Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Ok, so I have a 1972 Yamaha DS7. It's not a super common bike, parts are hard to find. I bought it as a project, ran out of time and money, and kind of want to unload it. But I have no idea what a fair price would be. Inside of the gas tank was re-done, tins were recently painted HOK Organic Green, new tires, etc etc.
I can't currently get it to run, charging system didn't work when I did have it running, and it needs fork seals. Otherwise, though, it's a complete bike, with title.

I was thinking about listing it for a grand, but I don't want to screw myself or anyone else... what's a fair price for this bike??

A mint condition 1972 Yamaha DS7 for those not familiar with the model:


Well, my general rule of thumb is this:

If you don't want to bother fixing the bike up yourself and selling it as no issues working then it's 1/2 the price of what it would cost you to fix it (obo). Thus:

If you decided to do the work and it cost you $1000 to get it running, I'd sell it for $1500obo, getting about $1250 in the end. (thus, making $250-300 fixing it up). If you don't want to bother fixing it (or it's too much of a hassle) then sell it for 1/2 of what it would have cost YOU to fix it, thus $500obo.

The problem with 40+ year old bikes are the points and condensers are a pain to come by, the tire sizes and the upto 50/50 wrench/ride time. Few people appreciate those "qualities" in a bike today.

Mike