Kawasaki Triples Club

time to junk the original parts
and turn it into yer own bike

Ride them & enjoy now!

You cant really knock the sellers for raking in the cash.

The idiots fanning the exorbitant price fires are the fuckwits that are prepared to pay out 800 quid for a NOS seat or 100 quid+ for a toolkit. While they are roaming free out there with way too much money for their own good the prices will hold.

All we can hope is that the men in white coats are also watching Ebay and quickly locate and recover these escaped loons to the padded rooms where they belong

And remeber , they all have " Made in Japan" stamped all over them.

So lets get away from this " Genuine UK Bike " Tosh !!!

Charlie wrote:You cant really knock the sellers for raking in the cash.

The idiots fanning the exorbitant price fires are the fuckwits that are prepared to pay out 800 quid for a NOS seat or 100 quid+ for a toolkit. While they are roaming free out there with way too much money for their own good the prices will hold.

All we can hope is that the men in white coats are also watching Ebay and quickly locate and recover these escaped loons to the padded rooms where they belong

Here we go again.....I've heard it all before.. .

Each to their own Charlie. If its what makes folk happy then let 'em get on with it I say...its their choice...it may not be yours, but that doesn't make you right or 'them' wrong, in my book.

I personally prefer to reserve my judgement.

It doesn't necessarily make them overfunded, "fuckwits" or "loons" , just people excercising their options.

I reckon these high prices people are prepared to pay, help us all.
I'll explain why.
If you have a restored bike already you can expect to see it going up in value over time. The high price of the seat tells you that people want the end product , ie triples .

If you are restoring a bike, yes you can pay the price for NOS if you want or you can make do and mend like most people ( isn't that the fun bit ? ). The high price of bits means that its worthwhile restoring and that it will have a value at the end when its done.

QED

High prices on bikes and parts aren't that bad cause it helps to save the bikes and to kept them in condition.
cheap bikes on the 80s 90s such as Yamaha 125cc twin 2 stroke from the 60s to 80s are nearly all disapered cause people didn't keep them on the 80s 90s and the parts have been put on the bin by the dealers cause nobody wanted them. So now, it's more difficult and really expensive to find NOS parts to rebuild 125cc twin Yamaha from the 70s than K triples.
I know I own 3

What is a really mint KH500 or H1-F worth - maybe £5K to the right person on a good day ??

....stack that against buying a seat on its own at 800 quid ....and tell me again it is not crackers to pay that sort of money. Again, I am not knocking the seller, who wouldn't take a shed load of money for a bit of old tin and leatherette if it was offered to us ?

BUT, it is precisely because an elite few ARE prepared to pay that sort of money that all spares prices are as high as they are for us mere mortals and that's why many bikes that should or could be put on the road again - will be broken up for spares.

Particularly so if there is anything on there that can pass as NOS ....

I would think that seat has likely gone to a concours eventist who may well take an elusive trophy or two now if he (or she) didn't manage to before, but where is the skill in bolting together a bike from new old stock parts to win a competition. Is that even fair ?

Charlie wrote:What is a really mint KH500 or H1-F worth - maybe £5K to the right person on a good day ??

....stack that against buying a seat on its own at 800 quid ....and tell me again it is not crackers to pay that sort of money. Again, I am not knocking the seller, who wouldn't take a shed load of money for a bit of old tin and leatherette if it was offered to us ?

BUT, it is precisely because an elite few ARE prepared to pay that sort of money that all spares prices are as high as they are for us mere mortals and that's why many bikes that should or could be put on the road again - will be broken up for spares.

Particularly so if there is anything on there that can pass as NOS ....

I would think that seat has likely gone to a concours eventist who may well take an elusive trophy or two now if he (or she) didn't manage to before, but where is the skill in bolting together a bike from new old stock parts to win a competition. Is that even fair ?

Why do you feel that anyone who pays more for an item than YOU think its worth, becomes an "elitist", and why, do you consider that anyone with a near original spec bike is automatically a concourse eventist whose sole aim is to "take an elusive trophy or two", thats absolute bollox.

There are members within the KTC that have won trophies for many years, who also get great pleasure from riding their bikes on a regular basis, its just that you probably don't know them and so assume that they fall into one of your pre-conceived categories.

You need to consider your comments and the way in which they relate to a number of the long serving contributive members of this club before you go voicing your opinions, unless of course your sole aim is to once again start an argument about what is now a well worn subject.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, that is one of the benefits of an open forum, but that doesn't entitle them to expect that they can enforce that opinion on others by being offensive.

In my book it's not what is said but the way in which it is said that is important.

There are bike builders within this club who have probably forgotten more about Triples than you and I put together will ever know.

BTW, I think you will find that parts taken from broken up bikes don't generally actually qualify as N.O.S

Couldn't agree more Rog. I watched many show winning triples taken to the IOM a few years ago that sat aut in the rain all week and ridden every day. Many of them had very expensive nos parts on simply because the owners had no other option to complete the restoration. These bikes were not sitting un used just to collect trophies. The owners knew that when something like a nos seat comes up it may be the last ever chance to complete an otherwise perfect restoration. Each to their own. Most of the show winning owners that i know have fairly ordinary jobs and have worked and saved bloody hard to get these bikes in the condition they are in. That does not give any one the right to insult them by inferring they have mental issues. Not ammused. RR

also ask for a seat for a new BMW 1200CC or for a tank for a GSXR 1000cc and you will see the price aren't so crazy for NOS triples parts.

Expensive NOS seats rings bells

£723 for an NOS H2B seat back in 2007

Crackers? probably, as for fuckwits, well we don't think so.

We have no regrets. That seat has and still is serving my bum very nicely for the puropse it is intended for, to me it was worth every penny :smt023

:smt023

I dont usually get involved in these debates but I have to say.

I havent got pots of cash, I do have some nice bikes [IMO] and I wouldnt use most of them in bad weather.
Its not all about trophys for me but if I was lucky enough to win anything I would and have been really chuffed.

If I see something and want it I will have it, regardless of cost [life is too short]

just my thoughts Gary

Gary557 wrote:I dont usually get involved in these debates but I have to say.

I havent got pots of cash, I do have some nice bikes [IMO] and I wouldnt use most of them in bad weather.
Its not all about trophys for me but if I was lucky enough to win anything I would and have been really chuffed.

If I see something and want it I will have it, regardless of cost [life is too short]

just my thoughts Gary

Gary, quite agree. If you realy want it, have at least 10 pints of Stella, fire up ebay on your pc and bid like a man with no arms. You will always get what you want

Neil the Don wrote:And remeber , they all have " Made in Japan" stamped all over them.

So lets get away from this " Genuine UK Bike " Tosh !!!

While I agree with you Neil that at the end of the day they are all Japanese not US or UK or anything else, the fact is there always has been a penchant for UK registered bikes in this country, not just triples but all makes, whether it's to do with that last bit of nostalgia or whatever I don't know, to me if I was buying it would make no difference, it would be the quality of the bike that would matter, I don't give a flying F**k where it started life. But while there are people out there prepared to pay a 10-20% premium there will always be a market.

Thats why, if I was selling, mine would always be a 'UK 72H2'

Martyn, you may as well go the whole hog and put H2C body work on it I'm sure some one else has already done his

666rog wrote:Martyn, you may as well go the whole hog and put H2C body work on it I'm sure some one else has already done his

Who Rog??
Name and shame

Hmm, clearly I have ruffled some feathers with my comments. Perhaps you guys know what I don't - and that is the name of the person that paid the large sum of money for the seat and that is why it touches a nerve as you feel I am making it personal ?

(That wasn't my intention) Whatever, it doesn't really matter.

As said, I don't know most of you and most of you don't know me. That could be why I am finding myself in a defensive situation as forum users do tend to agree with who they know - and be more vociferous against those they don't. All forums work the same way.

So lets leave it at that:

I withdraw all my comments that offend anyone, apologise to anyone that cares to accept it - and you guys can carry on paying whatever you want for whatever you want.

That way - we can all move along in life and be happy

Don`t worry Charlie. It turns into a British Bulldogs type game at the Rally. Revisionists on one side, Ride Em Brigade on the other.

( And by Revisionist, I mean the Restorers who make them look better than they ever left the Factory . Which is nearly impossible not to do . I beleive some folk have started painting their frames without primer now, instead of powder coating to get the right effect. )

As per the " Gen, UK Bike " thing. I really have thought long and hard about this , and it probably deserves its own article. But here it is ;
In fact. No. I`m going to start a new thread on this, as I think it will run and run.
( And its a bit different to the original theme of this one about n.o.s parts prices )