Scary and overpriced

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/mcy/4251637684.html

 

:roll: Amazing what people think their stuffs worth? I wouldn't even be tempted if I found it in a barn.

 

what a kidney puncher!

CN

 

Well that's pretty cool. Does it run. Who cares it's to cool. Mileage unknown. Even better. I love when I burn my leg when I ride. The seats looks pretty comfee to. I'd pay 5k.

 

Damn that's more rust than I'd trust on a shovel.

 

The sad thing is that someone will likely pay the asking price for it. It looks cool, but more like a $42.00 cool.

 

"All the hard work" of what? Apparently PAINT is too easy.

It's not worth the powder to blow it up.

 

At least it has a front brake. May or may not work, but it's there.

 

Looks like the original brake, probably untouched. Too easy. He was busy doing the "hard" work.

 

That engine has to be on its last leg, without filters at all for the carb intakes and straight pipes... I guess disc brakes are expensive so there goes one on the front and one on the back.

This should be on instructables.com

 

Actually, my bet is that it's a pretty solid bike. Looks to me to be a very good rat/chop job. the 'rust' appears to be painted to look like that. The chrome is all very good, the aluminum is clean.......

It wouldn't surprise me if it IS worth that.

I'm not into rats/bobs/etc.....though there is a part of me that kind-of wants to do that to one bike just to do it.

There is a fellow around here who has the worst-looking bike I have ever seen....looks like it's going to fall apart at any second.....but it is all fake. It's a very sound, very well-built bike that he ratted to make it LOOK awful. Isn't that how rats are really supposed to be?

So, that all said, I wouldn't be surprised at all to find out that the XS shown is a stone cold reliable solid bike.

Dave F

 

Lol... Wow. Craigslist always has some crazy unrealistic sellers on it... never fails you.

 

You guys sound like the Harley riders who don't want to be seen riding with a guy on a Jap bike because it isn't American made. You may not like the style, but it is really popular. Here in Cali, a chop like that will go for 2 to 3 times what a stock bike will bring. We all ride what we like. There are very few of us that ride pristine bikes. We all customize our bikes to fit our likes and personalities. Before you put your nose in the air and talk smack about a dude's ride, just remember, he is still a brother who rides.

 

They don't call California "The Land of the Fruit and Nut" for nothing.

A good-running reasonably complete XS is worth about half of what he's asking. For anybody to pay that kind of money for that particular bike is simply outrageous, I don't care what planet you stumbled off of.

I'd be happy to ride with somebody on that bike, subject to: them being able to keep up (doubtful) and they'd have to ride at the rear of the group so we don't have to have our eardrums blasted too. Snobbery has nothing to do with it.

 

You're right Zombie, without actually seeing the bike in question we can't truly judge. It might be in perfectly good working order. I have however seen many 'rat' bikes in the area that are not safe to ride due to their mechanical condition. This not only puts the rider in danger but possibly other people as well.
I also don't judge, or perhaps more accurately, criticize a persons preference to whatever style of bike they ride. You only need to make yourself happy.

 

I judge. Horrible looking bike that would have no place in my garage. No one could ride next to me without a safety check. I'm not interested in scraping a friend of the pavement.

However, as with everything else in life, people can chose what THEY want to do or say. That doesn't mean I can't have an opinion or that I have to agree with it, just that I have no right telling them they CAN'T look like a complete tool on a ruined bike ^_^

 

Fitz, you point out the safety aspects of a bike. You point them out on any ride you see them on. It doesn't matter what make, model or style of bike it is. No snobbery seen on your end. My point is to not bash a bike based on a picture or it being a style that you don't care for. There are too many model specific forums out there that bash on others. This site is too good for that. It reminds me of the cool kids on the playground picking on the not so cool kids. Sorry, but it really pisses me off when people bash on another guys ride.

 

I'm with Hogfiddles, a rat bike is supposed to look like crap but be solid. Hard to tell from a single pic. Seems like a lot of assumption going on by persons that don't like the style.
If it was painted nice and I could still ride, I'd ride it after a look over that proved it to be safe.

 

I agree K mow , Maybe 200.00 for the parts . I see a bunch of safety issue's . I would not even ride it around the block myself.But then i also cringe every time someone cuts up an xj to make a bobber . They are just to cool of bikes to be hacked up . if your going to hack something up do it to a harley !!

 

Personally I like the style, but my opinion is that rat bikes aren't supposed to be made by modifying an existing machine. A proper rat bike comes about from not having enough money for anything, so you build a bike from other people's castoffs. That one has too many peices from the same bike, and way too many parts that were probably bought new.

 

For every seat there is a a$$.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Love is blind.
A blind squirrel will find a nut.
Fat girls find love.

to each his own.

As for me...I don't like chopped up partial bikes that look incredibly uncomfortable to ride, as well as being unsafe. But that is why I would look at the listing for about 2 seconds and then go on. But some like them and good for them. Anything is only worth what somebody will pay for it, doesn't matter what they ask.

Just my opinion....

 

I don't think is a matter of style and/or safety, the beauty lies on the eye of the observer. What can I say when I love this one http://vimeo.com/49920522

 

$4,200.
Yikes.
I don't see any evidence of hard work.
I see, ... neglect.

Although I had a XS650 and loved it; I only got $850 for it and it was a clean, stock, dialed-in runner.

If you took a Magic Marker to an opened-up pizza box and wrote $1500 firm; you'd still have a tough time finding a buyer.

 

How much for the herniated lumbar disc, and all those pain meds??

It would be good to ride it at an event, but that makes it a Trailer Queen.

 

Why?

No one here says they can't do that, just that some think it's a horrible look for a classic bike. I think it's horrible for any bike, but I wouldn't stop someone from doing that. If they expect me to embrace their choice as something I'd do...not going to happen. Bikes like that look horrid, and last I checked "look" was a subjective term. Scary and Overpriced is certainly a good topic title.

I think what you are seeing from other sites is the rejection of anything not fitting within their narrow view, and I agree that we don't do that here as a group, but that doesn't mean people don't have preferences they should feel free to voice. It's a long way from saying "I don't like" to "You can't do", and in between is where things get interesting. Disagreement is normal and healthy, it's that diversity that makes the world so fun.

If people don't want opinions, we'll need to always add "Looking for only validation, no dissenting views, and I'll take hugs and teddy bears and graham crackers too" in the topic subject, and that would mess up our search function!

 

Well said kilted ! i

 

For the record I don't "bash other people's rides" because of their appearance or style. I'm the resident "Safety Nazi" remember?

I try not to criticize when possible; but there are certain things (like "hardtailing" a 500lb, 130-mph motorcycle) that are at their inception dangerous and simply not a good idea. Especially when being attempted by somebody whose first bike it is.

 

Actually no, rat LOOK is what you described, a true rat is not built to look like anything it just evolves over time through it's owner's ethos (or finances) dictating no paint/cosmetic work even after any accident or incident, never washing/polishing even when covered in mud/dust/salt etc and just give it the basic safety & mechanical longevity maintenance to keep it going safely & reliably while it gets tattier & rattier. Usually it'll be the owner's only/main/winter ride and usually will have fork gaiters to protect the legs as they won't be cleaned again, but not always. And a cargo net to carry spares under/some baler twine to make shoulder straps for wheels & other larger spares :wink: 8) My CB500's a rat bike, it even came in dark green from the factory (augmented by rash & rust from the riding school it was cast off from). Perfect. :lol:

Personally I like rat look/survival bikes, have you heard of the futurebike? http://www.ratbike.org/pages/18_futurebike.htm

This is in it's denuded guise, it originally had lots of nasty pointy spikes that weren't conducive to passing the MoT test... I also seem to remember it had either solid wheels or discs covering the spokes back in the day.

Kinda my first love... :? :lol: and then there was (is?) Erazerhead... http://www.ratbike.org/pages/87_eraserhead.rat