Thread: Fair price...
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Unread 04-13-2009, 09:45 PM
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Smithers Smithers is offline
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Just to give you an idea of the costs involved in restoring. If you see a restored CA95 with a perfect paint job I would say that cost the guy between $500 - $1000. A great paintjob with multiple layers of paint to simulate an original thick black toxic original paint job would be $1,000 easily. If he just put a single layer of black over it that would be a cheap paint job and you can tell it's not original.

Buying reproduction parts is cheap and the chrome will look weird and the wheels won't look high quality like original Honda. The repro tank badges are junk all the cables made aftermarket are black not grey. The aftermarket grips just aren't right and the mirrors are really cheesy. All of this stuff on a restored Honda just makes them look like a Chinese motorcycle. If he didn't take the time to get the correct parts around the motorcycle you can assume the engine is in the same condition... just kinda clean but probably doesn't run well at all. A motorcycle like this is worth about $500 - $800 maybe.

I would much rather have an original bike that doesn't run but can be made to run. That way you have all the original parts and most of your work will be to get the engine and fuel system in shape.

But then we have the real motorcycle mechanics that make FUN motorcycles to ride and they look really cool. More and more people are fixing up older bikes with more modern parts. I have seen people custom make a really nice seat, put on Excel rims with modern components, drill out parts to make them look like race parts, rebuild the engine and safety wire things, build a new exhaust with modern techniques... these bikes are neat! These bikes go for between $4,000 and $6,000. They are something for people to look at for sure. They go kinda quick and they are safe to ride with modern tires mounted on the new style rims made with stonger components. People like to buy these to put in their houses, motorcycle shops, coffee shops or in their offices. They go for much more than a typical old Honda but they have a LOT more love and labor put into them.

Oh and modern Excel type rims with the modern stronger spokes are $450 at least for all the parts and you might as well bump it up to $600 because the companies that sell the parts will assemble, true and balance them for just that. The wheels are one of the more expensive parts now behind the cost of a paint job.
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