Why are Drifter's 800/1500 AND Ratman so UNDERVALUED?

[jmbo]

The good news bad news about the Drifter's devalued prices is that in a buyers market they are great bikes and a great bargain. Of course in a sellers market you have a different story.  But we are not alone.  Outside of HD's the used cruiser bike market is in the tank. I was looking at a Triumph Rocket.  You know, the "my thing is bigger than your thing" biggest CC bike on earth. Anything more than 4 years old is half of new regardless of miles. Honda? Other than a Goldwing, forget it. I almost feel sorry for anyone who paid full ticket for a new cruiser.  I took a buddy to the dealer to pick up his $30k HD. THIRTY GRAND!?!  He'll pay more in interest than my bike cost.  And then I go home, hop on my $3200 '99er and just smile and ride on....

[darkdrifter]

I have all kinds of theories.  none of them are probably correct.
I just wonder if they would bring a lot higher numbers today if the production numbers where a third of what they actually where.  or if they would've put a lightning fast engine in them.  or if the Indian motorcycle company owners of that time had also allowed Kawasaki to use the headdress logo on the tanks.

I also wonder if Indian thought the idea of a much less expensive Indian tribute being put on the market at the time would actually help the market exposure for the newly re launched Indian motorcycle.
who knows?
I bought a new Indian in 2001 and loved it.  Bought a new one in 2010 and still ride and love it.  I want to buy one of the Polaris Indians, but I haven't seen anything about the new thunderstroke engine that is anymore impressive than my powerplus, (and I've rode them) certainly not for the cost they are at.
I'm hoping I've bought my last vtwin.  I love them, I get it, and I hope they are always around.  But I want a liquid cooled 4.   

[mittico68]

I agree with the various old posts here. I am new to the forum here, soni am not sure how this works... but I do wanna say i love my Drifter 800. Its been in storage since 2009 due to military traveling, and i just got itnout and cleaned up and serviced. The only problem i have is that its only got 25xx miles on it. Lol

Does that make it valuable or a unicorn?

-J

Welcome aboard... and we love pics. Sooo, post pics of your ride, asap!
And yes, our babies are valuable AS unicorns...

[J.D. Beard II]

I agree with the various old posts here. I am new to the forum here, soni am not sure how this works... but I do wanna say i love my Drifter 800. Its been in storage since 2009 due to military traveling, and i just got itnout and cleaned up and serviced. The only problem i have is that its only got 25xx miles on it. Lol

Does that make it valuable or a unicorn?

-J

[JagLite]

I was being sarcastic if this seller really has a $6900 in bids with the reserve NOT met. If its really real the reserve would of been met along time ago but if he has other eBay accounts or friends acct  bidding false bids and thats why the reserve is not met.  If the auction was real with real buyers paying that much then you could buy a new bike- Drifter  and still pocket a few grand.

Troll your a real rider with 102k miles.  That might be a record for miles driven on this forum.  Great looking 1500.

I agree with Trall on this one.
There are a lot of bogus Ebay auctions, bids, sellers, and buyers.
Just like the "chandelier" bidders at the Barrett Jackson (and others) auctions where the auctioneer is calling out bids until the real bidder stops, and the price has to be "readjusted" to the last legitimate bid NOT from the real bidder.

Some sellers have multiple accounts so they can bid on their own items to try to get others to bid higher.
Genuine buyers often don't bid until the last few minutes, or seconds, or use the skype services for last second bidding.
That's why my wife stopped selling on Ebay, the stupidity of a fixed end time not allowing potential bidders to bid.

Could you imagine a car auction on TV where nobody is bidding because all are watching the big clock ticking down to the last second and the one who has the best arrangement with the auction company gets the car while other bidders would have gone much higher. Stupid Ebay.

It is probably a truth that if we have "INDIAN" on our gas tank that our bike will sell for more money.
Once again, the name being the most important thing.

Reminds me of the mother taking her teen daughter shopping for new pants.
The daughter says that none of the jeans fit right, all are uncomfortable, EXCEPT the very expensive name brand pants.
Smart mom, rather than fighting, tells the girl OK, they will buy the very expensive jeans but...
Mom will remove the name tag from the pants.

[Trall]

I was being sarcastic if this seller really has a $6900 in bids with the reserve NOT met. If its really real the reserve would of been met along time ago but if he has other eBay accounts or friends acct  bidding false bids and thats why the reserve is not met.  If the auction was real with real buyers paying that much then you could buy a new bike- Drifter  and still pocket a few grand.

Troll your a real rider with 102k miles.  That might be a record for miles driven on this forum.  Great looking 1500.

[mittico68]

I agree with Troll...
I was even thinkin' about adding a new 800, as spare bike...

[Troll]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Indian-Drifter-/141979980638?

Wow a $6900 Drifter with reserve NOT met on a 2002 1500 with a few Indian add ons/ updates but pretty much stock.  Our price points will be changing to a new high if this bike sells. I'll need to update my post with this one.  The dealer selling has some creative listing words with Indian for the make but does say "Have the looks of an Indian with reliability of a Kawasaki Vulcan platform".

Is this price real? $6900 and reserve not met?

That or the seller has some friends and trying to stir up bids and showing auction activity Might be the time to sell your Drifter while this auction is going and make some money and reinvest in another one.........

Sell? Mine isn't even broken in yet...only 103,500 miles..maybe when it hits 200,000, I might consider it!

[Trall]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Indian-Drifter-/141979980638?

Wow a $6900 Drifter with reserve NOT met on a 2002 1500 with a few Indian add ons/ updates but pretty much stock.  Our price points will be changing to a new high if this bike sells. I'll need to update my post with this one.  The dealer selling has some creative listing words with Indian for the make but does say "Have the looks of an Indian with reliability of a Kawasaki Vulcan platform".

Is this price real? $6900 and reserve not met?

That or the seller has some friends and trying to stir up bids and showing auction activity Might be the time to sell your Drifter while this auction is going and make some money and reinvest in another one.........

[RockinRollin]

I was looking for years for the right bike, something that would look retro and be super dependable that didn't cost two limbs and a kidney. I had never even heard of or seen a Drifter then one day my friend told me he knew of a fellow that was selling his motorcycle so I asked him what make would it be, he told me it was a Drifter that was all he knew but he sent me a link to the ad, once I seen it I was hooked. I didn't buy that particular bike but within 2 months I owned one.
I scoured the internet for more info on this particular brand of bike, found this site , seen what people were doing with these bikes and knew what I wanted. I paid $4,000 for mine , low on miles but in rough shape. I think it spent a few winters outdoors, had a big chip in the fender.But that was alright with me, I enjoyed the restoration and learned a lot. Now I have a bike that gets noticed and is a great conversation piece.

[Zoar]

A good question to think about.

Why?

The answer is that WE love the Drifter and others don't.

That will be $300. Send the check to:   

Actually, the question that boggles me is the crazy money people spend buying a "custom Build" brat/rat/cafe'/tracker/scrambler.   
They take a cheap used bike, strip it down, cut off the rear fender mount, make a thin foam covered plywood seat, bolt on parts from a wrecked bike(s), and then sell it for $15,000 and up.   

True, some of the custom bikes are excellent but the majority I see every day online are ugly and poor riding.

Then we have the beautiful Drifters with the classic look.   

We march to a different drummer that's for sure!
How many of us would spend $250 for a flannel shirt because it is sold by one of the motorcycle "Lifestyle" companies?
Uh, I mean their lifestyle "Brand".
How many of us buy designer anything?

I think more (all?) Drifter riders are independent thinking than all the lifestyle bikers who "do their own thing" put together.

Drifter riders don't need the name brand to show others how cool they are.

I think that's at least part of why our bikes are valued so low.
It has nothing to do with quality, usability, comfort, reliability, and style, Drifters don't have the hip lifestyle BRAND.

Many riders will pay three times as much money for a used "Indian" even though it was a HD clone powered bike built by one of the earlier attempts at cashing in on the Indian name.
The name is the most important part of the bike to them.

Which is fine by me since it allowed me to buy the '99 Drifter 1500 I wanted since first seeing pictures of Berg's Super Chief show bike.
And I hope to buy an 800 if one comes available cheap.

I think eventually Drifters will go up in value but I don't see them ever becoming expensive collector bikes.

The new Polaris Indian is an excellent machine from all I have read, and is priced accordingly.
It will likely not be undervalued!

Oh, I am hit. I bleed.

To be called 'NOT a Hipster'.

Out out damn spot!

Indeed, the Drifter rider likes the bike AND the attainable price tag.

Yesterday was one of those rough days. A lot did not go right... I took my Drifter out and rode. And rode. Evening turned into night. I rode it through the darkness and finally weaved my way home. As I got off the Drifter I felt like it was the best therapy session I could have paid for.

[CDNRatMan]

Well said.

[JagLite]

A good question to think about.

Why?

The answer is that WE love the Drifter and others don't.

That will be $300. Send the check to:   

Actually, the question that boggles me is the crazy money people spend buying a "custom Build" brat/rat/cafe'/tracker/scrambler.   
They take a cheap used bike, strip it down, cut off the rear fender mount, make a thin foam covered plywood seat, bolt on parts from a wrecked bike(s), and then sell it for $15,000 and up.   

True, some of the custom bikes are excellent but the majority I see every day online are ugly and poor riding.

Then we have the beautiful Drifters with the classic look.   

We march to a different drummer that's for sure!
How many of us would spend $250 for a flannel shirt because it is sold by one of the motorcycle "Lifestyle" companies?
Uh, I mean their lifestyle "Brand".
How many of us buy designer anything?

I think more (all?) Drifter riders are independent thinking than all the lifestyle bikers who "do their own thing" put together.

Drifter riders don't need the name brand to show others how cool they are.

I think that's at least part of why our bikes are valued so low.
It has nothing to do with quality, usability, comfort, reliability, and style, Drifters don't have the hip lifestyle BRAND.

Many riders will pay three times as much money for a used "Indian" even though it was a HD clone powered bike built by one of the earlier attempts at cashing in on the Indian name.
The name is the most important part of the bike to them.

Which is fine by me since it allowed me to buy the '99 Drifter 1500 I wanted since first seeing pictures of Berg's Super Chief show bike.
And I hope to buy an 800 if one comes available cheap.

I think eventually Drifters will go up in value but I don't see them ever becoming expensive collector bikes.

The new Polaris Indian is an excellent machine from all I have read, and is priced accordingly.
It will likely not be undervalued!

[pcarrell]

Poor Ratty.....so misunderstood......

[CDNRatMan]

 You miss the point of why people are buying Drifters, I am sure there is a few others that do all their own work and think nothing about it, and have the same level of competence I do, and we have wandered off the subject.

[Trall]

Just did........

[mittico68]

I think somebody should change the subject of this thread in: "Why are Ratman's mechanical skills so undervalued?". LOL...

[pcarrell]

Ratman, you are more brave then I!

[CDNRatMan]

  Trall, I keep telling people I have never had any formal or informal training as a motorcycle mechanic. But I like to work with my hands, and this bike is so simple to work on and we have people here who know their stuff. I will not bore you with the number of e mails I sent to either Troll or GreenBarn with simple questions and asking for a explanation in stupid so I can learn. I have all winter to do my projects and so i can take my time and just do it right......

[Trall]

You got some serious skills to take the Drifter down to that and put it back together again.  Hats off............

[CDNRatMan]

  see you are not reading and comprehending again.......I do not know everything nor will I learn everything.....but....I know enough to be dangerous, but I feel confident in my ability, to get my own machine running and to get it home or to at least someplace I can get competent help to repair it.
Tweaking and tinkering on the bike during a long cold winter is a real mind saver, and so much fun. 

[pcarrell]

I bought my Drifter for medical reasons. I actually used my disability pay out from Veterans Affairs to purchase my Drifter. This is my form of therapy. My logic here is that weather permitting, I need to go for a ride every day, and Wind Therapy is the best type of relaxation and recuperative system known to modern man.
Now before PC jumps in here.....winter time the Drifter has provided me with a lot of mental and physical therapy. Planning my winter projects, planning on how to make parts, fabricating parts, modifying parts to fit, learning about the bike so on a long trip if anything happens I can at least get to the next Kaw dealer to get help.
So this is my medical therapy and life saver machine.........

So what I'm hearing is that there is NOTHING that you don't know about an 800cc Drifter by now, since you've had virtually unlimited winter down time up in the great white north! 

[CDNRatMan]

  I bought my Drifter for medical reasons. I actually used my disability pay out from Veterans Affairs to purchase my Drifter. This is my form of therapy. My logic here is that weather permitting, I need to go for a ride every day, and Wind Therapy is the best type of relaxation and recuperative system known to modern man.
Now before PC jumps in here.....winter time the Drifter has provided me with a lot of mental and physical therapy. Planning my winter projects, planning on how to make parts, fabricating parts, modifying parts to fit, learning about the bike so on a long trip if anything happens I can at least get to the next Kaw dealer to get help.
So this is my medical therapy and life saver machine.........

[Zoar]

I've seen this question before, and my answer is still the same...Who cares? I bought my Drifter to ride, it's NOT an investment....

I derived so much enjoyment from riding my Drifter last night. I invested in rewarding myself!

[Zoar]

To me it all comes down to one word: replica.  It's why Drifters don't fetch much on resale.  But like someone said, I bought my bike because I liked it and to ride it.

Agreed. It is identified as a "replica" and that means "not the real deal". Harley's are identified as the real deal, so you over pay many thousands for them.

I also agree I bought my Drifter to ride it and am glad it was not 2 or 3 times the money it was.

I can't wait to ride it later today.