Vintage Dirt Bike Q & A

I've been following the upward spiraling prices for NOS Cr250m parts on e-bay( $2,025 Tank, $2,500 Pipe!) and was wondering if I'm missing something here. Are these bikes going to be the "next big thing",or are some people just losing there minds? Any thoughts?

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1974 Honda CR250M
1979 Honda CBX SS

Not only CR parts,but all prices on ebay seem to be crazy. Mini Trail parts were crazy until you could get repo's. I'm not sure about other bikes,but all Hondas are hot properties, look at your cbx.I have also seen tanks for TL 125 Hondas,not new but a nice take offs, go for crazy money. I have a new one one still in the box,given to me when I bought the bike 10yrs ago,can't decide to sell it or not.I know I'll need it if I get rid of it.If we only had a time machine we could really cleanup.

I agree with you regarding eBay prices. Some are shocking but obviously people are prepared to pay. Is this a form of panic?

Thank goodness there are a good number of people now doing pattern parts. I would only use NOS if it was at the right (??) price. I do not intend to show my bike because I want to race it. I do however respect the avid restorer who wants the genuine article.

There seems to be a good number of readily available secondhand used parts in the USA for my bike (1976 CR125M) and I could do with coming over to a big twinshock meeting or show. Any recomendations please?

I've followed it pretty closely and usually there is are several back reasons for it. It is kind of like the movie "A Perfect Storm."

The prices are high but not when you consider inflation. Just as an example you could buy a new home in Silicon Valley in 1973 for about $20,000. Same home now costs ~$700,000. Most stuff has only gone up about 10X but still when you consider a CR250 was ~$800 the prices almost look appropriate for keeping up with inflation.

I haven't checked the prices at Vintage Iron for restorations lately but I think they are in the $4,000-$8,000 range. A collector of course prefers NOS over restored. Even Rick at Vintage Iron says he would not remove the dents from a Roger DeCoster bike now since it is an important part of the bikes history.

There is a lot of interest in racing old stuff, not just the MX. Guy a couple of blocks away belongs to a SL70 racing league and I have seen a program where they had a minibike race. Winner of the minibike race made ~$10,000 and he said it was more then he made the entire season racing 125 MX.

If I have it right, at the start of "On Any Sunday" the kid popping the wheelie on a Honda monkey bike is Jeff Ward. Between the people that had them back in the day and Little League type parents looking to start their kids out, the same type bike Jeff Ward started on is magic.

It's a middle to aging 'White Guy Baby Boomer' driven phenomina. After mortages get paid off and retirement looms or arrives, the disposable income starts chasing dreams.

Well put. eL

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1974 Honda CR250M
1979 Honda CBX SS

Restoration parts for that bike have always been high, tanks would bring $1000 over five years ago. As more and more people want to restore one there are fewer parts that were almost impossible to find to begin with, so the price keeps climbing.

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Sam Alexander

1974 Honda CR250M
1976 Honda CR250
1974 Maico MC440
1974 Maico MC250
1977 Maico AW400

Most of all those high priced CR250M parts on eBay of late have been purchased by one individual, drtdogs.

Here are some of those auctions I'm referring to: 320029856714, 320038638893, 260048033946, 260048830644, 190047772342.

Look them up on eBay and then add the totals up. That's just a few of the auctions he won for CR250M parts. Check his history. This guy is loaded. I think he places a crazy money bid in and just waits until the auction ends. Hopefully he will run out of money or interest so the rest of the CR250M lovers can partake.

Or check this one out- 170044091495 Like I have said before if it comes in a bag with the Honda tag like this one it's not NEW OLD STOCK, but current.Honda may be out of them and may not get anymore,but old stock it's not.Here is a NOS tag-- 290046790564

Here is another pitfall- 120045958981 Now look here- http://dratv.com/ct70grabhandle.html I have also seen them as low as 12.00 Let the buyer beware

Gary, you brought up an excellent example of what to be aware of. Many of the replacement part Honda offered were not exact duplicates of their original parts. The NOS rear fender that drtdogs paid crazy money for was a later style replacement part. If you looked real close, the rubber flap that fits up to the airbox only had 3 rivots where the originals had 5. He also bought a front # plate that was a late style replacement. The paint quality of the late style replacements is really crappy. Whoever they contracted to build their replacement body panels did a very poor job of taping the "expert green" number panels. I bought a NOS rear fender for my 1980 CR125 once that came in the Honda wrapper that was made of painted ABS instead of of the normal plastic that they originally were made from. Lots of the bolts, springs and hardware that pop up on ebay are still available from Honda, but many guys don't realize this and pay silly money for parts that are not even correct and available for much less right from Honda. Speaking of bolts.....I still need a few original bolts for my 73 CR250. I have genuine Honda bolts, but they have an underline under the logo where the originals had a dot or no marking. If anyone can help I need a kicker bolt and both bracket bolts that hold the pickle on. My 73 project has been ongoing now for about 7 years. Thank God I bought almost everything I needed back then! I thought I had lost my mind when I paid $600 for a NOS pipe. I begged for at least 2 years for a set of NOS handlebars. I got tired of begging and offered $200 for a set which was crazy money back then. I had a set within a week of my silly offer. I wonder what they would sell for today? Man....I feel really lucky! This reminds me to thank Sam Alexander for help he offered me back when I was scouring the planet for parts. Thanks for the NOS wiring harness Sam. You probably forgot about it by now, but every time I look at it on my bike..... I think of your help with a really hard to find part. The sad thing is I could never duplicate this bike again. Parts have just gotten out of reach for the average guy.

We are real lucky in being able to get these replacement parts tho, it just becomes a problem when they get misrepresented