I am constantly buying and selling motorcycles from mostly the 80's and 90's, I buy them in delapidated condition and restore them and sell them. Last summer I did 8, this year im only on 3 so far, been busy. My wife jokes that I am the "Wheeler Dealers" of motorcycles. I am always quoting that show when im selling bikes. This past weekend I just sold this guy called Mathew a cracken new motor after working the spanners on it LOL. If you dont watch the show you wont get that joke!
The most notable bike though since I have owned my Esprit, has been a 1982 Yamaha Seca Turbo, I knew nothing about turbos before my Esprit and my knowledge gained from the Esprit helped me understand how the turbo worked on this old pretty rare bike. The guy I bought it from told me it had no boost and needed a turbo, actually, it pressurizes the carburetors upon boost and if the carbs leak, then it cant make boost. Problem solved, rebuilt the carbs. "Sold on for a profit" Sorry that was another Wheeler Dealer quote.
I have owned numerous late model bikes previously, I liked more exotic bikes, like Ducati's, Aprilia's, Moto Guzzi's, Triumph is probably my favorite. Im still young enuf to blow thru the twisties on a Daytona 675 like nobody's business, I think that is the bike that best suits me. I used to have a very quick eye and memory for these kinda bike blue book values, to buy and sell them. These bikes also have more fragile engines when it comes to maintenance, similar to the Esprit. I think many guys buy these bikes on a whim, then their wives tell them after a short while they want it gone, that seems to be the way I've gotten a few bikes at a low cost, that and the old rule cash talks.
REDFOX, This guy I used to know bought the first Laverda ever sold in my area from this now BMW/Triumph dealer, I thought it was a old Ducati when I first saw it.