I was reading Motorcycle Classics the other day and was thinking about the future.
Anyone think that the gs500 will be considered a classic in 30 years? Or do you think that they will be a less sought after machine?
Lost in history along with the 1000's of other motorcycles....
Although, in my opinion, the GS500 is a great bike ...in the grand scheme of things...nothing in particular to set it apart as a "collectible".....
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Quote from: MrSporrer on July 07, 2015, 10:05:42 AM
I was reading Motorcycle Classics the other day and was thinking about the future.
Anyone think that the gs500 will be considered a classic in 30 years? Or do you think that they will be a less sought after machine?
They will become what most 1980s 4s are today. Just cheap, older, easy to work on and easy to modify motorcycles.
Not too far off from what they are now, in reality. Classic? Probably not. They aren't really iconic like the old Honda CBs nor are they exciting like a comparable year CBR or Ninja. Just a dime a dozen bike for better or worse.
Its hard to say. My dad never thought his '59 Vette would be worth anything, now they roll across Barrett Jackson for 100K.
The world of collectibles often seems to be a world of opposites. In the car world, Mercedes 300sl is worth tons because not many were made to begin with. At the opposite end of the spectrum, tons of Vettes were made in the 50s and 60s, but due to the inevitable racing they were destined for, not many survived, and even fewer survived unmolested.
In our world, the ubiquitous Honda CB350 is deemed classic, though hundreds of thousands were made and many still survive. The same can be said of Triumphs Bonneville, not really rare, maybe just seen as classic through nostalgic glasses. Neither one offers anything particularly special in terms of power, top speed, suspension or brake technology. Not unlike our GS500.
I dont believe in 50 years the collectible bike or car market will exist as it does today. So many older folks I talk to seem to say "There were so many around we didnt think they would ever be rare. Everybody had a mustang, a charger, an iron head, a cb750, they were nothing special!."
Today, people buy vehicles and hoard them up in a shed somewhere, hoping for a rising value, never considering the guy down the block has the same thought, and thousands more people like him. A great example I think will be Kawasakis Ninja H2. They only made a few hundred this year, and I bet not one, (that wasnt bought to be a race bike), will see 1000 miles. 20K$ today, and I bet they wont be worth that in 30 years or more.
Will our GS be viewed as a classic? I suppose that depends how many survive. If you sell yours, and in 2070 theres only 13 surviving examples of the GS, at least you can tell your grandkids "We didnt think it would be worth anything, everybody had one!"
Dependable workhorse/commuter yes!, classic/iconic no...