1978 Ice Blue LeMans for sale

[lrutt]

I hope it goes for north of $12k. My 77 with close ratio trans will be worth just that much more.

I remember one of my first rides, I turned on the headlight and next time I looked down I saw this red light next to 'Oil' and freaked out. Thought I had no OP. Closer look showed that for whatever reason MG decided they needed an idiot light to tell you when the low beam was on. Bout gave me a damned heart attack.

The bike in question has original exhaust, velocity stacks, seat, very original. Mine does to and I hate it, too quiet, but it's still there as can't get a bub :(

[motogearhead]

Interesting question

This is the dash on my 1977 Lemans, as far as I know it's original



1975 750 S3 dash, known to be original, very similar to the Le Mans



Did Guzzi update the dash cover for 1978 and add signal directional indicators?

My 77 looks just like your 750 S3 except lights are red and tach is 10k.  My 78 is the same as your 750 S3 except the tach is 10k.  Neither bike has the odometer or the KPH scale like yours or the turn indicators like the ebay bike.

[guzzista]

Leafman, my instrument pod is just like Jim's 77 Lemon, but US with MPH's and no tripmeter. It has red warning lights ( 'cept for the Neutral which is Orange).  Sometimes my 60 year old eyes may see what could be the oil light instead of it just being the "Lights  On " which is when the WTF moments happened. 

[Cam3512]

Thanks

When leafman starts asking specific questions about a rare classic, there's something afoot...

 

[leafman60]

I was but I've changed my mind.



To quote the Book of Mathew 16:23

"Get thee behind me, Satan."


I'm not looking at this any more!

.

[brenwin]

I am betting it will go for north of $14K

Good call Jim !!

[jazzamoto]

Good call Jim !!

Just sold for $15,301, which is what it's worth. Note that the winning bidder bumped his bid by $4000 in the last 2 minutes!

[sdcr]

Just sold for $15,301, which is what it's worth. Note that the winning bidder bumped his bid by $4000 in the last 2 minutes!

Nice bike, these first series really are holding (and gaining) in value.

Anyone know how many ice blues were imported to the USA?

[canuck750]

Fair price for a very nice bike, the paint looked correct, many repaints on eBay have too much gloss in the black and the red.

| feel it's really important to get the details right on these rare birds should one ever have to sell and hope to get the price they are worth. I have seen several 'restored' Le Mans MKI bikes sell over the past coule years and the spread in apparent quality is obvious.

From the pictures posted this LeMans appears to have been one of the very best, up close in person it may have told a different storey but had I the cash to spend and wanted a restored bike this would have been the one to buy.

[leafman60]

Ditto what Canuck said.

The bike looked great.  I hope and I'm sure the purchaser will be pleased.

My reluctance was due to all the paint and powder coating that had been done.  It looked okay in the pictures but most of such "refreshes" and "restorations" I've seen in the flesh looked a little too restored to me.  I am not partial to powder coat in restorations. Maybe these guys were judicious in their efforts and yielded a great result.

Anyway, no sour grapes here. I'm glad to see these prices. 

These old Lemans bikes are becoming as sought-after as the Nuovo Falcone !     

.

[swooshdave]

Just sold for $15,301, which is what it's worth. Note that the winning bidder bumped his bid by $4000 in the last 2 minutes!

Someone came in with a $3k bump. Isn't that unusual?

[Tom]

Shill bid by the owner to keep it and relist at some other time.  He'll put a higher reserve.

[Cam3512]

Nice bike, these first series really are holding (and gaining) in value.

Anyone know how many ice blues were imported to the USA?

Not a first series.  That was '76 with the round tail light molded into the rear fender.  This is a later US import with the different tail light and head light, and reflectors on the sides of the turn signals.  I wouldn't kick either out of my garage!  Wait a minute, I did just that...

[canuck750]

All the action came in the last three minutes when three bidders with money and the desire to own it stepped in.

Makes sense to me, if you really want it let the action dictate the price until the very end then if the bike is till in your price range set the highest price you are willing to pay and press send.

The three bidders who wanted it all probably set the maximum they would pay and then let Ebay automatic bidding do its thin.

From the last second bump it looks like it was a genuine bid / win.

[Tom]

For questions on the dashboard.  My '76 850 LeMans is the same as the 750S that is pictured.  My '80 CX100 dash is different.  It has multi-colored  vertical lights.  I'll recheck the LeMans and my '81 CX100.

[motogearhead]

For questions on the dashboard.  My '76 850 LeMans is the same as the 750S that is pictured.  My '80 CX100 dash is different.  It has multi-colored  vertical lights.  I'll recheck the LeMans and my '81 CX100.

I was curious about the dash as well.  MGCycle shows that dash for the V35, V50 and 850T.  Could be a previous owner just preferred that version and swapped it at some point.

[jumpmaster]

As much as I hope it does go up, I also hope that perhaps someone who's wanted a LM for a long time ends up getting it at a good price as opposed to that bike  ending up in the hands of someone flipping it .

Or even worse in my opinion - just parking it in a garage (or living room) to admire & never actually riding it!  My personal opinion is that if you can't bring yourself to put 1K miles, at least, a year on a bike you probably shouldn't have bought it, unless it's a "one of a kind" situation.  There are enough museum pieces sitting around gathering dust that even a pristine original, much less a  restoration, is just wasted unless it is ridden - but, having said that, to each his/her own.

[Tom]

http://www.mgcycle.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=4483

I have this one on my '76 850 LeMans.  I'll recheck my CX100's to be sure.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

This the warning light panel on my friend Jim's '78 Le Mans, looks mostly the same as Jim's '77.

[Cam3512]

That bike is worth every penny of $15K.  Yet, the most desireable Guzzis still lag far behind in price from their other rare Italian cousins such as Ducs and MV's.  Perhaps one day they'll catch up.

And I agree, they should be ridden.  If not, it would be like having a supermodel girlfriend and just looking at her laying on the bed.

[Tom]

Then you find out that you should be riding something else with more personality and style.     Doesn't look as good but better mannered and with a happier disposition. 

[jas67]

...Yet, the most desireable Guzzis still lag far behind in price from their other rare Italian cousins such as Ducs and MV's.  Perhaps one day they'll catch up.

Is this because Guzzi owners and buyers are such cheap a**es?  (says the guy that owns two Guzzis, and two Airheads).

[canuck750]

Is this because Guzzi owners and buyers are such cheap a**es?  (says the guy that owns two Guzzis, and two Airheads).

Probably half the reason but I think the 1972 Imola win did more for Ducati round case mystique and future values than any other factor. After Guzzi pulled out of International racing the brand didn't recover the race winning pedigree (with the exception of the Dr. John bikes) that Ducati continues to enjoy. Guuz's aren't mainstream and only in the last couple years have the bikes mags seem to get interested in the great Moto Guzzis of the 70's and 80's.

Guzzi's are cool again.

If this keeps up I may have to go find another brand that no one seems to be paying attention to.

[swooshdave]

Probably half the reason but I think the 1972 Imola win did more for Ducati round case mystique and future values than any other factor. After Guzzi pulled out of International racing the brand didn't recover the race winning pedigree (with the exception of the Dr. John bikes) that Ducati continues to enjoy. Guuz's aren't mainstream and only in the last couple years have the bikes mags seem to get interested in the great Moto Guzzis of the 70's and 80's.

Guzzi's are cool again.

If this keeps up I may have to go find another brand that no one seems to be paying attention to.

Moto Morini?

[Phang]

If this keeps up I may have to go find another brand that no one seems to be paying attention to.

Laverda? 

[leafman60]

I've looked at the bidding history of this blue LMI. 

Looks like somebody took a very liberal stab in the dark and posted a bid $3000 more than the last pending bid (4000 more than this bidder's last bid).  Then, a  computer bid topped it by $100 and won the auction. 

This looks a little odd.  Why didn't the bid jumper just enter their $3000 greater bid in the max bid circuit and let the Ebay program ping pong the bidding up the ladder? They may have won the auction at a lower price.

Looks like the seller may have orchestrated this big jump and that triggered someone else's computer bid to top it by $100.  A shortcut way of getting a reserve price out of the bike that had not bid up to the desired amount.

I don't know this.  Just speculating.

People can play games with Ebay auctions.

A few years ago, a friend was bidding on a Guzzi V11 Sport only to be outbid by a substantial amount.  The next day, he received a message from the seller asking him if he was ready to buy the bike. My friend replied to the seller that he had been outbid by a great amount.  The seller chuckled and replied that the higher bid was from his son! My friend told him he wouldn't buy anything from him at any price.

 

[boatdetective]

You cannot engineer the next bid to "jump" up thousands of dollars. The next bid is always the bid increment- except if someone else has a maximum bid set higher. Let's say there's a widget where the bidding is at $100. The minimum bid increment is $1. Bidder #1 has the current high bid of $100 and has a personal maximum bid limit of $500. Bidder two places a bid of $250. The result is bidder one still is the high bidder, yet the limit is advanced to $251. After losing that round, if Bidder two ups the ante by placing a bid of $501- then he will have just beat out bidder one's max bid limit of $500 and he will be the high bidder. If bidder two instead had placed a bid of $600 - then the result would be that the computer will set the high bid to $1 more than bidder one's max bid ($501).  So- you cannot have a huge jump unless two people are involved. This is not like an open auction where one party can throw out a huge number (like a poker player "buying the pot").

[swooshdave]

Easy way to find out is to contact the seller to see if it's still available.   

[canuck750]

Moto Morini?

Swooshdave you and Phang can read my mind, Morini and Laverda, #1 and #2 in bikes that interest me! A 3 1/2 Sport with wire wheels and disc brakes or a Laverda SF2.

[leafman60]

You cannot engineer the next bid to "jump" up thousands of dollars. The next bid is always the bid increment- except if someone else has a maximum bid set higher. Let's say there's a widget where the bidding is at $100. The minimum bid increment is $1. Bidder #1 has the current high bid of $100 and has a personal maximum bid limit of $500. Bidder two places a bid of $250. The result is bidder one still is the high bidder, yet the limit is advanced to $251. After losing that round, if Bidder two ups the ante by placing a bid of $501- then he will have just beat out bidder one's max bid limit of $500 and he will be the high bidder. If bidder two instead had placed a bid of $600 - then the result would be that the computer will set the high bid to $1 more than bidder one's max bid ($501).  So- you cannot have a huge jump unless two people are involved. This is not like an open auction where one party can throw out a huge number (like a poker player "buying the pot").

Yes, the huge jump bid was not done by computer.  It would have been a directly-made bid.  That was my point. Why would someone do that instead of setting up a programmed bid with a maximum of the higher number and let the ebay computer step the bidding up the ladder?

I am a little skeptical.