COREY: Hey, how's it going, man?
MARK: Good, how are you doing?
So what do we got?
MARK: We got a 1940 BSA M20 motorcycle that,
from my research, looks like it's
been unrestored after the war.
RICK: That's awesome, man.
But did you find it at the bottom of a lake or--
[laughter]
[water bubbling]
MARK: This was actually off an internet listing.
Showed up at the lady's house, tucked back in the garage,
I started looking at it.
I was just excited to get it in the trailer
and get it out of there.
I'm hoping to get $4,000 to $5,000 for it.
It has that one-time military record and patina.
RICK: God, it's cool.
You know anything about it?
MARK: Yeah, it's original.
1940 model had most of the stuff on it,
like the desert side stand.
It had the pannier carriers, some of the plates on it.
RICK: I think they're neat bikes.
I really do.
BSA, which stands for Birmingham Small Arms,
they've been around since like the 1860s, somewhere right
around there.
Right before World War I, they started making bikes.
And one of the reasons why the British made motorcycles
like this compared to what the US was making
was because the British didn't have the fuel,
didn't have the resources.
You know, they made a good bike with what they had.
I can't even imagine the action this thing saw during the war.
More of these bikes were produced for the war
than any other bike in England.
And it's easy to see why.
They were lightweight, easy to maneuver, and best of all,
they were affordable.
What are you looking for?
MARK: I'd like to get four grand out of it.
All right, um, there is a lot of history here,
but history doesn't always turn into money.
Obviously, you've never fired it up?
MARK: Never fired up.
She does turn over, but that's about as far as I got.
I'm going to call a buddy of mine
to take a look at this thing.
See how much he'd charge me to fix it up.
And we'll go from there.
It's beautiful.
It was beautiful.
It could be beautiful.
It's not beautiful now.
That's just plain and simple.
[laughs] Um, go give Bob a call?
Yeah, I'll go give him a call.
MARK: Having an expert come in and take a look,
you know, every opinion counts, so I look forward to it.
What's up, man?
What's going on?
- A Bisa. - A Bisa, yeah.
Yeah, a Bisa.
Figured I know.
BOB YUHAS: I specialize in making old things look
new and new things look old.
I love doing restorations and bringing things back to life.
It's got a cool history to it.
These were kick-ass bikes.
They had to be to chase the Germans across the deserts.
This was a dispatch bike, you can see, because it
has the-- for the saddlebags.
What they had was a canvas saddlebag that sat in here.
And the dispatch riders rode them.
The bike was very agile.
They were a lot quicker in small areas and easier to handle.
[cranking]
It turns over.
That's cool.
It's got a stuck valve, though, in the bottom
because it's pumping pressure back through the carburetor.
You're missing a few parts.
You're missing a battery box, brake rods.
Speedometer is toast.
It needs a lot of TLC, but it could be brought back to life.
OK.
What would it cost to bring it back to life?
The problem you've got to worry
about with these things, somebody's
going to buy it as a military collector.
And those guys are really strict on what's what.
The wiring has got to be the original cloth-covered wire.
Everything's got to be there.
To restore it and all, you're talking
in the area of about $7,000.
RICK: And these things go for restored?
I've seen them sold at auctions for $12,000
to $14,000.
RICK: OK.
OK, man.
BOB YUHAS: It's a cool bike.
RICK: Thanks.
Thank you.
When you restore a bike like this,
you have to bring it back to 100% working turnkey bike.
And that's what I gave Rick the price for.
If restored halfway, nobody's going to want to pay the money.
Well, you heard the guy.
I'll give you two grand for it.
Mm, two grand's a little too low for what
I think I can get out of it.
RICK: If I pay you two grand, I pay Bob seven--
and there's always going to be problems,
so it's going to be $7,500 probably.
Basically, I have probably 10 grand into it.
And I'll probably make two or three.
That's all I'm going to make.
MARK: Yeah.
And that's over a year's time period.
I think I could probably get closer
to four grand on the internet, just based on someone--
they want to restore it on their own,
not so much to flip it and make the 14 grand on it.
And they might pay a little bit more upfront for it.
Uh, if you think you can get that four, go for it.
And whatever it sells for, you have to crate it up.
Then you got to ship it to God knows where.
It sounds great on paper.
But there's just no way I can pay four grand for it.
It is what it is.
It's $2,000.
That's, like-- that's my final offer.
That's what I could do.
Two grand is just too low to let her go.
If you change your mind, I'm here, man.
I'll give it one more shot.
And if I do change my mind, I'll bring it back.
Appreciate it, buddy. Appreciate it.
- Thank you. - Have a good day.
OK.
I think it has more value to a military collector of World War
II that would like to see that patina or someone that just
would like to restore it on their own
and have it be theirs forever.
[revving]