Hoping the Hype can help out...

[Dr Lee]

Right.. i've done a search and couldn't find a thread on Cycling...so i'm putting my problem here in the hope that one person in the thousands on SHH may know what i need to find out.

about 20 years ago my father was given a concept racing bike in return for some computing work he'd done. at the time he was informed that it was only one of 6 concepts made... though the actual bike was in production for a short time in the early 90's

This is the bike in question, a Kirk Precision Limited Edition Racing bike.

the dilemma we have is that he has revealed today that he offered the bike to someone.... for free.

both my mother and i are convinced that this bike is worth a fair amount, but despite searching the net all afternoon... i have only one quote of $400/£250-ish

Can the hype help me stop my father from doing something rather foolish?

Thank you in advance for any and all advice given on this...

 

[Asteroid-Man]

I'm sure you could put it on ebay saying "ULTRA RARE - 1 of 6 Kirk Precision Limited Edition Racing Bike Prototypes!" with a starting bid of like $400-500 and watch it rise. Hell, you could even try Craig's list or Kijiji at a flat price of $600-700.

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

well, i don't know, sometimes it's nice to give someone something for free, depends who it is.
At one end of the scale, if it was someone who did not have much money and a bike could get them to work for free, that would be a good thing to do.
At the other end of the scale, if it was some horrible person who would not even be grateful, and had plenty of money and would not use the bike much, then don't let him give it over.

Talk to your dad about it, if he wants to give it to someone for free, who would put it to good use, then maybe he is just being a good guy, and does not want to turn a profit this time. He sounds like a good guy, sometimes it's good to let a good guy be a good guy cause then that good karma will come back on him somehow, and even if karma is a lot of crap, just being a good guy is enough of a reward. He might be the kind of guy who would feel better giving it away, than taking someone's money, esp if they did not have that much.

edit: or y'know, if you think your dad should be good *to himself*, and could use the money to treat himself, then talk him into selling it.

 

[Dr Lee]

neither mum and i want him to throw away cash as we aren't exactly rich... and any money that this is worth could be VERY VERY useful to us...

But i do agree that giving it to the guy is a good Karma thing... i just want to find out before we let him do what he wants...

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

neither mum and i want him to throw away cash as we aren't exactly rich... and any money that this is worth could be VERY VERY useful to us...

But i do agree that giving it to the guy is a good Karma thing... i just want to find out before we let him do what he wants...

Aw man, then talk him into selling it. Tell him that he could end up giving it to someone who would spend the 500bucks, that you could have used, on a night out at a bar or something. Because, chances are, if someone can afford to spend a lot on a bike, then they will probably look at the money they *expected* to pay like a gift horse, and just fritter it away on something frivolous like they had free money.

 

[Dr Lee]

hopefully we can find some info on how much it could go for before he gives it away....convince him to sell it...

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

hopefully we can find some info on how much it could go for before he gives it away....convince him to sell it...

It being such a rare bike does not guarantee you will get a big price for it, with these kinds of things, like rare comics, it can be down to how much people are willing to pay for it, and if you can find the person who is willing to pay a decent price.
So, if you were to put it on e-bay, do not start with a low price, start with a decent amount, like, a lot, a couple hundred bucks at least, and sell it to the highest bidder. Emphasising it's uniqueness in numbers made, and any unique selling points, find out about it's manufacture if you can, what makes it so special etc.
Basically, make it sound like a one in a million Willy Wonka bike, because that is what it is, and the hardcore bikers will be all over it. They look on e-bay all the time, i know a guy who is a cycling enthusiast, and the one time i was up at his house, he had e-bay on the go, just browsing at the bikes.

 

[chaseter]

Sell it on ebay. I sell a lot of stuff on ebay and I bet you could get $200-$500 for that...maybe more!? I am not into cycling so I don't know much. However, shipping would be hard for that bastard.

 

[Dr Lee]

that's one option.... been given an e-mail of a guy who knows about that brand of bike... si i'll be talking with him either 2moro or Monday

 

[Hotwire]

I would contact a bike shop. One that has been in business since before the time this bike was available. Then, talk to the owner, see what he says.

 

[ComicChick]

http://www.classicbikeshop.eu/Classic-frames.html here is a site that seems to sell parts. and since you have a whole one, maybe you can contact them for assistance, or estimate by adding the totals for parts