Collectability

The 1974 Ducati 750SS was essentially a racing bike made for the street, with only about four hundred produced over it's one year run. Also known by collectors as the Ducati green-frame, the frames and fairing of these bikes were painted Azure Blue and silver with a clear-coat which yellowed over time, giving the bike a green cast. Originally sold for about $3,500 (a lot of money for the Seventies), these Ducati's are now worth anywhere from $90,000 to $120,000 in their original paint, and what makes collectors scream like a little girl and clutch their pearls is this one's owner painted the WHOLE THING British Racing Green as an homage to his father, who was a British WWII veteran (I'd normally add a photo of the bike here, but it's copyrighted and I don't feel like fending off hordes of attorneys over copyright infringement).

The interesting thing about the article was that the bike was purchased in the 1980's, ridden all over Europe and still maintained its value even though it was repainted - and probably had some pretty good mileage on it as well. This got me to thinking about all the bikes I'VE rebuilt; while not exactly museum pieces, the bikes I work on usually come to me looking very much like a drowned rat and I take a lot of pleasure out of tearing them down and rebuilding them - but what makes them 'collectable'? 

Case-in-Point, here's a couple pics of the 1972 CB500 Four I rebuilt a few years ago...if the prices of these bikes are to be believed, these bikes are soaring in their collectability - Honda built thousands of these bikes - but what makes it collectable? Is THIS collectable....? 

How about now...? 

Yes, this is the same bike after I put a lot of blood, sweat and cash into it; some 'tears', too, but mostly over the cost of things like tires. Tires ain't cheap! But it's the same bike...does condition make any motorcycle more collectable than model?

The same for my 1974 CB550K - here she is pre-restoration...is this collectable??

How 'bout now...? 

Even my little 1989 Honda VTR250 that I previously wrote about here in one of my columns entitled 'Miami Nice' - Is THIS collectable??  I came across it one idle night surfing through Facebook Marketplace, and since I used to live in Florida in the Eighties it just struck a chord and I had to have it.

Kind of an 'Odd Man Out' in my collection, but a super fun bike to ride! 

But what makes a motorcycle collectable? It's marque? Condition? It's rarity, or performance ...? And what changes that? This little VTR was only made for three years, which makes it kind of rare, unlike the 1974 Ducati 750SS, which was made for only one year and IS rare, so rarity does come into play here. But I always have to laugh at some of the ads I see that have a picture of an old bike they want to sell for a breathtaking price that looks like it's been through a fire and thrown into a pond for a few years that say "No lowballs! I know what this bike is worth"!  

Which is true, I guess...if it's been restored!  I mean, unless I happen to come across something like a Vincent Black Shadow - okay (but not likely...then I would scream like a little girl)!  But that begs the question 'does condition determine collectability'? 

Here's the CB350 Four I'm currently working on. Like everything else, it has its fans and detractors, but even as-is there is no denying its collectability. Before I found one, I just thought it was a cool little bike, but it turns out this thing has a pretty big audience, mostly I think because of its rarity; you don't just find these laying around these days. (And if parts prices are to be believed, they're getting rarer and rarer! I mean, Sheesh...!)  

I just started on this project, so unfortunately, I don't have any 'After' pics, but this bike appealed to me because it was the smallest inline-four motorcycle produced by Honda, and apparently one of Sochiro Honda's personal favorite, not that that it has anything to do with it; I just thought it was cool. A baby inline four! The pistons are about the size of pill bottles.

As is the case with all my bikes, I do a lot of reading on them before I even pick up a wrench. Hondas are prevalent in my collection for no other reason than I just kind of drifted that way, and I've always liked the way they looked, more so than, say, Yamahas or Suzukis, although a GS850 would be nice to add (Hmmmm....). 

I think one of the reasons there is such a collector's frenzy going on these days is because a lot of people who are saving these old bikes (like me) remember then from another time - when they were young - and want to capture that again, in some form or another. But I never had a motorcycle when I was growing up; I didn't even start riding until I was thirty; but I'd always wanted one, and when I could actually afford to get one, I knew what I wanted, and that was a 1974 Honda CB550; but by then, in the mid-Nineties, those bikes weren't exactly laying around under trees either. 

So you tie that desire in with rarity and memory, and I think you come out with collectability. In my case I used to live in Florida; I had a helluva good time living in Florida, and that Honda VTR250 reminded me of that - ergo I collected one!  

I had always wanted a 1974 Honda CB550...so I collected one! 

And not to go overboard, but I'd always wanted a stable of old motorcycles...so I collected one (It TOOK me a while - but I collected one)!

Orson Welles is quoted as saying " “I don’t know much about art but I know what I like”, and I think that plays a big part in collectability; I mean, who collects stuff they don't like?? 

Also tie in the emotional factor - it's not the machine, which is just an assembly of steel, rubber and chrome; it's how it makes you feel. All you car collectors out there - did you get THAT car because of the car, or how it makes you feel? I can relate - I used to have a 1985 Z-28 when I was in Florida, and it was an awesome car! Canary yellow with black details, T-tops and gray interior; I ultimately had to sell it, but I loved the hell out of it - especially in Florida. In the Eighties. When I was all of twenty-two...Yah.