I have ridden neither one and I would love to own either. how can that be a fair comparison though if the 45 he rode was a 890cc big bore. at any rate Larry my hats off to you. good buy on both accounts. my garage is definitely suffering from penis envy now. I can't wait to read the purchase story of the trip. I read the 45 story a few years ago and never put 2 and 2 together that it was you.
These are about the only pics of my bro's bikes I have on my computer
R7 & 916SP
R7
SP1 and my 45
The R7 is interesting to ride, really 2 strokey, he has done the wire splice/airbox lid/exhaust/throttle etc, where it feels nice is in handling/cornering.
The Ducati gets the most attention when we're out even tho it's the biggest POS compared to the Japanese bikes. Everyones like "oh Ducati, Ducati" it's definately an image bike. Very few people know what the R7 is and then it's only older guys. Even the Yamaha dealers don't know what they are.
I like both bikes alot, but here in Aus, a 45 is incredibly rare so when one came up years ago I bought it as I knew down the track getting a 30 would be much easier. The problem is once you have a 30 and a 45 you start dreaming of an NR750
My brother has an SP1, R7 and a 916 SP3, so we have a few homologation bikes between us.
My reasoning for picking the 45 in this hypothetical would be the same, the 45 is more rare and you probably see ten 30's for sale for every one 45. So if you don't have money for both just sitting around you have to try to wait and get the more rare one first. My luck would be I would drain the bank account to buy the 30 and then a week later a 45 would come up for sale.
I'm going to be getting a couple more bikes later this year, but not ones in this usual RC30/45 price point. I made a deal with myself that I wouldn't spend a dime until a few things are taken care of this spring and could pay cash.
Larry is lucky, I saw cdolan had put up the youtube video of the RC30 before listing it on Ebay, and after seeing the low price on the GTS1000 was just waiting for him to put it up and see the price. Six months from now I would have immediately bought it with a BIN that low and taken my chances. I'm happy for him though.
Wow, after researching the seller even more this weekend I found out this.
Chris Dolan (the seller) was the individual responsable for bringing the Kawi 900 to the big screen in a little film called Top Gun! In fact, he was the supplier of both of the 900's in the film when he owned a bike shop in San Diego.
In fact, this guy is some what of a legend in the motorcycling community around the world. Take a look at the full build story of a fan replicating the his original work from the movie. TOP GUN
as a kid, I sat on those bikes before the movie was released... probably on that very trailor when it was in my driveway... buddies Dad drove the prop trucks for Paramount & said he had a hand in teaching Tom to ride.
CONGRATZ LARRY!!!
it was meant to be... there is now harmony in the universe
I'm going to be getting a couple more bikes later this year, but not ones in this usual RC30/45 price point. I made a deal with myself that I wouldn't spend a dime until a few things are taken care of this spring and could pay cash.
The problem is where do you stop? A first model blade, a first model R1, first model GSXR750, NSR250, RGV250........the list goes on, these are not 'expensive' bikes but you could most definately get carried away
The Yamaha GTS for $4k is about half what most are advertised at. I would expect if he had simply put a reserve on the RC in a week it would be well above his BIN price. I just can't figure out why a person wouldn't try to sell it for more, at least the first time it is listed.
It sounds like bike prices are inflated in your area or you haven't noticed the lower prices/tanked economy. 8,000 for a GTS? Maybe a zero mile, never titled example. I don't think I've ever seen one of those dogs advertised for more than $4500.
It sounds like bike prices are inflated in your area or you haven't noticed the lower prices/tanked economy. 8,000 for a GTS? Maybe a zero mile, never titled example. I don't think I've ever seen one of those dogs advertised for more than $4500.
On the contrary most that have been on cycletrader have been between asking $6500-7500. I have been watching them for a couple of years. The blue '94 is super-rare with less than a hundred imported.
The problem is where do you stop? A first model blade, a first model R1, first model GSXR750, NSR250, RGV250........the list goes on, these are not 'expensive' bikes but you could most definately get carried away
I don't want to derail my own thread but my thoughts are to get a bigger variety of bikes. Currently have an 851 (need to replace cases ) and a 999. I have room for 4-6 bikes.
So going forward a nice variety would be one sport-touring, one newish sportbike, one naked bike, and one vintage bike (20 years or older by my definition). That would be four bikes, the rule for myself would be numbers five and six could be vintage bikes. I have to impose limitations on myself otherwise I would go nuts buying all the ones I wanted but never bought. Also wouldn't buy anything else until all the current ones are up on repair and maintenance.
So I have the vintage bike ('90 851) and a newish sportbike ('03 999). If I wanted another sportbike, the 999 would have to go per my self-imposed rules.
I'm rambling, but the short story is I have to tear apart the 851 this winter. I'm in the middle of painting the inside of the house at night, that takes for-freaking-ever to do it right. Gotta re-do the garage space also and some spring maintenance projects outside on the house. I want to get all those out of my hair before buying another bike. Gives more time for the bank account to grow as well.
So the first bike I will get is a sport-touring bike for my 120 mile commute. Main candidates are everything from a true ST like the GTS or Aprilia Futura to a more unconventional CBR1100XX with hard bags and big screen. Budget would be about $6k max to put it on the road with the mods I would want. The blue GTS1000 would have been nearly perfect for how I intended to use it.
I've always had a thing for the 851 but since we're talking about rare bikes, I'd have to say the 888SPO or whatever it was rates pretty high on my list too!
+1 and then some. I had the chance to sit on one in a Yamaha dealer's showroom in Rome some years ago....they had it roped off but let an American tourist check it out......sweet!
Back on topic.....
Larry.....congrats on the new bike....post up some pics as soon as you get it.
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Only one left not in captivity.
) and a 999. I have room for 4-6 bikes. 
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