Honda's CR500R is one of those legendary motorcycles that just gets under your skin. The two-stroke hellion was famous in its time for being the braapiest of braapers to ever braap your local track. And it developed a reputation amongst riders and collecting aficionados alike, as everyone knew it was a special machine.
A lot of them, however, were treated as intended. Braaped hard, broken, beaten, and not just put away wet, but put away with broken fairings, forks, rear wheels, and blown shocks from all the abuse. Yet, one intrepid CR500R customer thought ahead. They thought long-term. They thought, "Hey, I have $7,000 to sit on. I can just stash this puppy away for a rainy day!" Well, that day has come, and not only is this 2001 Honda CR500R in mint condition, it's still in its box.
It's literally never seen dirt, nor even ever assembled fully. If there was ever a collector's dream, it's this specific CR500R. And someone just bought it for nearly $80,000.
Woof.
According to the original eBay listing, this 2001 Honda CR500R was "Owned and Curated for the last 24 Years by Authorized Honda Dealer North's Services of Lenox MA," adding, it was "From their 2001 Allocation - Never Sold or Warranty Registered, Clear + Open Factory Certificate of Origin and Warranty Documents In-Hand." Likewise, while it had been in a climate-controlled showroom for much of its life, it is currently "On Display in the New England Motorcycle Museum."
The seller added, that "2001 was the Final Year and the Lowest Production" for the CR500R, and that "It is the peak of CR500 development, [with] the most modern and refined example" of the series.
As for the auction, 66 bids were entered with the final selling price being a staggering $78,100. For comparison, most of the nice examples of CR500Rs that sell these days around between $7,000 and $20,000, though Robbie Knievel's jump bike sold on Bring-a-Trailer for $45,000 earlier this year. There's currently another for sale on the site with no-reserve and a top bid of $3,200 with four days left in the auction.
These, however, are not still-crated examples that have never run.
Honestly, I'm not sure how to feel about this sale or this motorcycle. I've long believed it sacrilege for a machine to not be used for its intended purpose, and this dirt bike was meant to be ripped. I get collectors are gonna be collectors, but there's a twinge of what-if to this machine. Likewise, if you'd ever want to get it running, it'd likely need every single hose and rubber anything replaced, which would add quite a bit to the purchase price.
But what do y'all think?
