We’ve never had it so good…

The Stafford show is a celebration of modern classic motorcycles, and it’s a market more buoyant than ever. We asked Classic Motorcycle Mechanics editor Bertie Simmonds for his take on things…

I would say we’ve never had it so good in the classic motorcycle market, and I say that even (or perhaps because of ) the uncertainty of Brexit.

Classic Motorcycle Mechanics is in an enviable position to be able to focus on machines from diverse eras from the swinging sixties, the 1970s, 80s and across the spectrum of the Japanese manufacturers to Europeans, such as Ducati, Laverda, Moto Guzzi, BMW and the ‘modern’ Hinckley-era Triumphs of the 1990s, so it’s interesting to gauge how each sector of the market is behaving.

Many of the ‘core classics’ of the 1960s and 1970s are now commanding big figures, and industry expert Paul Jayson, from The Motorcycle Broker – themotorcyclebroker.co.uk – is clear as to the reasons why.

He says: “A familiar pattern is emerging. I have been in the industry since 1988, so when interest rates went rocketing and property crashed, I started exporting to mainland Europe in those preinternet days.

“What has been happening since June 24 is that I have sold a lot of really, super-clean, original and unrestored machines. Decent Sandcast Honda CB750s are £30,000-plus and CBXs have properly hit £15,000-plus now. Why? When currencies are devalued investors run to tangible assets.”

With the internet connecting the modern world like never before, the market for such machines is as widespread as ever with people communicating, buying and selling from sometimes thousands of miles away from each other.

Paul adds: “The weakness of the pound is also pushing prices up as most investment grade classic motorcycles are imported. Customers are willing to pay extra to acquire the investment classic they want. Over the coming years expect classic motorcycle prices to harden up even more, for topend machines.

“As time rolls on, bikes from the 60s, 70s and then the 80s will also give way to machines from the 1990s and beyond, so the market is changing yearon-year as more machines move into the potential ‘classic’ category.

“Prices, currently, are low for most machines, but with notable exceptions. Two-stroke race-replica values have been rising for years, along with prices of the limited-edition homologation four-stroke race-replicas of the 1980s/1990s. Thankfully, the ‘meat and two veg’ machines still offer good value for money even if we’ve seen values creep up over the years.

“Mainstream machines popular back in the day show this: you could buy a very clean, early 1990s Yamaha YZF750 for £1500 four years ago. Today you’d need to spend at least £1000 more. I can’t see prices going any way but up.”

Making money

This means playing the investment game isn’t the preserve of the rich: we can all make a killing (percentage wise at least) off of a good investment bike, but better still we can enjoy them while making money, too. You wouldn’t want to put too many miles on your mint Honda VFR750R RC30, but go and enjoy a tour on your £1800 Honda Blackbird and still sell it for £400 more in a year’s time.

Keeping your modern classic on the road is easier than ever too. With manufacturer-backed spares schemes such as Suzuki’s Vintage Parts Programme and many parts being reverseengineered and remanufactured there really isn’t a better time to buy, ride and restore the bike. Compare that to some of the classic car owners groups who are finding it harder than ever to keep their classic four-wheelers on the road.

Every reason then to pay a visit to the Carole Nash Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show on October 15-16. I’ll see you there.