Thinking about selling? How much is it worth?

Hello! I am thinking about selling my bike. It's a 1983 kz550m which I fully restored. It has 6300 miles. I have a thread you can look up and see how I did most things... Also my other threads have pictures too. Thanks everybody here for the help. How much do you think its worth? Where should I list it? Feel free to make an offer, I'm in CT.
Dave

I use the "completed listings" in the advanced search option of EBay for an estimates. Look for the ones with the price in Green numbers. These are the ones that actually sold. You may need to adjust based on location, condition, mileage ect...
There was only 1 83 kz550M listed in the last 30 days. The seller said it was "museum quality" and it was located in PA so it's within a few hundred miles of you. It got 0 bids on a starting price of $2,500.
There were 2 82 KZ550 LTD's that did sell in the $600 and $1,200 range. One of these was in PA as well. They weren't as nice as yours, but they were clean riders with no major issues.
If you're not in a rush, and are willing to wait for the right buyer, $2,000 may be possible. Otherwise, You may want to consider any offer in the $1,200 to $1,500 range.

Ouch. That hurts, I'll be keeping it forever if that's the case-lol!

So, what do you think you got in her?

Sadly definitely over 3000 dollars as i was making a list as i spent money on it. I definitely missed a few things. I spent over 1000 hours. Probably not the fastest.

I know what your saying....... first you make a list on what its gonna cost then you add at least 50% to that and you might end up close. By the time I get the front end done, tire, brakes, lines, bearings, maybe seals but they don't leak I'll have close to that. That is a sharp bike.... hopefully you'll find the guy that can't live without it.

I think what happened to me was that I thought I was just going to get it running but quickly realized that if something is worth doing, it's worth doing right, and wanted to try my best.

Hey, you want to ride a bike that is questionable? Really? Kudos for doing it right. If you decide to sell, good luck. I'd suggest making a closet queen. It could be worth... well, who knows... in another 20 years, with the same mileage. LOL Might even got ALL your money back! (o:

fastdave wrote: I think what happened to me was that I thought I was just going to get it running but quickly realized that if something is worth doing, it's worth doing right, and wanted to try my best.

You did a great job; that bike looks like it just rolled off the showroom floor. As far as selling it - if you don't find a buyer in the US willing to pay your price you may find someone overseas. Many of those folks are willing to pay more than US folks plus shipping. Ed

To anyone who hasn't seen the resto Dave did, he is under-selling it... the mount of time and effort, that is,...besides the actual money involved. That bike is a time machine.

This is the thread, but the photos are missing. I wish the photo of the re-chromed pieces were still there.
www.kzrider.com/kunena/11-projects/59659...550-ltd?limitstart=0

Here's some completed photos.
www.kzrider.com/kunena/11-projects/605826-1983-kz550-ltd

It would be a shame for that bike to get into the wrong hands... like a 16 year old kid who wants to hardtail it and put rusty apehangers on it.

It may be a while before it becomes a collector bike, but at some point some museum somewhere will want it.

Unfortunately, unless you are restoring ELR's or maybe black bombers, you won't get much return on your labor on Japanese bikes in the near future. There may have just been too many of them.

I would agree that what a bike should be worth and the current market value are often quite different. You can have receipts for all the new parts and 100's of obvious hours, but the typical buyer isn't going to spend the money. They may go 10% higher for a perfect bike, but not much beyond. If they plan to ride it, a nice bike is good enough. The collector market is a little different, but the 550 LTD hasn't quite made it to that status yet.
Mecum just had their big Las Vegas auction. There was very nice 82 KZ1000 LTD that sold for $2,800. It looked perfect based on 30 seconds on the TV screen. That auction was heavy British (BSA's, Nortons and Triumphs), along with MX and mini's. It probably didn't draw the right buyers for that bike. It still blew me away that an 84 Honda Z50 sold for more ($4K) than a 82 1000 LTD.
Restoring vintage Japanese bikes has to be based on passion. It sure isn't something you do for profit. Unfortunately, other than a few select models like the Z1's, Z1R's, ELR's and MKII's, the market value just isn't there to recoup your costs.
I knew that price wasn't going to be welcome news and I waited a few days debating if I should post. I eventually did give a honest market appraisal based on recent EBay sales. His bike should be worth more, but price is always what a buyer is willing to pay.

Its not a Z1, Z1R, H2, etc so its not going to demand a high price. Ive gone through the same crap with MX bikes. Ride it, enjoy it, is my opinion. Real nice job on it though.