Original condition 31K exhausts - what are they worth?

[alistair64]

Hi guys
Had a bit of a garage clear-out today. Nothing of much worth, except....
I've reluctantly decided it's time to part with a pair of 31K exhausts in the original factory finish.
The story is that they were removed from my bike at the end of 1985 to fit Allspeeds, a Ledar kit and K&N's.
I bought the bike from new earlier in '85 - it was the the model in RD500 colours with the bikini fairing and belly pan, the one before the 'F' and 'N' models.
They have definitely only covered about 2000 miles, so there is absolutely no rust or scrapes on them (the bike was never dropped).
The pipes have moved with me for the last 30-odd years from house to house because in '86 I bought the 'F' model which I still own today (having flipped and written off the 31K which these pipes had earlier come from).
I have kept the pipes in case I ever wanted to fit them to my F, but clearly after this number of years it ain't gonna happen.
So...they've been languishing in various garages covered in bubble wrap for this amount of time.

As I hope the photos show, they may be the best pipes in the original finish that could be found anywhere.
They have never been touched up, so what you see is what you get in terms of how they left the factory.
I wouldn't say they were quite concourse, but certainly as close to mint as I think you could find - you would need to look very closely for any imperfections.
Incidentally, the plan was never to hoard them as an investment as I did honestly think they would come in useful one day.

I'm really just looking for a ball-park figure as to what you guys think I should ask for them.
Could stick them on Ebay with a low starting bid and would probably get silly money, but would rather sell them on this forum if anyone needs a pair for a restoration.
I'm not looking for offers now, just an idea of a fair price, as I honestly have no idea!
Sensible and serious suggestions only please!
Thanks.

[midlifecrisisrd]

Wow, lovely!

They wouldn't fit your F anyway as they don't maybe the cut outs for the wider axle

Value wise? Let me have a think lol 🤔

Steve

[iwantalc]

the gay proud ginger above is definatley the buyer of these pipes..lol

[iwantalc]

Jul 13, 2019 20:17:53 GMT 1 Yogi said:

Jul 13, 2019 20:15:24 GMT 1 iwantalc said:

the gay proud ginger above is definatley the buyer of these pipes..lol

Lol, not got a good track record for getting pipes on here

Steve’s the gay an proud and veg is ginger and loud

I’m just 👌

the inbetweener..lol

[yamman1066]

ok whats the price you need for them please ??

[alistair64]

Jul 13, 2019 20:40:28 GMT 1 yamman1066 said:

ok whats the price you need for them please ??

As the original post says... looking for suggestions what they're worth, not people asking what I want for them.

[madmick]

😏 🤔 🤷🏼‍♂️

M.M.

[midlifecrisisrd]

Jul 13, 2019 21:30:39 GMT 1 alistair64 said:

Jul 13, 2019 20:40:28 GMT 1 yamman1066 said:

ok whats the price you need for them please ??

As the original post says... looking for suggestions what they're worth, not people asking what I want for them.

After Matt's sexuality slander I'd price them at £3000

Touchè Mr bear

Steve

[veg]

No we are plotting, my old Scottish mate and I are working to bring you down, you is going down bear.
Value wise got to be worth £1200 +
Don’t forget if you sell to anyone in Essex that’s per pipe though, plus import duty of 20% plus handling charge of 15% plus despatch charge of 20% , so just call it £3000 all in.

[LC_BOTT]

at a rough guess £200-£400 each? Saying that haven't seen many 'minters' for sale for quite a while. Could top £1K. Obviously fleabay will determine the highest price I would think?

[markhoopy]

My guess for ebay price would be £500 to £750 but these days anything is possible.
And of course .. a guess is just a guess

[veg]

People are prepared to pay £750 plus for a new pair of spannies these are fall all intents not far off nos then there is the rarity factor 31k pipes and if you are building a std lc2 where else will you get a pair from? I would as others say put them on eBay with a decent reserve. I would bet they go for £1k plus

[midlifecrisisrd]

Prices for lc2 stuff not at 350 lc prices yet so I wouldn't expect 1k for them

As Matt says there have been nos ones for around 600 which is around 250lc nos pipe value

To me they are £400ish

A mint complete restored lc2 tops out around 6k. You can't put 1k of that down to the pipes

F/N pipes are rarer. If you look at the thousands of lc2's sold compared to the hundreds at F and N

Just my personal opinion

Steve

[alistair64]

Thanks for all the comments and an interesting variation of opinions.
Time to put my neck on the block I guess...

My own thoughts before even starting this thread were that £1000+ could be classed as silly Ebay money and that £750 would be about right outside of Ebay.
I realise that there will be some who don't agree and think this is also too high, but it seems to be just below the average of what is being suggested on here (i.e. between £400 and £1200).
As mentioned, compared to the price of a new pair of expansions I don't think it's unrealistic to someone who is looking to keep a bike completely standard and needs a new pair of pipes anyway.
My job takes me to various parts of the country, so may be able to include delivery to the north-west, Yorkshire, Midlands, Wales, but not the south.
This would also mean that someone could view them before parting with the cash, so much fairer than forking out on the basis of a couple of photos.

I'll see where this goes, as Ebay is the last resort to be honest....

[madmick]

I paid £300 for a pair of lc2 minters from a forum member. Absolutely no rust, paint perfect, just a mark where the stand has rubbed on them.
I think £500 tops. You can buy spannies for around the same price, but you get a sound and performance upgrade with them. I bought mine as I was building a back to factory bike.

M.M.

[kosaprasa]

I give you 300 gbp

[markhoopy]

Jul 14, 2019 13:08:40 GMT 1 madmick said:

I bought mine as I was building a back to factory bike.

And that is why these LCII pipes are worth a big chunk of money.
For anyone building a standard bike a set in this condition would be very hard to find.

[madmick]

Yes, I agree mark, but £1000, I’m not sure about that. I was not to sure when I paid £300 for mine.

M.M.

[alistair64]

Have put them in the correct 'For Sale' section of the site.
However, Ebay is (unfortunately) looking more and more likely, because I just can't let them go for £300 - £400.
Sorry and all that, but I can't potentially forfeit hundreds of pounds just to let them go to someone on the forum.
Hope you people understand, as we are talking (possibly) quite a lot of dosh here.
Yes, I'll look a bit stupid if Ebay doesn't get the results I'm looking for, but it has to be worth a try and at least it will dictate the true market value.

[jon]

Jul 15, 2019 20:10:53 GMT 1 alistair64 said:

Have put them in the correct 'For Sale' section of the site.
However, Ebay is (unfortunately) looking more and more likely, because I just can't let them go for £300 - £400.
Sorry and all that, but I can't potentially forfeit hundreds of pounds just to let them go to someone on the forum.
Hope you people understand, as we are talking (possibly) quite a lot of dosh here.
Yes, I'll look a bit stupid if Ebay doesn't get the results I'm looking for, but it has to be worth a try and at least it will dictate the true market value.

Do right by yourself.

It’s a bit of a strange thing to ask what they are worth as there are precious little examples to go by.

If you get someone who NEEDS them on eBay then I think the NEAR upper figures or close may be possible.

However it’s a niche market, and they may well sell for much less.

I think the allure of a set of brand new stainless set of performance pipes for less price will put people off.

After all it’s still period mod, and to confirm that’s exactly what you did anyway!

Jon

[veg]

As Jon says do what’s right for you and don’t feel bad about it, most of us would do the same. Glwts 👍

[Deleted]

Agree with veg. Ages ago I did a favour for a bloke on a forum ( not this one) who'd I'd never met and sold an item to him at mates rates.
A few weeks later somebody sold it for twice what I sold it to him for (ebay). Not saying that would happen here but food for thought.

[dusty350]

Absolutely agree - do what is right for you. It's nice to help out forum members when you can, but you need to reach a wider audience and get their worth - whatever that may be, and with something that is hard to value, ebay is probably your best option. Guys here can still bid up to what they would be prepared to pay anyway. All my bikes are self funding, so selling stuff cheap doesn't help me with my next build - it's self generating. I've done the same, as have many of us I'm sure.
Good luck

Dusty

[jackjabba]

You can get new shiny tuned pipes all day long, but you cant just order a set of mint originals when they are NLA. Worth at least as much as a new set of TSA's etc.

[fozzy17]

as mark says but i wouldn't go as far as £400 stick them on ebay and see if you get two people fighting for them

[reggieperrin]

Last mint set of N1 pipes i bought I paid £350 for.
The market is a funny place, sometimes these are in high demand, other times they just sit there.

Get what you're happy with.

[alistair64]

Thanks to all for easing my conscience a bit about not selling to a forum member.
I suppose at the end of the day I don't know any of you and you don't know me, hence why I would come down a little on what I thought they were worth, but not loads (wouldn't even do that for someone I did know).

I've had the heads up from a few of you on one particular poster on this thread who is known for buying from this forum then selling on Ebay for a profit.
The guy clearly has no conscience and doesn't think there's anything wrong with that, but at least I know who to avoid now, so thanks for that.

Have to say that I don't really get the comparison with the price of expansions.
We are talking about a slightly different market as a couple of you have implied.
I never wanted to keep my bike standard, but there are some who do and that's who these pipes will be aimed at.
Anyone can find a set of spannies for a Powervalve, but to find near NOS originals??
That's why the two can't be compared.
In fact in my experience of NOS parts, they're probably better!
NOS can still mean scratched and bruised - they just haven't been fitted to a bike and used.

[fozzy17]

Jul 16, 2019 19:55:05 GMT 1 alistair64 said:

Thanks to all for easing my conscience a bit about not selling to a forum member.
I suppose at the end of the day I don't know any of you and you don't know me, hence why I would come down a little on what I thought they were worth, but not loads (wouldn't even do that for someone I did know).

I've had the heads up from a few of you on one particular poster on this thread who is known for buying from this forum then selling on Ebay for a profit.
The guy clearly has no conscience and doesn't think there's anything wrong with that, but at least I know who to avoid now, so thanks for that.

Have to say that I don't really get the comparison with the price of expansions.
We are talking about a slightly different market as a couple of you have implied.
I never wanted to keep my bike standard, but there are some who do and that's who these pipes will be aimed at.
Anyone can find a set of spannies for a Powervalve, but to find near NOS originals??
That's why the two can't be compared.
In fact in my experience of NOS parts, they're probably better!
NOS can still mean scratched and bruised - they just haven't been fitted to a bike and used.

if you knew the market why did you ask, as mentioned stick them on ebay and see if you can two bidding on them you might get £200 you might get £1000 its a tough one imo to value, i have sold a few ypvs pipes and have never been a good seller as they are cheap enough to get a nice un-dented set good luck anyway

[shaunthe2nd]

All my builds have been stock LC's so far. The first 6-12 months tend to be sourcing of parts and that gives time to try to get decent quality bits at decent prices. Then the refurbish, paint, clean and build phase will commence. Once you get towards the end of the build I usually find i'm either missing a few parts, or often some of the parts aren't up to standard. That's the time I tend to pay over the odds for those bits to get the project finished.

So you need 2 people in similar circumstances to create a bid frenzy to get top money for your pipes in my experience.

GLWTS.

[alistair64]

Jul 17, 2019 7:22:32 GMT 1 fozzy17 said:

Jul 16, 2019 19:55:05 GMT 1 alistair64 said:

Thanks to all for easing my conscience a bit about not selling to a forum member.
I suppose at the end of the day I don't know any of you and you don't know me, hence why I would come down a little on what I thought they were worth, but not loads (wouldn't even do that for someone I did know).

I've had the heads up from a few of you on one particular poster on this thread who is known for buying from this forum then selling on Ebay for a profit.
The guy clearly has no conscience and doesn't think there's anything wrong with that, but at least I know who to avoid now, so thanks for that.

Have to say that I don't really get the comparison with the price of expansions.
We are talking about a slightly different market as a couple of you have implied.
I never wanted to keep my bike standard, but there are some who do and that's who these pipes will be aimed at.
Anyone can find a set of spannies for a Powervalve, but to find near NOS originals??
That's why the two can't be compared.
In fact in my experience of NOS parts, they're probably better!
NOS can still mean scratched and bruised - they just haven't been fitted to a bike and used.

if you knew the market why did you ask

I knew who they would be aimed at, that's obvious, but wanted an idea of what you all thought they were worth.
It's not the same market as those who don't mind using aftermarket pipes (IMO), that's all I was saying.