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1964 YDS3... good buy?


cameronflynn
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I'm about to buy a 1964 Yamaha yds3 for $1600. It is all original and complete, no dents in the tank, original paint is in nice shape (3.5 out of 5). Motor was professionally rebuilt and is a 4.5 out of 5 in appearance, 5 out of 5 mechanically. All the electrical works perfect, has new tires, and the seat is flawless. Overall I would say it is in very nice un-restored condition, and a great candidate for a full restoration

Here are the negatives:

-Chrome is not rusted at all, but has some dull spots where someone took a wire wheel to it. I would re-chrome everything

-Pipes are structurally solid and aren't rusted at all, but do have some dings. They look nice overall, but aren't perfect. About what you would expect for a 45 year old bike that was ridden regularly.

-Speedometer needs to be lubed as it is starting to hum

Since I cannot find any information on the values of these bikes, I thought I would see what you guys had to say. Its not like I'm stealing it for $500 or anything, but I would say $1600 seems very reasonable for that solid of a bike. I'm thinking it could fetch about $2200 to $$2500 as is. Thoughts?

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i would think that is a fair price although the YDS models do not seem to fetch such big prices as the later Rd models it is worth buying as the YDS3 must be rare, i know i would love one in my collection

merv

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First and foremost do you like the bike enough to lose money on it when you sell it someday? Bikes pay dividends when you ride them not profit when you sell. I will never recover all the money I spend over the years on my Suzuki but that's OK because I've enjoyed 12,000 miles so far of riding it.

I'm not familiar with the model you are considering so you have to research whether parts are available for common repairs or not. It's not worth much if you can't maintain it.

If the potential price is most important then find a machine with cult like following for cheap, fix 'er up and realize a profit. I did that with a CM400 automatic Honda, a bike that sells for more than I think it's worth.

Bikes are generally money pits but cheaper than psychologists.

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good input guys, i appreciate it. i don't plan on riding it every day since it is a collectible, but i do plan on restoring the chrome, polishing the rest of it up and taking it to some shows and on weekend rides. i definitely want to get some enjoyment out of it, but I think I would be open to selling it down the road to start on another project if i had to. seems like a fun and unique bike, being the world's first oil injected 2-stroke. finding the value of these things are hard!

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