CLASSICS
Fancy some iconic metal in your garage for 2019? Cast your eyes overseas…
Soaring prices may look like a bad thing but there is a way round them.
AT THE STAFFORD show the Bonhams auction had a sale value of almost £3,500,000! Japanese bikes from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s continue to hit big money. An RD350 made £8625, a Suzuki XN85 Turbo reached £7475 and an RG500 sold at £13,800. Such prices are nice for sellers. You could argue the values help restos, too. 15 years ago a rough RG500 might have been worth two grand, and the five or six it’d be worth restored made it hard to justify the time and money – but the resto costs are now an investment. Strong prices are bad for those who just fancy a cool bike, though. But there’s a solution. The USA. There’s a gap between values of some desirable models in the US and what they fetch here. Buy online then enlist shipping agents to whisk the bike back – our Mark Graham paid £902 to get his Harley door-to-door, including collection, shipping, duty, the lot. And Nigel has just bought a sweet Honda trail bike – see page 118.