Link to the auction (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HONDA-599-FUEL-TANK-NO-RESERVE_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ35586QQihZ013QQ itemZ230085914101QQrdZ1)

There's a note on this particular auction stating that the retail tank price is $744.99. WHAT!?!?

Is this a typo? Surely the tank isn't 10% the bike price....

i seen that to like 3 days ago hey call the local honda dealer and get a quote on a new tank

nope that is not a typo some chick a couple of months ago had to buy me a new one lol and it was 750 dollars from honda. she thought i was lying so i had to have her go through the dealer.

some chick a couple of months ago had to buy me a new one lol....

Ok, ok.....I INSIST you share the details of this one! :lol: :drool

I'm no metal worker, but I just can't see why that particular tank is that expensive. What in the world?

When any fuel tank costs 10% the price of its attached machine, I begin wonder about the remaining 90%.

Well, if you go around pricing every part on the bike you'll probably come up with 200% of the value of the bike (at least). Going through dealerships for the parts is definately the most expensive way to go and you'll see that manufacturers get huge discounts because of the volume of parts they buy to put the bikes together. So in other words if you tried to buy all the parts necessary to build the same bike yourself you would end up paying MUCH more for the bike than if you just bought one used or off the showroom floor already put together. Cars are the same way...but not as much as bikes, for sure.

Going through dealerships for the parts is definately the most expensive way to go and you'll see that manufacturers get huge discounts because of the volume of parts they buy

Well aware of that one! That's what keeps me from buying the 240SX back from my sister-in-law, and from [re]building a '55 Nomad.

Well, if you go around pricing every part on the bike you'll probably come up with 200% of the value of the bike (at least).
In my biz (concert and stage lighting) it'd be more like 600-800% or more!

Parts are expensive to keep on the shelf. I got tons (literally) of inventory that is paid for just sitting there waiting for some person to need it. (some parts out there are 15 years old! and I do sell one every now and then and they gripe a bit but at the end of the day they are glad they found it and didn't need to chuck an expensive piece of equipment) I pay taxes on it every year and deal with some parts getting to the point that they can not be used (seals in pumps die, rubber parts dry out, steel parts get rusty, parts get damaged or lost in the shuffle). Then I got the over head of figuring out what the customer is asking for (research), finding it, keeping track of it, counting it every year, paying for the space to store it (go price racks and see how cheap vertical storage is, it ain't)...all sound trivial but it adds up. Many of my parts also come from the UK and Italy, people go "but it is just a machined brass bar, should be like $5" but then they don't think of the import duties, air freight and the other entire BS above. May be a bit different for Honda but don't think it changes all that much.

I agree with JMD. If your add up the parts of any bike, car, boat, etc. It will be many times the selling price of the assembled unit.

Another problem with the 599 in particular is it's rarity and the fact that it (and it's tank) is manufactured in Italy. The exchange rate is terrible. Rarity of the bike ensures that there will be very little opportunity for Honda to sell a tank. Their costs must be covered by the sale of very few units. And without competition, they will ensure a profitable sale.

:oops: Sorry, once I get going...