Hi All, I've trawled through the forum to find some answers over the past couple of nights, but not found too much to assist, so have signed up to ask for some advice please, from a what seems like a knowledgeable group; hope that ok..! A good friend of mine (A) has another good friend (B) who emigrated to USA about 10 years ago, and left his X reg 748S to stand in A's heated garage. (B has since bought a 998 and a 1098 <and crashed the 1098> and doesn't wish to ride again.) I did used to take the bike for couple of MOT's, start her up once a month, and keep the battery on a trickle charger etc, but it's not moved or been on charger for around 5 years, and A wants the bike moving out of his garage, and asked if i wanted to put an offer in. I'm not sure what she's worth, but it seems maybe £2700-£3000 is right for a very good condition BIP, so i'm working backwards from there. She lovely to look at, but i'm fearful of potential costs to get road worthy, and looking for a some pointers on what may lie ahead. I do know the last time B came over (8 years ago?) he recovered the bike to Daytona and spent good money getting it roadworthy, although i'd take it to good indie i think. I know the slave clutch cylinder has gone, and obviously the belts but what else lurks.. fluids, brakes, tank, bearings, elecs..? So, any pointers on a) current value, b) all work done value and work to get from a-b would be welcome. EDIT - Full Daytona history, and 10k miles. cheers, (from a current Thunderace owner) R
Could be expensive, apart from the usual belts, check brakes, change oil etc. If it's stood that long you might need new tyres and possibly fork seals. fuel pump strip and clean and new filter, plugs, brake pads, maybe even chain and sprockets if they are in poor condition or seized. It could be a real money pit. If it was me I would offer a lot lower or work out a realistic amount that it will cost to get it back on the road and then work on an offer from there. The whole thing needs thoroughly going over and if it was me I would strip and rebuild the whole bike. It's not worth the money you quote as you are going to have to spend cash on it and it is an X reg. bike. My V reg 748SPS has only done 10,000 from new and that was used a bit more and I had to complete a full rebuild on that as it had stood for a while. I spent over £3,000 getting it the way I wanted it after buying it and that's doing everything bar the engine myself. Finally a 748 is only a base level entry bike so there are plenty of them about, if it was something like an SP,SPS or R it might be a different story. Don't let your heart rule your head.
the amount that it's worth is partly dependent on how dry the garage it's been housed in is. From what I can see of the fork tops it looks pretty good for 5 years standing. I would start by having a careful look over the whole bike re: corrosion. Are the forks pitted and is there any heavy white corrosion to yokes, headlamp shell or engine casing? Brake pads securely stuck to disc even without applying them?.The price might come down to how close you are to friend (A) as that bike with that history and mileage will sell between 2 - 2.5K all day long on that Internet Auction site as it's still a hot property as far as first time buyers are concerned.
Hi Rowdy, I’ve owned a 748s since new from 2002 and they really are great bikes. I moved away from the UK about 4 years back so I’ve hardly ridden it of late but hopefully what follows will be of help. In my years of ownership, I’ve only had three “issues” with the bike. The master relay went during warranty, but no issue as they’re cheap as chips. But, more importantly, the opening/closing rockers were found to be badly worn during the last service I had done on it. The other was the clutch slave cylinder – just stopped working, so bought a nice one from Oberon. Initially I didn’t think the rockers were a great issue, but it is, financially!! The fault is well known and I think in the early days of their production, Ducati did do some replacements, but if there was a recall for it I never got the call. They cost a fortune from a dealer and I mean a fortune. From memory, about £120 ea + VAT and there are 16 of them (8 openers, 8 closers..). JHP in Coventry can have them re-plated if they’re not too damaged or you can search ebay for them. I believe some companies have decided to manufacture them with improved hardening techniques!! Apart from that, they’re more or less bullet proof if looked after. I’d go with what Red998 said above, with the addition of getting the shims and rockers checked… If you don’t mind getting dirty, it’s a great project bike but at the price you mentioned, it’s too much. A mint 748r is say 7-8k, 748s in the region of 5k, but one that needs that much work is maybe £1.5 – £1.7k max. It could easily cost 1000’s to put right. Like I say, a great bike but a bit of risk with this one. Get it cheap enough and you’ll have hours of fun riding it!!
re:^ price, "we are all entitled to our own opinion" of course but you have severely undervalued it at £1.5k afaic.
Perhaps so, but it's not a running machine and could easily cost 2-3k to put right. I agree that a running bike in mediocre condition will fetch 2/2.5k, and a mint one will easily get 5k - but that's not what this bike is.
Lots of good replies here, many thanks. Quick notes: I'll go and check overall condition for corrosion (fork etc) Rockers - Yes, this alone (a full set) could outstrip any perceived value of the bike.. (16x£150=) Quite a difference in opinion on values both fixed and not.. Reigning in my expectations and to get a better base point, £2.5k all done is maybe a little more realistic, with anywhere between say £1.5k and £3.9k (inc all rockers) to get fixed up.. Let alone getting the bike to a garage etc.. The fixing value is everything, and i guess even a good indie mech would struggle to put a figure on it without having it for couple of hours in his workshop.. Value now.. £0-£750..? * Mutters on about would never have this trouble with this 'Ace... * Lots to muse upon, and Cheers again for input so far. :smile:
Assuming the guy selling the bike can't see this thread, then pay as little as you can for it! £500 cash "to take it off his hands".. If the rockers are okay (50/50 chance), then a base price of £1/1.5k I think is a good price point. If it was broken for spares, you'd get that for it no problem. Issue is, you won't know about them until you take the heads off and poke inside...! Risk... If you want to bring the bike back to life and the rockers are okay, allow a budget of 2.5k to get it back to it's glory. By the time you get the bike to a garage, checked over, order parts, have them delivered, you're going to be nudging that I'd think. If you need rockers, that's going to be closer to what you say at 3.9k. In my view, that make the bike value now about 1-1.5k maybe. Rockers OK: 1.5k + Rebuild of 2.5k Rockers Done: maybe 1k + rebuild of 4k... Whilst I agree a fully running, nice spec bike will fetch £5k, maybe £6K - ideally you want to get a good price for it and you have to factor in your own costs in terms of time, fuel etc etc...! Happy haggling..!!
I believe you are light years away from the actual value here - I understand that anyone who had to get all the work done by a garage might be able to justify such a low offer but I would probably pay up to £1500 for that bike right now just on the details in this thread.
you said yourself you've been away from the U.K. 4 years, the term 'finger on the pulse' doesn't readily come to mind here :wink:
It could be El Toro above..! Actually, in a way it would be good if he does see this, as like all owners it's perceived value is higher than it really is..! Thanks for reply; Comes down to do i spend couple of hundred to get the rockers looked at by a mechanic me thinks..
Well it's good that it's in my favour of course, but Garage all the way, and for my purposes needs costing on that basis. As to the last sentence, well that might be the way it goes..!
Certainly if you put your case to friend A backed up with routine check/repair quotes from reputable garages it's highly likely that he may sympathise particularly as the three of you are friends and at least it will mean a quick and effortless sale.
As far as the rockers go you would be very unlucky to have all of them go. My SPS had to have 5 when I had the engine done and the cost of all that work was £500 in 2009 and that was a independent mechanic using not all new rockers but good ones supplied by Pro Twins. If you needed all 8 done I would have them refaced by someone like Newman cams, that works out a lot cheaper and they will probably never go again.
Look inside the fuel Tank it could be very Rusty. Like others have told you It could be costly. But it would be worth the effort if you want a nice bike at the end of it. Then it could be worth currently 3.5 to 4k + Maybe, depending on the amount of recorded rework. There are plenty about if you are prepared to look and travel. Good luck with you plans keep us posted.
I've been following the values quite closely as I'm considering buying a 748/749 next year. It's the sort of bike I would jump at. The 748 in the photos has a lot going for it, it looks completely original and un-modified (which is what most mature enthusiasts like me prefer), it's been dry stored and away from the salt for the last 10 years, if that was put on ebay without a reserve I guarantee it would make over £2000
For me... this is a £2000-2250 bike, it's complete as has been said and it needs a good deal of work to get it going again: At the end of the day, if you buy it for £2250, spend £1250 on it which is a big amount for an independent to look at it then you will have an immaculate 748s for £3500, and I would say they go for at least that. Please don't get caught up in taking every little service cost off of what the bike is worth, you can explain that it will need a lot to get it road worthy as it has been neglected, but we don't all service our vehicles so we get more when we sell them, and if we do, it's only a nominal 'piece of mind' amount and never becomes worthy of doing. Especially if it's not done by the 'right' dealers, i.e independents or non-Ducati trained people.
It will cost at least £1k to get it roadworthy IMHO and that's assuming the rockers are all ok. The service with belts with be at least £500 but probably nearer £700 if all the fluids need changing. Plus it will need new tyres and most likely the forks servicing as well. If you can get the bike for less that £2k and probably nearer £1.5k then its worth the risk, if not then leave well alone. Even after you have had all the work done the bike will still only be worth around £3-3.5k.
