Hey guys, I am currently building a savage bobber. The bike is an 01 with 16,000 miles. I am building the bike to sell. Im injured and cant really ride anymore, but I love building bikes. I cant post a pic with this post, due to this is my first posting. I should be able to in the next. The question is what would be a fair price to ask for a custom built Savage?

lonerider65 wrote on 07/08/11 at 07:19:44:


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Thanks Bud, I appreciate the opinion. The bars are perfect for my taste though. When finished I would like the bike to look like it was built in the 60's. Thats my goal anyway.

thats the problem with "Custom"...as long as you find a guy who has your exact taste you'll have no problem selling it. The odds of that are slim though.

I have a friend who owns a car lot and he tells me all the time people come in with their Civics and Eclipse cars with body kits, wings, wild paintjobs and graphics looking for a couple thousand over book value because the car is "Custom" and he tells them it ain't gonna happen. In his eyes, a Custom car is a huge PITA to sell, rarely fetches the high price tag and typically is a poor investment.

Also you got the guys who put this, that, and the other thing and expect somehow to get bike value AND all the money they invested. My savage as it sits in book value is worth around $1500. If I go Custom crazy and change the bars, pegs, exhaust, carb etc does that raise it's value? Hell No. People don't care what you got in it, they care about what it's worth and you might get lucky and find the guy who loves what you've done with the bike. In that case, he'd pay the extra because in his eyes it's "worth" it.

I think it's a cool bike. I think prices vary area to area. Here in Boise the economy is good, I see late 90s and 2000s Savages go for $2000-$2500 quite often. The late 80s and early 90s go for $800-$1500. I got mine for $600 but thats because it needed a new rear inner tube, carbs cleaned, new air filter, oil change, and other minor things, she was a "fixer".

Your bike looks nice, love the bars. As long as she runs strong, fires up easy and doesn't spit oil everywhere and you got all the parts for it I'd put it up for $1700, let someone talk me down to $1500 so they think they got a deal. They think thats too much, tell them the dealership has plenty of them new for $5k. People assume these buys are cheap...I don't find $5k as cheap.

You gotta remember, aside from the economy being low right now, gas is going up up up. Motorcycle prices are easily double around here what they were last year. Before I bought my Savage I spent all spring on craigs trying to find the right bike/deal. I couldn't believe how many 81, 82, 83 Suzuki GS, Yamaha XS, Kawasaki KZ and old Hondas were over priced. I saw many old, old, old UGLY bikes that weren't ready to ride yet being sold for $1000.   I saw a guy trying to sell a 83 Suzuki GS for $2000 and it didn't even run. He "Claimed" it was totally rebuilt but due to sitting in storage for 5 years, the carbs needed rebuilt again. Was green with a beige seat....ugh it was hideous.

Anyway, people want bikes right now because of the MPG. Keep that mind when selling your bike and settling on a price. Advertise the bike and say over and over "70+MPG"   "GREAT GAS SAVER"   "LOOKS COOL AND SAVES $$$" you'll sell it easy.

Magickninja---70+ mpg ???? I want that bike. As you can see, I'm getting about 54.6 mpg.

Price depends on where you live also. If you were in the U.K. you'd get more just cuz.
How many miles on it? Is it leaking oil? All sorts of stuff to consider but personally I think stock bikes fetch more because the new owner can do whatever they want to it.
That being said, I like what you've done and I'd ask 16-1800 for it.