A Cafe Question

[vintage_cycles]

Hi All,
A few months ago a friend of mine was asking some questions on how to identify my 1964 Super hawk. It is fairly rare with the vin reading frame number 15 and engine number 8. I have 25 or so motorcycles and build cafe racers, bobbers, choppers and vintage restoration. What I need to know is if I build it into a cafe racer instead of restoring it will the cb77 lose its value? What would I expect to get for it restored? It will be rebuilt to showroom condition either way.
Thanks.

[davomoto]

Hard to put a value on either way. When I have a matching engine and frame, I go the stock resto route. When I have a bunch of mismatched parts, I go cafe' / custom.

Davo

[G-Man]

The value would rise if the bike has all of its parts from the same period and original. No frame or engine number is rarer than any other, they were all only used once so all are similarly unique. Value in the UK is probably twice as much as in the US but it costs to get them here. £4k is not uncommon for a nice CB.

Race replicas or cafe bikes don't fetch much unless they are done very well. Not just shiny, but properly-engineered. Any custom is done to the taste of the builder so that tends to depress the value for others.

Just my two-cents worth.

G

[ricksd]

It sounds like you have a pretty good idea of the answer, but, my opinion, if you modify a motorcycle with the intent of selling it, the best route is a 'period correct' set of mods. The chopper'bobber fad is fading fast, and cafe racers will soon follow.- a Benelli tank and some Clubman bars will only appeal to guys who use the word 'badass' and lots of Ks, like 'Kustom" and 'Kulture'- maybe even Zs, like 'badazz', and they'll be onto 'the next thing' before too long.
I think showroom stock bikes are boring, but I don't fool around with bikes to make money- if you build what the Barrett Jackson guys call 'restorods' you have a chance of making more than the minimum wage for your efforts- it's probably harder to make money doing a true restoration since those buyers are so demanding.
I was a teenager in the sixties, and a huge myth has been fabricated about Cafe Racers, at least in the USA- I never saw one.
Rick

[cyclon36]

Hi All,
A few months ago a friend of mine was asking some questions on how to identify my 1964 Super hawk. It is fairly rare with the vin reading frame number 15 and engine number 8. I have 25 or so motorcycles and build cafe racers, bobbers, choppers and vintage restoration. What I need to know is if I build it into a cafe racer instead of restoring it will the cb77 lose its value? What would I expect to get for it restored? It will be rebuilt to showroom condition either way.
Thanks.

So "15" is the only thing on the frame for the VIN or are you assuming it's the 15th because of the VIN?

Any sort of bike with a historical significance of any kind is always better off restored to it's original shape or left alone if it's in decent shape.

Rule of thumb for any sort of vehicle: Original is always worth more than custom....unless the person making it custom is famous.

[davomoto]

I build my customs for myself to keep and ride, not to sell. None of them start with a "K" ;-)

Davo

[vintage_cycles]

Thanks for the insight guys, the vin is cb77-100015 engine 100008. I just build a lot of cycles for other people and you guys are completely right when it comes to builds. I never try to personalize a cycle to much if I want to sell it. Most of the cycles I modify are for my personal collection. I was just thinking about modding it for myself but don't want to destroy the CB if it has any real value to a collector because we all know what a money pit correct restoration is. The only thing the cycle didn't have was the front fender(love to find one in decent shape) and the factory paint was covered in green and gold so it will have to be put back to factory red. Have any of you seen the factory option turn signals on a super hawk? I have never seen one with them in person, just wondering if they look decent.

Thanks again guys!