507 mile, 2004 Ballabio

[Steve54296]

Hi there. New to the forum! Long story, but I’ll try to keep it short. My father passed away recently, and I am attempting to sell a 2004 Ballabio, for my mom. The reason I bring that up, is that is the reason it has such low miles. He was in poor health for many years, and just wasn’t able to ride it. 
 

My auction is going live on Bring a Trailer, 2:40 pm Central time US, today, and they kind of pushed me into ‘No Reserve’. But…I had just tried his 1953 Falcone on Bring a Trailer, and I wasn’t happy with the result. The high bid was only $7,100, and didn’t come close to my reserve.  
 

That being said, I’m getting nervous about this auction, that someone will get it for pennies on the dollar of what it’s worth, without having a reserve. 
 

Does anyone want to make me an offer, before this thing goes live? I have a number in mind. Once the auction goes live, I’ll pull this post down, because I guess I’m a good guy, and will follow their policy, and go through with the auction. 
 

It’s in pretty immaculate condition, save a few tiny rock chips, some fine scratches on the exhaust, and a small scratch on the front fender.  It was kept in an unfinished, walkout basement. It’s located in MN.  

[Steve54296]

Oh yeah, it has a new battery, as well. 

[Scud]

Wow, what a nice Ballabio. Sorry about the circumstances. 

I suppose that you keeping the bike has already been ruled out? 

There is at least one member here with an affinity for pristine, low-mileage bikes. @Twin AH

[4corsa]

Perhaps if not interested, we could still give an educated idea of what the bike is worth?  My opinion based on what i've seen the past couple years is this is a $6k - $7k (max) bike, due to the low mileage and assuming in excellent running condition. But everyone else please chime in.

[Scud]

Despite it's excellent condition, the Ballabio did not emerge as one of the most desirable V11 variants. The Ohlins-equipped version of this bike, the Cafe Sport, would seem more likely to fetch that price. Just my opinion.

[Steve54296]

1 hour ago, Scud said:

Wow, what a nice Ballabio. Sorry about the circumstances. 

I suppose that you keeping the bike has already been ruled out? 

There is at least one member here with an affinity for pristine, low-mileage bikes. @Twin AH

I had definitely considered keeping it, but I have a bad back, and, though it’s not an overly aggressive riding position, it’s still too aggressive for my back. I rode it a few miles, trying to fall in love with it, and if my back could handle it, I’d absolutely keep it!

[Steve54296]

1 hour ago, 4corsa said:

Perhaps if not interested, we could still give an educated idea of what the bike is worth?  My opinion based on what i've seen the past couple years is this is a $6k - $7k (max) bike, due to the low mileage and assuming in excellent running condition. But everyone else please chime in.

Yeah, that is the ballpark I was kind of thinking, $6K-$7K max. I’d probably take a tinge less, just to have someone come and pick the thing up, versus dealing with the back and forth that Bring a Trailer will inevitably bring…That’s what worries me about Bring a Trailer, is my dad’s Falcone only ever got up to $7,100, which, thank God I had a reserve on that, because that was wayyy off the mark, in my opinion!

[Steve54296]

42 minutes ago, Scud said:

Despite it's excellent condition, the Ballabio did not emerge as one of the most desirable V11 variants. The Ohlins-equipped version of this bike, the Cafe Sport, would seem more likely to fetch that price. Just my opinion.

Yeah, I agree. There are specific variants that are more desirable, without a doubt. I would be happy if it fetched the $6k-$7K range, but, to negotiate against myself, I think that would be the high range of its value, to be honest. 

[Steve54296]

My thought was, if someone came to my house with $5,000 cash money, I’d take it, even though, with almost being a new (used) bike, it could potentially be worth closer to the $6K-$7K range, because you just won’t find one of that vintage with that low of miles. There may be rarer V11s out there, but the mileage alone gives it a rarity of its own. He always kept it running, even though he wasn’t able to ride it much. Always had fresh, stabilized gas, and he’d take it around the block, when he was physically able. I did siphon the ‘old’ gas out of it, and put fresh non-oxy in it, but it was completely unnecessary. The gas that was in it had the tell-tale pink tinge of ‘Stabil’, and smelled as fresh as the day it came out of the pump.  

[Pressureangle]

I'm rehabilitating a 2000 V11 Sport I got for $750- to make it look that nice and recover the 64k miles it has on it, would cost as much as you're asking. Maybe more depending on the price of paint. 

[4corsa]

So, based on the comments so far, it seems like the range is likely closer to $6k, not likely more. I did, in my haste, forget that the Ballabio did not have the Ohlins (black forks, doh!).  But, not likely going to find many more 500 mile V11s out there.

[po18guy]

If it matters, in 2019 I bought a 2004 Ballabio with 4800 miles for $4950.  Came with Staintunes, Hepco & Becker bags, Motobits pegs, Roper plate and other goodies. 

[Steve54296]

48 minutes ago, po18guy said:

If it matters, in 2019 I bought a 2004 Ballabio with 4800 miles for $4950.  Came with Staintunes, Hepco & Becker bags, Motobits pegs, Roper plate and other goodies. 

Thank you! I guess, per Bring a Trailer’s policy, I can’t sell directly on here, as of 30 minutes ago, but thank you for the info! I think if BaT hits around the $5K mark, I won’t be ecstatic, but I’ll be satisfied with that. If it hits the $6K-$7K mark, because of the extremely low miles, I could see that as being within the ballpark, for the right person, too, just because it’s basically new. If it’s around the $3K-$4K mark, I’ll feel like I made a huge mistake with no reserve on BaT. 

[po18guy]

It always helps if you load on the hyperbole in your ad. "Amazing" "Fantastic" "Time Capsule" etc. etc. etc. 

 

[Steve54296]

1 hour ago, po18guy said:

It always helps if you load on the hyperbole in your ad. "Amazing" "Fantastic" "Time Capsule" etc. etc. etc. 

 

Ha, that would be nice! BaT takes the information you give them, and writes the listing for you. While they claim it’s so they can cut through the fluff and BS, so buyers have an accurate representation, I think they are too aggressive with their language. For example, I had told them my dad’s Falcone has an occasional oil drip, maybe a few tablespoons per month. They translated that into my listing as “engine leaks oil”. While they were, technically, not wrong, if I were a potential buyer and read, “engine leaks oil”, I’d be thinking if I ride this thing a mile from home, I could very well lock up the engine! Where as, the reality is, it would be almost impossible to find a Falcone that doesn’t have an occasional oil drip, unless a guy has torn the thing to pieces, and black RTVed the living daylights out of it! It’s almost as though BaT punishes a guy for being honest about it. 

Edited June 13 by Steve54296