Seen in Limon, Co

I recognize the truck and long ass trailer. That shipper was at my house last summer picking up a 73 bike I sold to Koz at classic runners. He also had a couple Walter Wolf specials and a few other two strokes going to mackIVmotors in Wisc.

That's right. The Japanese know how to treat a classic with respect. :laugh:

In all seriousness, I see upsides to it.

If we're worried about cash value, this can only increase the value of our bikes.

If we're worried about preservation, despite my post above, the Japanese tend to be more conservative about what they do since they have tougher laws about what can be ridden on the street. And since they are paying top dollar, they would be less likely to chop-saw the rear of the frame down to a loose collection of nubs. And fewer parts hanging by zipties. So the bikes might actually have a better chance at surviving unscathed. They also tend to use newer bikes for daily riders, and keep the classics for shows and rallies. When I was there I saw far fewer old bikes on the road than I do in the U.S.

If we're worried about having fewer parts to get from salvage yards, we should remember that the Japanese resto's have produced an interest in re-popping old sheet metal. At least, I thought some of those exhausts, tanks, and body parts were being made in Japan.

And, lastly, the interest for these old bikes in Japan was enough to convince Kaw to make newer versions of the classics about 10 years ago. (And Honda, just a couple years ago.) It would have been nice to get them here, but they learned before (and Honda learned a couple years ago), Americans want the originals, and we have enough around that it doesn't make economic sense for them to sell new versions here. If the old ones disappear, maybe there will be a 2020 Z1 clone. How awesome would that be?

loudhvx wrote: That's right. The Japanese know how to treat a classic with respect. :laugh:

Better then a hacked up bobber

I've seen a long ass trailer like that myself. The guy was based out of Ohio I think. This was many years ago. At the time he was buying bikes in the North East during the cold winter months and hauling them South to sell. In the summer, when the temperatures got to miserably hot to ride, he would buy a load of bikes and haul them North to sell. He said he made about 6 trips a year and his brother had a rig doing the same thing. He also made runs into Canada, buying new Dirt Bikes in the crate. He said the same bike was 30% cheaper on the other side of the border and you didn't have to deal with titles and licensing (import paperwork) for dirt bikes.