I don't think run-of-the-mill bikes have ever been an investment, but it was nice, up until recently, to know that you'd get your money back when it was time for a change.
Always brings a wry smile when I see some rusty Japanese bike being advertised as a "sought-after Japanese classic" or some mundane 1950s commuter described as "collectable".
I don't get the idea that "younger people are going for the japanese bikes of their youth" either.
Assume they were 20 in 1975 and lusted after RD's and Honda fours. That makes them about 68 now, which is rather late to be suddenly thinking of reliving their youth on Fizzies and Bloops..
Yep, its not that simple! I’m 64 and owned a 59 super rocket when I was 17, so bought an A10 as a hobby many years later, when I felt I could afford it, but I also owned a newish 900SS Duke and Benelli 750-6 after the SR but there is no way I could justify buying one of those nowadays.
My brother is only a year younger and had a newish CB750 sohc in his youth, and now owns one as a hobby. He also owned a newish 750 bonnie after the CB750 but has no interest nowadays in owning an old brit bike.
I guess its a bit of an incorrect assumption people want to relive one of the NEW bikes they had in their youth, when many (as in my case) owned bikes (or cars) that were 15 years or older in their youth, mainly for cost reasons.
To complicate things I also recently bought an ‘84 Lotus Excel cos I had an ‘88 one in ‘97, but my FIRST car was a ‘66 MGB and I don’t want an MGB now, cos of the rust my ‘66 suffered from.