What is what completely worth? The MZ is doing the splits

In our hobby everyone - except me - actually assumes that prices are asking prices. This means that the selling party has a price idea. But the bottom line is - if you're not a seasoned trader - “Do I want it and can I afford it?”. The Internet is teeming with people who, at any given price, howl louder than the eight wolves in the Veluwe can do together. "For that money I'll buy two!" "Is it gold or something?" Or, also a beautiful one that I experienced myself: “Man, man, man, it is clear that you have no idea. I offer you 800 euros and without notice I will come and pick it up tomorrow. And if you do not respond and then do not hand him over, I will send my lawyer to you. ” I had a day of anticipation, because I wanted to see what kind of licorice lace would show up. Nobody came. It was about a Guzzi SP2 for which I wanted sixteen hundred euros.

There's one like that in Nebraska. For much less!

An acquaintance of mine advertised his 1963 Chrysler for a tidy 12.000 euros. He got an extensive story from someone who was looking for such a car. But he had searched the entire Internet and reported that the twelve grand made no sense. Because in Nebraska there was just one like that for $ 4.000.

With many classics there is a fairly clear picture of the market value

And the average provider first looks on the Internet to see what is more or less asked for 'his' classic. We can only dream about the ignorance of someone who dusts his Liberator in the barn of his grandfather and offers it for five hundred euros. We do know someone who helped an old neighbor to empty an equally old barn because the man had sold his house to live in a fresh apartment. After two days of clearing, they were surprised to find a completely forgotten Velo Thruxton in the back of the shed. It did not go into the container. Our acquaintance liked him and got a case of beer for helping to clear the shed.

What does a ...

That is the same question as "what does a house cost?" And from that point of view, you shouldn't offer ZGAN orange MZ on sales sites if your price idea is just under 3.000 euros. Because that is the approach of Adrie te Velthuis. Adrie has polished motorcycles at motorcycle dealers for years. Because he likes nothing better than making motorcycles perfect. We also knew someone who counted down the days during his holidays until he was allowed to retry. There is all kinds of enthusiasm. But for 'the market' where fans of MZs tend to think of amounts under a thousand euros, 2.750 euros is a top prize. After all, at Loods 8 in Arnhem, you already have a 250 cc MZ for less than a thousand euros? And on the Internet? Well; we've already talked about that.

It only starts with the purchase

At Kiat Que you buy a running, sweet MZ for that money with what you can call 'patina' with a lot of goodwill. And even with Adrie's cleaning skills, such a former eastern block free-range animal is a bridge too far. The parts for those two-strokes are still plenty. But first of all, it is your turn for a new buddy seat, an exhaust bend and a new muffler. You can be served new with it for less than 400 euros.

But then you still have to do the rest of the cosmetic and technical affairs. And MZ parts are not expensive. But if you're a new chain, a fresh battery, some chrome and cables, wheel and headset bearings, rear suspension elements plus a bunch of tires? Then, realistically, 2.750 for a literally new motorcycle is suddenly a lot less frightening than it initially seems.

More stories about classic engines you can find here.

More columns you can find here.

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