My Grandads 1989 Kuwahara Pacer, which we are looking at selling. Does anyone know anything about these, or how we go about getting a value? We are UK based)
by LxxxsEUW
My Grandads 1989 Kuwahara Pacer, which we are looking at selling. Does anyone know anything about these, or how we go about getting a value? We are UK based)
by LxxxsEUW
15 Comments
Try looking up the sold section of eBay. Don’t be to hasty selling it. Could be a £1000 bike.
Hot dog that bike looks nice
This is a sweet machine. The seat post is scary though. Would make a killer gravel bike.
Have you googled 1989 Kuwahara? It’s in [this catalog](https://kuwahara-family.brieger.blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Kuwahara-1989.pdf) for starters.
Try to sell it on an auction site like eBay or join an online forum and/or Facebook group (like vintage bikes, etc) and see if anybody is interested. It’s going to take some work to find the right buyer.
Was a “cross” bike back in the day. Not cyclocross, but rather “cross country” or a “cross” between a road bike and a mountain bike. Or for “cross training” which was a popular term for “other exercise” for runners.
Anyway, these are essentially what we would call a “flat-bar gravel bike” today. The geometry is somewhere between a touring bike and cyclocross racer. The quad butted cromoly tubing is really good stuff, it would be an upper end bike if it was new, nicer than Surly IMHO. This is a highly useful bike.
As far as value, this has a lot going for it. The condition is fantastic, the color is retro-cool and the small/medium size means it will fit a large population of riders. The new grips and tires add a lot, especially the matching tan. However, even in perfect condition, I struggle to get much over $400 for these locally, and that’s with very good pictures and descriptions. Most people just see an old bike. You can get more on eBay for sure, but with the fees and hassle of shipping, I haven’t found it to be worthwhile.
Maybe ask over at /r/xbiking as well.
That’s a desirable bike for sure. I would install the widest tires that would safely fit and ride it. You can’t buy a new frame of that quality today for less than $2000 but you aren’t going to get more than a few hundred, tops, unless you find the random Kuwahara collector.
Frankly I can see that as a fantastic daily driver.
Lugged touring bike with Deore components? I’d say about $600-$700 + shipping on eBay.
It’s worth more than that but you won’t get any bites for more than that I’d say.
Keep it unless you absolutely need the money for bills, you will kick yourself in the ass, if gramps wasn’t a grump, and you love him.. keep it.
I found a couple on Ebay, not sure what the condition of those were in vs yours is, but they wanted $1,273, and $950. Those were not the same year as yours, they each had a different paint scheme, but I would assume that would be the general ballpark
Too bad you can’t keep it and ride it, it’s a nice-looking bike, and it belonged to your grandfather.
Grandpa had some swagger!
Beautiful bike! Kuwaharas have a nice market, part of it because that’s the ET bike (a Kuwahara BMX), part of it because people love beautiful things from the golden era of Japanese manufacturing, and part of it because people value exotic steel – and Kuwahara often used Ishiwata quad-butted tubes on their mountain bikes.
The pacer is a good mid-range option, not as fancy as the hi-pacer or x-pacer. Having 700c wheels can be an advantage when selling – makes it better suited for a gravel conversion which people (including me!) like to do.
The bike seems to be in pristine condition. I wouldn’t change anything as some buyers might value it having the original tyres for example.
Your best bet would be posting it in the “Retrobike UK” facebook group. Many rarer bikes like yours are often listed there. I’d start with a £750 price, but expect to get less probably.
Or, better – refresh the bike and ride it yourself! You’ll probably never have a cooler/more unique bike, and certainly not one that belonged to your grandpa!
A legit heirloom bicycle.
Peak-CoViD value with the right buyers hovering over the auction sites and seeing great photography of the necessary details would be ~$1,400, less than a third of what it’d cost to build it new.
More likely a $250-350 post-CoViD sale, a real crying shame for a really great bike.
Keep it and ride it on grampa’s birthday.
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Try the [Cycling UK forums](https://forum.cyclinguk.org/?_ga=2.130143116.2073265465.1687245011-1722641222.1687245011), they are a very helpful bunch, and they also have a sub forum for bike sales.