Need help figuring a price for a basket case lemans

[amamet]

I posted earlier about a friend trying to buy a basket case 1977 lemans from a buddy of his. It’s all taken apart except for engine and transmission which was rebuilt by Manfred Hecht and never run.  Bodywork is painted all black so no chance of a patina bike. All parts are there except stock exhaust. Has bub headers and mufflers. The harness has been tampered with so that has to go along with all gaskets, seals bearings etc…. What would be a fair price for a basket case lemans with a Manfred engine and trans? 3500? Higher ? Lower?…  I know how much work need to be done as I rebuilt my 77 a few years ago. I’ll post some pictures when I get them
Thx in advance
Allen

[SIR REAL ED]

The obvious answer is whatever you are comfortable spending.

How would anyone else know anything about your financial situation?

I always figure, if it is a dollar figure I am willing to lose completely, then there is no risk of loss, mentally or financially.

[Tkelly]

Your friend should ask his friend what he wants for it,ha then could pay more,in large bills,or walk away.Maybe offer something as a trade.A friend has done a lot of work rebuilding a collapsed barn for me and says he doesn’t want any pay.We will figure another way to repay him.

[Travlr]

Sometimes free is too much.  If he has to pay someone to do the restoration he'll have more money in it than it's worth.  It sounds like a parts bike to me unless your buddy can do the restoration.

Mike

[PeteS]

Not suggesting you do this but one way to determine price is what would all that stuff be worth if you parted it out, since thats what the seller is doing.

Pete

[guzzisteve]

Just cause it's taken apart does not mean it's a parts bike. A parts bike is a accumulation of parts from different bikes to make one, or one that is being parted out.  It is what cheap buyers call something to screw you out of $. Depends if you have a good title. Then I would say $3000

Then again I don't buy a bike to flip. One reason I don't post my 2 V700's here for sale, no parts list, I can tell you what's missing, stuff I didn't sell but tossed out.

[Missionguzzi]

Years ago, I had a Manfred Hecht engine in a LM3.  I took it completely apart to see what made it tick.  LOTS of high-$ custom parts, including timing gears, slipper pistons, shaved head, hot cam, Carillo rods, lightened flywheel and more I can't remember.  The bike was a beast.  It pulled scary inadvertent wheelies if I wasn't careful, even at rather high speeds if I yanked the throttle.  My point is that the engine itself - if it was hot-rodded like he usually did - is worth the price of the whole bike.  If the whole bike is there as you describe, even considering a few non-original parts and replacing or repairing the wiring harness, I'd say it's worth the money IF your friend is going to put it back together himself, and then plans to use it as it was intended - ridden hard.  If he'll have to pay for reassembly or restoration, and the cosmetic stuff, and then doesn't really intend to ride it, but have it as a bragging point, it's not a worthwhile cause.

[Turin]

Not all Raceco NY builds were necessarily monsters. I'd like to see what is in the engine. I'd love to see a set of Carrillos in there! OP needs to post pics!

[PeteS]

Not all Raceco NY builds were necessarily monsters. I'd like to see what is in the engine. I'd love to see a set of Carrillos in there! OP needs to post pics!

To this point when I took some parts to Manfred from my 850LM he just flowed the head and put in stiffer valve springs. Lightened the Flywheel, and installed the close ratio straight cut gears in the gearbox. Cam is still stock so not a beast though it winds up waaaaay faster than stock and easily revs to well over 8K RPMs in 5th.

Pete

[Turin]

Pete, that sounds like a winner.

I have some Rennsport catalogues and some Raceco flyer catalogue prints. Both had lots of options, and stages / packages. It's to bad there's not really anyone left that does that kind of work as a business.

Even a mildly warmed over guzzi is a lot of fun. My 850T(nothing fancy) has a mildly lightened lemans flywheel , mild porting, and a Norris S cam with 36 Dellortos. While it's no roadburner, it's a happy bike. I'm much less scientific than most. Educated guesses and a lot of hoping for the best.

[Bulldog9]

The obvious answer is whatever you are comfortable spending.

How would anyone else know anything about your financial situation?

I always figure, if it is a dollar figure I am willing to lose completely, then there is no risk of loss, mentally or financially.

Basically what SRE said, what is he comfortable paying?

ME? I wouldn't spend more than $500 for a bike in parts unless I knew the seller and he/she was honest and reliable. And then, would depend.

[JoeW]

I had a client bring me this a few years ago, I put about 150 hours into restoring it. With the decline in value of almost all European classic motorcycles, I would be reluctant to give more than 1500.00for it.



Before



After

[blackcat]

I'd pay $3,500 for the bike with a documented Manfred build, I paid that amount for my LeMans and I had to rebuild everything. For another $3-$5K you will have a nice bike with a Manfred build which seems like a deal to me.

[bigbikerrick]

What is the reason for the decline in value of almost all european motorcycles?  I am just curious...
Rick.

[cliffrod]

What is the reason for the decline in value of almost all european motorcycles?  I am just curious...
Rick.

Not sure of any one reason but there’s been a downward trend in whole bikes and especially used parts during the past 12-18 months.  I was able to purchase a number of previously very $$$ popular pieces for my Ducati singles projects last year as prices stagnated significantly & then began to drop on eBay.  For example a 250/350 Desmo head that would bring $2500-$3500 for many years could now be easily purchased for $1500 if not for less. 

Sellers I know well aren’t listing inventory, simply because the actual selling prices aren’t where they want them to be.  Whatever the reason, it is what it is.

[fotoguzzi]

What is the reason for the decline in value of almost all european motorcycles?  I am just curious...
Rick.

i think because the old guys who appreciate this stuff are dying off and not being replenished by younger stock.

[Tkelly]

When I started riding in the 60s I and guys I knew had zero interest in old bikes as they were unreliable,the new bikes today are like cars,easy to operate and maintain,and relatively cheap for the value you get.Guzzis and BMWs provided reliability and in Guzzis case,cool,at a fair price.