EvanB

Very nice! Love the color on that

Had a nice day for a ride yesterday.

I agree. Well, maybe not painted matte black... I love the paint it has now. But it definitely needs ridden as much as possible.

How does motorcycle trading work across the USA then? Could you bring a bike to Ohio, get it road legal there and then trade it to California for instance? Hubert If a bike is road legal in Ohio and you sell it to someone in California they will probably have to have emissions testing on it depending on the age. Generally if a motorcycle is legal in one state, it will be legal in any other state as long as it passes whatever emissions testing (if any) is present in the state it will be registered in. In the case of bringing motorcycles over from Europe, if I ever did it, they would only be for parts so I wouldn't have to deal with getting them road legal.

For the moment I am only doing this for a class. If I complete the business plan and it looks feasible I may proceed with it in a year or two. I still need to research more about sourcing the bikes. Shipping them from Europe was just one idea and I need to look into it more. As far as the American annual vehicle testing being tougher than in Europe I suppose that depends on where it is. Here in Ohio we don't have any testing for motorcycles or cars in most of the state, emissions or otherwise. Other states have emissions testing for vehicles over a certain age, in some states, motorcycles are exempt from what I have read.

I haven't been able to find any import numbers but from what I have found it wasn't many. I think the reason they don't have more of a following is the very small number produced. I imagine they might be slightly collectable someday, I think they certainly won't be worth less than they are now.

I got a question in the comments section about where I would get the bikes to salvage. I am still researching that but I am thinking mainly insurance auctions and snatching bikes off craigslist that are wrecked or salvage titled. I am also thinking about the possibility of filling 20 or 40 foot containers in Europe and shipping large quantities of bikes over at a time. That would take a lot of working out and probably wouldn't be possible until I built up the business a bit.

I bought my 2000 V11 sport last summer for $4200 with 24k miles. Looking at the KBB value it seems I paid exactly what they value it at in excellent condition. I would use the KBB or NADA price as a starting point and maybe ask a little more for it and see what offers you get.

Thanks for all the replies so far, I really appreciate it! A little more information on the business plan. The refinishing service is something I haven't seen offered by a motorcycle salvage company (there may be some that do it that I am missing). It would basically be media-blasting and powdercoating parts such as frames, brake calipers to be rebuilt, rearsets, etc. Also ceramic coating for exhaust manifolds and high-temperature parts. If you have any other ideas or input I would love to hear it.

I mostly lurk here but I am looking for some input. I am working on a business plan for a class and need to conduct some market research. My plan is used motorcycle parts sales with a focus on European bikes. I have looked around but haven't found many used parts specialists for Moto Guzzi or other small Euro manufacturers. I made a short survey for input, thanks for any help! Used parts survey Mods: If this is against the rules, please let me know.