Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Hey, Randy. I am also a new biker (as of this past weekend) and have been looking in the greater Orlando area. This is what I have heard from several folks familiar with bike prices in the area.

Florida = YEAR ROUND BIKING, and the prices are generally higher because of continuous demand for used bikes. I didn't see any bikes listed near the BB prices while I was looking, and a couple of the sellers I talked to on the phone told me right out they would not go that low.

April = JUST AFTER DAYTONA BIKE WEEK and the demand is even higher now for a few months, as fat middle-aged guys like me start pining for the freedom and adventure of two wheels on the open road...

So, I was told this was the worst time of year for buyers and the best time for sellers.

Coincidentally, I just bought an '81 CX500 that has 18K miles. I negotiated to $1350 for it, which seemed like a lot for an '81. But it is in great condition, and I had been shut out on several bikes already by sticking close to the KBB. I hope you will have better luck on that than I did. Let me know!

Thanks,
JC

All depends on where you live and how many there are around you and how bad you want it. In my opinion KBB isn't worth the paper it's printed on for a lot of bikes from the 70s and 80s. They aren't making any more of them ya know. Beaters aren't worth much, but you can sell (or expect to pay when buying) 2, 3 or even 4 times blue book for a complete and original bike from the 60s or 70s if it's clean with low miles. My main point being that sale prices for really old bikes don't often line up very well with price guides. An '81 cx500 isn't particularly rare or collectible, but it's still 25 years old. If you want one in pretty nice condition you'll be paying over book unless you get lucky. If it's got a bunch of dents and rust and miles you should be able to get one cheap.

Understand what you mean yoda.

Been a bit frustrating. Good news is a friend offered to let me ride his GS650 for a week or so while I keep looking.

Hey, Randy. Hope this helps...

While I was looking at a bike that was listed on cycletrader.com, I came across a German guy named Thor that has a bike shop in downtown Orlando (1111 W. Central Avenue). His number is 321-278-1633. His "shop" is NOT a showroom, just a place where he keeps the bikes as he works on them in the backroom. This is in a poor part of town, and the shop looks rough, but he has some potentially good starter bikes he was working on, and he seemed to know what he was doing.

The ones I took note of were a '79 c500, an '82 cb650, and a '72 cl650, all of which ran. There were others, and I don't remember any of the prices he threw out.

There was also an '88 Super Magna V45 for sale in east Orlando. I was going to take a look at it, but decided it was just too much bike for me starting out. He was asking $2300, $500 BELOW the KBB, so if you look be sure to question why. The number was 407.394.8478.

Hope that helps.
JC

Hey there! I'm in Orlando too.

I just got an Interceptor VF700F, which is almost the same engine as the V45 (just 50ccs less, and different cams). There are some definite maintenance issues on these bikes, but if you don't mind a little wrenching, they are totally worth it!

The biggest pain is getting the carbs off and on to clean them (which is usually 90% of what normally goes wrong with them). Also, you have to watch the cams on the older V4's, they have inadequate top end oiling by design... it is fixable with a top end oil mod (just did one myself), but if the bike needs new cams, that can be a bit pricey.

congrats on the new bike, Yoda!

Thanks Yodi, will be over Orlando way in a couple of weeks, may try and look him up if I have time.

Downtown, how the heck to you guys drive in downtown Orlando. It makes Tampa/St Pete look like a drive in the park. Good luck if you ever ride your bike through there. LOL.

Are they ever going to finish I-4??????