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Looking for inspiration

1K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  92VFR 
#1 ·
I own a 2001 RC-51 and honestly love the bike. I've also had a 2008 CBR1000RR which I liked, but not enough to keep. The RC seems oddly comfortable to me aside from the seat which of course is like sitting on a board.

It's got the typical upgrades done already; K&N filters, Power Commander and Leo Vince slip-ons. I also have a Hotbodies undertail with integrated lights. Flush mounts for the front blinkers. Otherwise it's pretty much stock.

Due to a greedy body shop I no longer have the factory decals or paint. I took all the body work in for some minor crack repair (around a the top mounting holes for the side panels) and to get an estimate on maybe getting a custom paint job. Well before I authorized any work they stripped and sanded everything. I was lucky that I was able to get them to spray everything red again, but it's not a finished job. No wet sanding, no clear coat.

I've been hearing a lot that because my bike has been "customized" with the paint that it's not worth much. Personally I don't agree, but figured I'd ask people who know more about these and maybe have some experience with painted bikes. I'm not trying to hide any major damage with the paint. If I were, the paint job that's on it now would be a really poor attempt.

So my big question is: has the value of my bike dropped off completely because of this? At this point I have little choice but to get the paint done and will probably go with some custom decals instead of the factory stuff. I can't do any worse if the value is gone anyway, right? I'm really discouraged about this. And the body shop flat out refused to make it right. I even had to pay $400 just to get them to spray everything in red before giving it back.

I'm looking for useful info here. I have resigned myself to the idea that I will end up paying to make my bike look better, but I'm trying to decide just how much I'm willing to do at this point.
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Ouch. I'd probably sue them in small claims court even if it wasn't worth it, just to stick it to them.

Did they paint all the plastics and the tank?

If everything is painted, the bike has gone down in value as one piece I'd say. I won't buy a custom painted bike, and I'm not alone. There is a stigma about them, whether warranted or not. But how much value is lost depends on what shape the bike was before the paint job. Old RC51 bikes, especially ones that need work can be pretty cheap in some areas, so a paint job isn't going to bottom them out much more.

Also, as seen here, RC51's tend to be worth more in parts than in one piece. So parting out the bike can result in decent money. And painted plastics won't affect what kind of money you can get by too much. The painted plastics can be used by many for track days, at the very least.

You can always buy new OEM plastics if the rest of the bike is nice and worth it to spend that $$. It isn't cheap, but you can sell your painted plastics to recoup some of the money.
 
#3 ·
The bike is in good shape. It's not a ratted out bike with chicken wire holding it together. I don't mind putting some money into the bike. I certainly don't want to part it out. I just wanted to know if the value is gone because of what happened. It's funny because most people I meet say they love these bikes, or always wanted on, or whatever, but when I've tried putting it up for sale suddenly everyone wants to say it's not worth much.

I've thought about guying new body work. I've thought about buying a set for the track and one for the street. However I have yet to get the chance to do a track day so maybe that wouldn't be such a great idea for now...
 
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