Museum quality XJ650RJ

I think it's obvious..... but could be wrong

 

What is obvious? The original winning bidder skipped town?

Or was it an inside job...?

 

he is broke and trying to drive price up under the guise that money if for museum, or con donations for his museum with out selling the bike.

"Rebuilt the carbs (3 times until they were PERFECT!), " how good can he be?

 

inside job could be , or he released the buyer from the purchase twice
Maybe the buyers donated the bike back after paying for it

 

I smell a scam....

 

It did sell. They have almost 6800 transactions and %100 positive feedback.

 

it always sells but the reserve is never met

 

That doesn't seem to be the case this time. It states "Reserve Met" and winning bid was $2750

 

OK, here is the story. A friend of mine purchased this bike the first time it went up for sale. Bought at $3,150, it was delivered a few weeks later, in early March. Well, he got caught up in the moment and overpaid for that puppy - he was taken in by the "absolutely mint" in that first eBay ad. He closely examined the bike when it arrived and found some interesting things, some of which I think members of this forum noted: headers were beginning to spot rust, although the exhaust system was overall very good and solid, the "patina" on the tank, front fender and tail piece was worse than the photos showed, the instruments were both fogged, the passenger peg carriers looked like they were cleaned up with brillo pads, tires were stock sized, one a 2016, the other a 2015. Tires and battery were newer but certainly not new, battery would not fully charge but would start the bike. Nubs on the tires were still on the chicken strips, not where most of the tire wear takes place - there the nubs were gone. All electrics worked, bike started. The oil window in the engine was scabbed over and we thought we could see flakes of something in there. The tank was drained and gas replaced and then replaced again - enough rust chips were flushed out to cover 2 quarters (you know, coins). Filler neck was rusted, signs of rust could be seen in the tank. Petcock had not been rebuilt and obviously the tank had not been cleaned or coated (that part was sort of good, I think). Came with two keys, one worked, one didn't, both were slightly bent.

What sent my friend over the edge was when he was looking into the tank neck and tank using a flash light, the flash light accidentally showed the outside tank paint finish "crazing" on both sides of the tank as well as the front and around the top, it looked as if the finish had been steel wool rubbed, but below the silver paint coating (the paint had failed - paint guys probably have a name for this, other than FUed)...with that my friend posted a really negative one star review on eBay which really got the attention of the sellers. After some short negotiations, they agreed to take the bike bake. It was picked up by their carrier this past Friday. With the bike was in my friend's garage, the seller ran two more auctions - the 2nd auction hit $2500, the last auction hit $2750. He and I both feel this is about a $1300 to $1700 bike since it is all there - but certainly not worth the $3150, $2500 or $2750. Yes the bike could have been repainted and then it would have become an even more expensive bike and worth at best $2500, perhaps. So advertising the bike as "absolutely mint" was BS and in the 2nd and 3rd auctions that phrase disappeared. Not even close to "absolutely mint", but it was "all there".

So that is the back story of the bike. My friend did not use some automatic bidder to win that puppy, but was ready with several alternate bids on eBay that took the price higher (actually much too high). He bid in the last 45 seconds and quickly moved up to his highest bid and beat out whoever else was bidding at that time. But no auto bidding service. For those of you that looked at this puppy and thought it might be nice to have - but at a more reasonable price - you were right, this thing was not even close to being worth what any of these auction winners bid. So my friend is still looking for a nice 650 Seca, but in better condition and at a more reasonable price...live and learn, I guess.

 

well you have to remember the term Museum Quality does not mean bike is perfect.

 

Well that's true, but "absolutely mint" conveys a different story...the guy fell for it, what can I say?

 

still stinks..and now with the full backstory even moreso...so in essence this is a polished turd...

 

With all the things you’ve described, I agree the price he paid is high. Though these girls (RJ - one year only for North America) truly are becoming harder and harder to find, much less in unmolested (by time, elements and PO’s) condition. For that I think a buyer will have to pay a premium. Also the oil cooler is a considerably expensive item to get… relative to to the price of the entire bike. I just saw a NOS (new in box!) non turbo cooler out on ebay for $599 and it didn’t come with the oil filter adapter and oil lines.

My RJ has the paint crazing that you describe. She still shines and I think it comes along with the charm of the bike and the privilege of saying that your 36 year old motorcycle still has her original paint. In this case I think repainting would lower the value.

Thanks for returning to follow up on the story. I’m glad your friend was able to get his money back. More important than the value of the item is the feeling you get from the purchase and becoming an owner of that beautiful machine. If in the end you’re left with the crumby feeling of being taken advantage of, it isn’t worth it.

It’s a shame he didn’t get the chance to go see the bike in person before the bidding ended. He may have changed his top offer…

 

Wow, what a story, and what a 'rip off'

As a Brit, ex courier, I am now ashamed to say I ruined a TON of these 'rare' Seca 650's over the years......if only I'd known, and the XJ900...so common, in the UK, we just used an abused those too!! To my knowledge, ALL the Euro/UK 6,7 and 9's came with oil coolers as standard...thats why I was shocked when I imported a (new, in the crate) '83 maxim 750, in '91, and saw it had NO oil cooler as standard ( luckily sourced a pristine 'LockHart' XJ oil cooler kit)

 

bike had high mileage not a fan of Kelly Blue book and they do not consider mileage on bikes because of faulty speedometers.
kelly blue book pricing Excellent Condition $1,505 when purchasing from a dealer. this says it all as far as the price goes
so he wanted one so bad he overpaid for it

online auctions give you a 20/20 view of bikes from 20 feet they look great.

must learn to read between the lines
mint is what you find on your pillow if it were mint it would be in a museum not being sold.
"Rebuilt the carbs (3 times until they were PERFECT!), " how good can he be?
patina does not mean perfect paint it means aged paint and rust.

 

KBB does not always take into account things like, rarity, one-year bikes, etc..... Either. I've seen them list some really low, but they actually sell much higher.......

 

thats why I am not a big fan of kbb , what a bike sells for is all in what someone is willing to pay. if you want it you buy it

 

This is my first post here, I just joined. I found this thread very interesting. I have always loved this bike since I first saw one on the dealer floor sitting next to his 550Seca. He told me he would make me a heck of a deal on it because nobody wanted it. Sorry to say, but I didn't have the money at the time either. Now just this week I found one local out in a barn in Nebraska with 9K on the clock. Pictures looked pretty darn good and I bought it. This Ebay auction may have influenced my purchase price, but I'm still happy with the bike. It is nearly stock, but it has an aftermarket exhaust and I need to replace the start switch. It's cold and snowing here, so I'm getting it ready for spring. I can't wait to get it on the road. I haven't figured out how to post pictures or create an avatar, but I'll get there I hope. Looking forward to learning a lot here.

 

is it the button that is missing from the starter switch replacment buttons are available

after 5 posts you can start posting photos

 

Thanks, yes it looks like it is just the internal parts of the button. It looks cockeyed in there. PO added an after market switch on the other side and that isn't happening. The bike is worth fixing right, as it only has 9k miles on it. I'm anxious to get started. It runs and I've ridden it, but after reading another thread, I think I will go ahead and rebuild the brakes and add stainless lines before I get too far. I was going to try to take it back to absolutely original, but subtle upgrades like the SS brake lines make sense. I will do a complete brake job. I think the exhaust is a Mac, but it will do for now.