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« on: December 14, 2022, 10:24:04 pm »
hi ya'all, Ive been out of the loop for a while as I sunk my inheritance into CBX's and lost my mind when a couple of those proved to be well above my skillset to fix/ get running properly...... so I engaged the great and famous Graeme Crosby and his mechanic Tony to fix my problems and all is well, albeit my wallet now has mouse-sized holes in it you could throw a CBX piston through.
So I was in New Zealand recently and a local seller of some [apparent] renown was selling a sandcast for $80,000 NZD. The frame number and engine number were 6000 numbers [give or take] apart and I suggested that he should make a note on his ad that the engine wasnt the original engine. Well all hell broke loose and he accused me of calling him a liar, cheat and crimnal and eventually he blocked me from Trade Me [the local sales site]. Subsequently he changed the ad to make comment that the guy he bought the bike off [a renowned US restorer who he wouldnt name] had gotten a Certificate of Authenticity from the 'official' Sandcast Authority' certifying it was genuine.
While I didnt claim nor infer it wasnt genuine, all I had done was suggest [so that he couldnt ever be accused of misrepresentation] that the engine likely wasnt the original. Its currently for sale for $60,000 NZD without NZ registration or much else for documentation.
What Im seeing down there is the covid-driven collector madness of 2 years to 12 months ago has softened and prices for all 'collector' grade bikes has dropped by 10-20%, with the exception of the aforementioned CBX's, which just seem to climb higher by the day.
In one respect I hope he gets his $60,000 as its increases the value of my collection through the roof, but at the same time I could see a few years down the road a disgruntled investor being mad as hell when he cant get his money back because the engine isnt the original one. Yes it may be a 'genuine' sandcast but where does one draw the line as to its true value. I guess the market will tell us the answer to that!
On a separate matter, I have been offered frame #4262/ engine #4268 but cant find out any more about the bike other than its an older restoration, with 300 series pipes, but everything else appears on the surface to be correct. Im going to look at it over the weekend to see just how genuine it really is. I have my 40+ item list of differences to start. Stay tuned.
Al