Britbike forum Forums General discussion The Rod and Tappet I've had a bike notion ....

So I started this hunt, sorta looking and thinking, 7 years ago now. And now for over a year, I've been roaming York and MidOhio and other rallies, with cash in my pocket, looking for a "mechanically excellent"/"cosmetically good"/ "doesn't have to be stock" Spanish or American or Japanese or Swedish light two-stroke like I grew up with. I would have thought that about $4000 would be enough ....

but NOOOOO, what's out there is either sort-of beaters that potentially need crank seals and gearbox work for $2000, or concours I'm-so-proud-of-my-nice-$5500-bike examples. Overpriced on Bring-A-Trailer, overpriced in person at the rallies and swap meets, I'm about done until the economic world changes.

I'll concentrate instead on getting my C15 on the road, and if it's as fun and functional as I think it will be, then I'll reconsider my budget and get (hopefully from someone on this board that I know and trust) a bike I've always wanted since they were new ... a nice yellow 441 Victor Special meeting the criteria above.

Lannis

I thought the C15 Scrambler was the bike to scratch this itch.



The B44VS does sit in a sweet spot, though. They're reasonably light, reasonably powerful, with good low-down and mid-range power. B50s put out more power, but aren't as well mannered.

Once I sorted out the intermittent connection in the ignition switch, my Petaluma B44 has been great for shorter runs and a bit of dirt.

You guys seem to have had a lot of B44s, but they might have all been shipped back to the UK or down here.

Actually, I bought the project C15 to develop into a Moto Giro bike, sort of a single purpose thing .... with a Japanese trailie, too new for a Moto Giro, to fool around on in the local woods and trails this year.......

Lannis

This is why I've about given up on old dual-sports.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1971-yamaha-dt1-enduro-250/

Rebuilt 1971 DT1 Yamaha just sold for $27,000. Not in the crate, not one of Steve McQueen's bikes, no Von Dutch paint job; just a plain DT1 that would have sold for $1500 a few years back.

I guess that's just chicken feed to some folks these days ....

Lannis

I bought one of those that year, $739 plus tax.

money laundering. an easy way to transfer large sums of money while tying it to supposedly legitimate transactions

need to pay $27,000 dollars to a drug trafficker for your cocaine? easy. buy an old yamaha from him for $27,000.

dunno how you do it through an auction, but the procedure is common.

expensive art and cars too.

That's probably the most likely explanation ... but a very public auction site with a thousand people watching and wondering who is bidding, PLUS having to have another guy in on it bidding against you so that you don't jump the bid from $5000 to $25000 with no one pushing the bids, seems like a rather risky way to finance a drug or blackmail transaction ....

I don't have a better explanation, though. Yamaha 250s don't sell for $27,500 any more than a nice Vincent Rapide can be had for $5,000 .....

Lannis

restaurants too. you can overpay a supplier a bit over and over to put money in his hands with a receipt.

ot any legitimate business can be used. own a lanfill? bill somebody for more than he delivers.


https://www.jumio.com/money-laundering-examples/

lots of techniques explained on the net

In the UK, "American candy shops" is apparently the latest money laundering wheeze. Car washing and fast food outlets being previous obvious examples.

Although my knowledge of money laundering is limited, surely any online auction leaves a trail of evidence?

Reading the comments under that auction, I would make a very meager wager that this is the result of something less nefarious than money laundering, pure speculation, of course.It appears to me a case of a couple of well-heeled nimrods having a weenie-wagging competition. I've seen it happen online and I have witnessed it in person in real time. I have watched horrible garbage that even I wouldn't drag home go for obscene prices when some overcompensating manchildren with more disposable income than identity decided they were going to show everyone who had the biggest, hairiest and veiniest bankroll.
One of my favorites was when I saw 2 wealthy "farmers" go at it over a tin of "Antique cigarette tobacco! Look! It's still sealed!" at a farm auction once. I can't recall precisely what it finally sold for but it was over $100.... I could clearly see as the auctioneer waved it around it had a bar code on the bottom. I could've driven 3 miles to the closest country store and bought the same thing for about $4 (this was in the 90's, mind you).
Let them have at it. The buyer gets a story to tell the boys at the golf club (and whatever thing they just had to have) and the seller gets an income bump.
Sounds about right to me.

One of the owners of the company I work for is an automotive collector. Sold off some of his collection a couple years back… one of the big two auction houses took a full week to carry on the auction… it was a big deal in the hobby (Eddie Vannoy Collection) Little over 15 million dollars changed hands.

He started buying motorcycles….sent one of my project managers to Vegas to bid on some one year. Nice Matchless comes up and Eddie said “ I don’t care what it cost…..win the auction” someone else was interested in it…bidding stopped at just over $24,000. The owner was floored……over twice of what he was hoping to get.

It sold at the current auction with a starting bid of $25,000.