‘Holiday refund? Guzzi V50 inbound’

Our holiday (a cruise round the Galapagos on a four-masted barquentine!) blew out last year, was rescheduled for this year, and has now been rescheduled for 2022. We booked the flights separately and BA has just refunded me something north of £3000. What do you do when three grand drops into your lap? Yes, me too. Air tickets can wait. I’ll tell you what I’ve got in my eBay Watch List and why…

A BMW R80ST (the rare road version of the original R80GS) with every mod you can think of: uprated brakes, twin plugged, sump extension, higher fifth gear and a 1000cc kit. A superb throw-it-about naked. I think the asking price is about £500 too high, though.

A 1994 Yamaha XJ900F, the pre-Diversion model, in superb nick with luggage. It didn’t sell at £2500 and is up for £500 less. I don’t need it, just interested. A very solid tourer, but I can’t see it holding its value. It’s only £200 more than the K1100RS I bought recently. A Ducati 750 Monster, superb nick, new MoT. Didn’t sell at £2600 and was my fall-back if I didn’t get the 750SS I bought recently. I don’t need three Ducatis, but…

A 1981 Moto Guzzi V50 Monza, the Mini-Le Mans. Owned by a Guzzi fiend. This is one I was after. Why? Recently I said that the V50 was undervalued and is starting to move up in price – if I sold one for more than I paid for it from a dealer, this has to be the case. I don’t need a second Guzzi, but then I didn’t need a second Ducati. Besides, my wife wants one.