Industry Insider: Ugly price hike for Japanese-British retro motorcycle imports

Today being the residual economy of the past few years, we have another repercussion on the record—and this one is going to hit Honda NR750 fans with a full no-no.

Our source today is a specialist in the rare collector’s motorcycle trade named Ciarán Perrin (of Extreme Trading in Norwich), who forwarded to Multi-channel network that it is almost impossible to get your hands on the usual lots of nice retro Japanese machines from 1980/1990.

The reason?

Apparently soaring prices in Japan mean that bikes are not only twice as expensive and harder to get here (in the UK), but they end up around the same price as a bike in the UK anyway United States, making imports unnecessary for today’s market.

Combine this with:

1. US cries louder than ever for retro collectibles
2. Eased import regulations making buying retro deals easier than ever

…and you have a sparse market that just can’t keep up.

“…it no longer makes commercial sense for importers like Ciarán to bring in bikes for sale”, explains the report.

Ciaran continues:

“If I want to buy an RC30 or an NR750 in Japan, by the time I land it they’re the same price as you can buy one in the UK. I still have to do some work when it arrives too.” As nice as it is, you’ll probably have to put an extra £1,500 into it – maybe £5,000 depending on what needs to be done.”

“We’re still buying the bike from Japan if we can find it, but basically it’s sort of finished at the moment. I know two dealers who have sold bikes to America, and once they leave the UK United, they will not return.

We’ll keep you posted on more stories and information as they come in from the pipeline itself. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter where our main man Cameron Martel curates the best of the latest news and delivers it to your inbox, drop a comment to let us know what you think and as always , stay safe on the twisties.

*Media from Multi-channel network, The Financial Times, Wikipedia, VisorDownand CycleWorld*