game_player_s

Just to be clear I'm in a rather hilly part of the U.S.A. where such a thing as a rickshaw is likely the sort of thing to be wholly impractical not to mention something you just never see here. But there's this junk shop kinda of out of the way and for nearly three months now I've been seeing this thing that sort of looked like scrap metal with wheels sitting out front among the large bits of furniture they stick out during business hours trying to sell. It's a shop I've been to many times and for whatever reason I've avoided eye contact with the eyesore sitting out front as it's just beyond where you park at. So a couple days ago, as I happened to be heading home along that road, after hours for the shop sadly, I see this thing looming out there and decide to stop and have a look at whatever this contraption is that's been sitting out there now for the past two or three months, and to my shock it is actually a rather vintage looking rickshaw, in rather poor looking condition.

But of course, like most everyone else here at Bike Forums, if it's got pedals I'm kind of interested in owning the crazy thing. I literally have no clue as to what the asking price is, but I've shopped at the place enough to know the owner is always willing to haggle a deal, especially if the item has been lingering around his cramped place for longer than a couple of weeks. And as I've mentioned already, this is something he's had lingering around now for a couple of months! Sadly I don't have a actual picture of the specific rickshaw in question as I didn't have a camera with me, and my cell phone's excuse of a built-in camera only takes significantly blurry photos. But I searched around the internet and it best resembles this one, but without a canopy... and generally bad shape..:


Was going to stop by and talk the shop owner about the rickshaw today, but for whatever reason the shop never opened today. So my questions is, what would be a reasonable price to offer on a fixer upper rickshaw of this type? Or is it even worth the trouble?

CliffordK

It is impossible to give a value to a different bike than what you have.

Around here we have a couple of pedicabs that operate. Generally for events, for example I've seen them working the Cuthbert Amphitheater, taking customer from the parking lot to the entrance, generally working for tips only, I think. And, I think they can do reasonably well on a typical night.

The pedicabs I've seen look far more modern, but there would be some Indian/Asian charm of a bike like the one you have shown in the photo.

In some cases, you might be able to swap the chair for a cargo box.

Hard to say what one is worth. A complete rustbucket might be worth maybe $100 or $200.

A pristine new build with multi-speed, perhaps an IGH might be worth $2000+

bargainguy

Wow, a rickshaw? I can get a workout just problem solving regular bikes. I can't imagine what problem solving on a rickshaw is like. I'd imagine many more custom or "made-to-fit" parts as opposed to ordering from Amazon, for example. If you like custom fab, then sure, why not?

randyjawa 

Value for the Rickshaw will, in your case, depend absolutely on you. My guess is that there will not be a lot of interest expressed by a bevy of potential buyers.

Were it me, a hundred bucks or forget it. That, in part, is simply because I am not all that interested in such a machine nor do I have anyplace to store or work on it.

All that said, a hilly region to use it in? I am not sure hills and rickshaws go well together.

I loved the idea of this Falcon three wheeler. Sadly, the ride and inability to store it properly caused me to let it go...

capnjonny 

Personally I suggest you buy this for it's uniqueness and mystery and no other reason. Pay what you want realizing it probably will have no value as is and limited value if you fix it up.

Things like that are intriguing and can be fun to play with if you like solving puzzles. I once bought a Maserati 3500 GT that had been sitting in the parking lot of a gas station for 10 years with the windows rolled down . I spent 7 years restoring it myself doing all my own work and when I sold it I figured I made $2/ hr for my time. I enjoyed it. Would you enjoy owning and fixing this up? If so , go for it. Just don't complain when you run into trouble . That is half the fun.

CliffordK

One thing about restoring the rickshaw. I think some of the Patina in the internet photo gives it some of it's Old Asian charm.

Make it look like a new bike, and you lose that charm.

Of course, if @game_player_s's bike is in much worse condition, then it may still need restoration, even if the goal is to end up with something that looks like a tired used bike.

Any photos of the actual bike? What did the seller say?

Still, there is nothing wrong with rebuilding the bike to suit your needs... especially if you don't do anything that can't be reversed. Cargo box? IGH? Anything to entice customers if you should choose to try a pedicab service at events?

If you are hoping to get customers, anything to make your pedicab stand out (thus the patina), while still making customers feel safe and comfortable, and enticing?

Something for the kids to play around with?

Pet carrier?

Rollfast

It's only as good as the person in front.

Silvestru

Nice! Never knew these three wheeler existed.

game_player_s

Sorry it took so long to get back to this. So I finally asked about it, and turns out the rickshaw is on consignment to the shop from someone the shop owner personally knows, hence why it's been there for so long. And the shop owner himself shook his head when I asked the price and replied something along the lines of "It's unrealistic, but the thing has been attracting a lot of customers so I haven't pressed him to reconsider on it.". So yeah, asking price is a whopping $4,000. Also he has the roof with it, which is in pretty good shape, but yeah, it'll sit there until it turns to a rust pile at that price.

fietsbob

Depends on where you are and if you can make any money carrying people in it..

CliffordK

No Photos of the actual bike yet?

The value of "window dressing" may well be worth more than the space, especially if someone else carries the capital investment.

Perhaps that is the reason why 40 year old NOS bikes occasionally pop up with one side completely sun bleached, and the other side pristine.

I think there are many issues here. Importing a bike like that from south Asia could be a major hassle and rather expensive unless one could pack a connex box with 50 of them.

As a "work bike", it could well be worth $4K, if it had adequate gearing, good seat, etc. On the other hand, it could require a complete rebuild. Nonetheless, you could probably rebuild the rear-end with a NuVinci, and perhaps add Electric Assist for not that much.

The problem is that most of us aren't doing the pedicab thing, and it would be an expensive toy and conversation piece rather than a profit generating work bike.

Thus, the value to the average buyer plummets, especially if space is an issue.

Cyclist3098765

dweenk

I have seen 3 or 4 appear for sale on the local CL over a couple of years, but only one was a real rickshaw - the others were modern replicas. All of them were from beach towns and probably from some failed business. If I wanted one as a collector I would pay what I what I thought was fair.