have since been hooked by Erik's handiwork. Now my little collection is: 1991 RS1200 Westwind, 2008 1125R, 2009 XB12X Ulysses and a 2012 EBR 1190RS Carbon. The Westwind is the most recent addition and will be "on the road" by this coming Summer! Gotta get the tank re-lined, otherwise immaculate!  Z | ||
| Flybysr1 |
I think these bikes will be prized more in the coming years. The EB story and ultimate Americana will drive the prices  | ||
| S1owner |
I can not even add up what I have into my Buell. Bet it is over $10,000 plus all my labor but I feel it is priceless to me and Ot will goto my son if and when he gets a brain! | ||
| Johnod |
I think they might become valuable , at least the barn bikes and the S2. I don't think I'll be around by the time they do though. In the mean time I'll ride it and enjoy it. That's the main thing far as I'm concerned. I often think of my S2 as the poor mans Vincent. Maybe it's just me. | ||
| 651lance |
I'll always have issues parting ways with my 95 S2 I bought new.  | ||
| 651lance |
And I guess one of mine 1125r's.  | ||
| Court |
>>>>I don't think I'll be around by the time they do though. I agree. Not likely to happen while I am alive. But, as much fun as the thing is . . . it's a keeper. | ||
| Hootowl |
It doesn't matter to me because I am never selling mine. | ||
| Alfau |
I too could never retrieve my outlay unless Some complete nincompoop happens along. | ||
| Xldevil |
Sell them over here. You will get a lot more. | ||
| Brother_in_buells |
Sell them over here. You will get a lot more. You people from Germany hoarding all the buells from the UK already! Isn't that enough?  | ||
| Xldevil |
So you'll have plenty of room for all the cheap Buells from the US of A.  | ||
| Sid |
The first of most models of motorcycles will worth $$$, like the 1996 s1, then theres the last heheh, they are going up | ||
| Kublak |
The value is what the owner gets from his/her enjoyment on a Buell. I have a 99 X1 and an 08 Uly XT. My 17 and 19 year old daughters argue over who gets which bike when I'm gone. That's the value to me...next generation wanting a piece of American history. | ||
| Alfau |
Tell us who wants which bike. | ||
| Lakes |
I want my M2!!! & a 1965 Panhead 84 cubic inch 4 1/2" stroker locked in Steel inserts in exhast ports to mount pipes too as lasts forever that way, & with compu fire electronic ignition , pan mouse trap clutch adjusted right , s&s Panhead Cam, improved generator, stock drum brakes S&S super B carb mounted on a John Treese manifold. i got both bikes & can ride them anywhere in Australia. Love the fact. cheers | ||
| Kublak |
The 19 year old college sophomore has laid claim to the X1. The 17 year old high school junior wants the Uly. I told them I'll buy a Blast that they can learn on first! |
