What is a reaonsable value for my GT550?

[bobotech]

My GT550 has low miles, been refurbished to be roadworthy and everything works on it. The seat was recovered (amateur of course). The bike is generally in good shape but the tank needs to be repainted. Gauges are crystal clear and work fine. All lights work. Engine is running great now. Bike is registered and titled in my name.

What would be a reasonable worth for it? I find SO few of these that it makes getting a value hard. ON ebay, there are either non-runners or restored/perfect original bikes and the non-runners seem to sell for around 300-400 and the restored/perfect bikes seem to go for around 3500+.

I just have no idea how much a bike like mine is actually worth.

[jabcb]

Seems that NADA prices are a reasonable guideline. They list an excellent GT500 as $3325.
http://www.nadaguides.com/Motorcycles/1 ... 550/Values

NADA excellent is probably a ballpark number for a really nice rider.
I've been tracking the top tier bikes (excellent restorations & originals with less than 10k miles) on this topic:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4609
They go for a good bit more than NADA prices. For example, a 73 GT550 with 2,376 miles went for $5,151.

Seems like that are a lot of slightly fixed up barn finds on eBay. They get a barn find for a good price, put some work into it & then flip the bike for a profit on eBay. These bikes can look a lot nicer than they are. The bikes are often titled in a prior owner's name. They run, but then you could have all sorts of problems after you've put some miles on the bike.

I don't think eBay prices properly reflect the value difference between these flipped bikes & good reliable riders, where the owner has put recent some miles on it or he has done a full rebuild including the crank.

Prices are definitely seasonal. Distressed sales during the winter are sometimes surprisingly cheap.

My guess for your bike... Could easily be worth more than $2k with the seat fixed.

Just my 2 cents. Others on this forum would know more.

[bobotech]

2k? That just seems very high to me, too high. I don't know about these bikes. Are they worth more than say simliar Honda CB750s from the mid '70s? My bike is just in that oddball stage where it is now mechincally sound for the most part and looks okay (no rust or damaged parts however the seat cover isn't original and the tank needs paint). I don't consider it minty or anything by any means but I just don't know what a reasonable value is for these.

I'm wondering if I should get insurance on the thing that covers the bike?

[jabcb]

Wouldn't be the first time I was wrong.

My guess of $2k+ was with the seat properly recovered or replaced with a NOS seat. Wasn't clear how bad the tank is from the pic you posted. Maybe it needs fixed. But some people prefer a bike with a little patina & the tank might be OK as is. How many miles does it have?

Did you look at the pics & prices I've been posting for top tier bikes? I think the minty GT550 that went for $5,151 was reasonably priced.

Of the Suzuki two strokes, the GT750 & T500 seem to be worth the most.

CB750 prices range quite a bit. The NADA excellent price for the sought-after '69 sandcast is $7,300, but the excellent price for the '72 CB750 is $3,900.

[smoketriples]

If it helps any, I recently sold a GT550 on fleabay. Excellent running and driving condition, boyer ignition, oregon reg and rec, polished covers, NOS seat, original paint in decent condition, new tires, new fork gaiters (72), rebuilt forks, nearly perfect exhaust, and an extra running motor in a crate.

Got $1490.

Markets are strange though, but with non original items like the ignition switch, and anything else 'adapted', I think realistically you're looking sub 1k.

Sorta like the great looking and running '73 GT750 that sold on ebay last month for $900, it was a great running bike but some non-original items, tatty seat, etc.

[jabcb]

Maybe I've been paying a bit too much. Seems like my view of improvements, such as ignition systems & new crank seals, are reflected in eBay prices.

Compared to last year, I think prices increased for the top tier bikes, but prices fell for low end bikes. Maybe this is consistent with what's happening. Maybe older baby boomers are driving up prices by buying nice bikes of their youth, while the bad economy is depressing prices for the rest of the bikes.

[smoketriples]

I wouldn't say you paid too much, if you like the machine and are happy with the purchase.

For *most* of us, these machines are a passion and we will never recoup money invested, let alone profit, if and when we sell them.

Ebay is very very odd. GTs that I expected to sell sub 1k went for three times that much, and bikes that I thought would go 3k went sub 1k....

Sorta like the 72 that is up there now with a late model motor and disc brakes. I believe its heading for a 4k or more sale price.

As to the original question about insurance. Check around. Hagerty's and the other major vintage insurers have restrictions on when/where you can ride it, where you can park it, etc. Progressive will sell you a stated value policy, but you better have a couple of independent appraisals stored in your safe deposit box if you ever need to file a claim.