increasing in collectability

I recently checked the NADA for my bike value and I think it has gone up a little bit. This is encouraging for all of us that own these xjs.

 

Bikes that were 900 5 years ago are 1600 now locally

 

I just think more people are riding so prices have been driven up.

 

remember 5 years ago the economy tanked, then everyone's junk turned into a goldmine. their worth what someone is willing to pay

 

You have to take the attrition factor into the equation as well. Not everyone is willing to go to the lengths that some members do here to bring a corpse back from the tomb. Decent, rideable versions of these machines are becoming more scarce each year. If you would have told me a running Honda 350 would fetch 1800+ 10 years ago, I would have called Belleview, but they are today....routinely....with pristine, low mileage ones fetching higher prices yet.
Not every rider wants a cheap, plastic-fantastic piece of junk that nobody except a dealer can work on. The older Jap imports are beginning to shine due to their reliability, economy, wide availability of parts, and ease of maintenance (relatively speaking), you don't need a $1500.00 scanner to read codes, TPS reset tools, etc. As the number of running, well-maintained classic bikes continues to decrease, the prices will continue to rise.
Only a few years ago, "wholesale" price on a fair-condition bike was a dollar-a-CC thing; a decent 750 would fetch $750.00. That has pretty much doubled in recent years, and expect it to triple within the next decade. If you have space, time and cash, now is the time to start snatching up non-runners and squirreling them away

 

Our bikes aren't quite there yet, even the more rare models like the 900 Seca and the '83-only round-headlight 750 Maxim.

The biggest problem is, there were and still are just too dang many of them; Yamaha was trying to out-produce Honda at the time and they flooded the market , especially in the States, with 650 Maxims and 750 Viragos.

Clean, original 550, 650 and 750 Secas still pop up with great regularity. Too great of a regularity for them to be truly "collectible"--- yet.

Give it another 10 years.

 

Do you believe that parts availability will decrease and price will increase respectively?

Anytime I see one of these Yamaha from the early 80s for sale on the side of the road (which is nowhere near as often as I would like for SURE), either the XJ or the XS, I stop and inquire. Many times the bike is in disrepair and needs a ton of work. I love doing the work and don't mind spending the proper hundreds to repair/restore it to safe running condition. However, as time goes by the amount of work needed on average will most likely increase. If parts prices also increase and become more scarce there may come a point where the cost to repair/restore far outweighs the resulting bikes value. At the moment I find them a great investment.

 

Since I bought my XJ750 two years ago, I have been offered another XJ750 and an XS750 triple for peanuts. They are now under tarps in the back of the garage. I used to fix up and resell late 70s to mid-80s Kawis and my general rule of thumb is: $1 per CC if you can start it and nothing major is wrong. Less if it doesn't run and more if it is in exceptionally good shape (needs nothing to register, inspect, and ride).

But collectible, no, not yet. BigFitz if right. Yamaha made thousands and thousands of these bikes so even when the supply new, stock parts dry up, there will be lots of "parts donors" around.

 

Luckily the Yammies (XJ and XS) were so popular, not only is there a realtively healthy aftermarket in common parts for those series, Yamaha themselves still carry most of the "consummables." (Honda does that too.) Believe it or not, I have absolutely no problem getting any part I need for my Norton, either; and it's solidly a collectible now. Easily worth 5X what I paid for it new.

Look at the ubiquitous Honda 750. There were about a gazillion of them sold, they were everywhere. Now, finally, they've become collectors' items and have started to go up in price. And, you can still find about any part you want. Polock's right though, eBay prices have gone a bit insane from just 4 or 5 years ago. The bargains are still out there, they're harder to find amongst the sheer insanity of some of it.

Some bikes just a tad earlier than ours, like the Kawi two-stroke triples are already through the roof, with the Yamaha RD series right behind.

 

Thanks for all your posts.

 

as fitz said, the cb750 is going up in price, while our dollar was high, every man and his dog was importing them over here to oz where they go for crazy money compared to what they sell for over in the us, one importer told me they were a bit harder to track down now compared to a few years ago, glad i got my self one

 

Lanker............don't forget--if you need parts, you know where I"m at. LOL

Dave F

 

And I will still own mine for sure

 

lmao at dave the parts hoarder !!

 

In Ireland, and Europe, there are very few of these bikes left running. Maybe twice a year I will see an XJ750 Seca, but never a 650. Maxims are a bit mor common as US imports but rarely see them on the road. Mostly for sale in the Classic Bikes section of our version of Craiglist.... www.Donedeal.ie Have a look for a laugh. :?

 

Seca 650 for sale locally, looks mint in the pics, 1900 Canuck dollars. Lots of maxims, 600 for parts bikes, 1700 for daily riders