gravelinmygears 

If someone wanted to get a professional appraisal for a unique bicycle, who would they contact? Is their a "go-to" shop or business for this sort of thing?

Roger M

gravelinmygears 

Rick told there wasn't a market for fillet brazed bikes and offered me $50.

merziac

My last appraisal was for insurance, Allstate said to go to who ever I wanted to and they payed the full amount. Its a screwy deal, replacement cost, value, possible selling price, etc.

I don't think there is a one stop answer for this, the big auction houses don't seem to be well versed or skilled in this but they do seem to be able to place value on actual antique bikes, seems like prewar and before but not the bikes we deal with.

I would take it to a framebuilder and ask how much it would cost to replace it and while that number would be very high, it could give a starting point to come down from.

We are at a severe disadvantage in general as we fuss, hunt, dig and obsess to our own detriment, by the time we get done with some of these we are buried in them, labor of love is the least of it.

There are a few people that are actually qualified to do this but I don't think any of them are official or authorized, certified, whatever to do so.

I would pose the question over at CR and see what happens.

smontanaro 

Check with someone like Dale Brown (Classic Rendezvous listmeister and owner of Cycles de Oro in Greensboro NC). He and other shop owners who specialize in C&V bikes can probably sportster with good photos.

I mentioned Dale, but there are plenty of other shops with C&V chops: Mike Kone at Boulder Bike, Larry Black at My Airy Bikes, etc...

rccardr 

Give me a shout at rccardr@cox.net. Might be able to help you out.

gravelinmygears 

Thanks, everyone. I found what I needed.