5 1980s Motorcycles That Are Worth A Fortune Today

Every decade has its iconic motorcycles, and many of those bikes rise in value over the following decades as collectors clamor for the cleanest and lowest-mileage examples. Sometimes, the most sought-after motorcycles are simply the fastest of their era; in other instances, it's their rarity or backstory that makes them so desirable. The 1980s certainly had a plethora of lightning-fast bikes, but many still remain relatively affordable for collectors today.

However, not all '80s legends remain so attainable, as a few have appreciated in value to be far beyond the reach of the average enthusiast. In some cases, they can sell for more than a brand-new superbike. These five high-value classics can all sell for $20,000 or more, making them among the most valuable motorcycles of the decade and worth a fortune compared to most other bikes of their ilk. Some were way ahead of their time, while others proved their mettle in competition, but they're all united by the fact that collectors will need a fat wallet if they want to own one.

Rarity often helps boost a bike's value. The Bimota DB1 is certainly that, as only 687 examples thought to have been made. That's far from the only reason it's so valuable today, though. The bike was originally intended to be a Ducati, with the latter brand's parent company giving an advance payment to the struggling Bimota to create a new performance motorcycle design. Halfway through the project, the relationship between the two companies broke down, and Ducati pulled out of the arrangement.

Rather than waste its work, Bimota offered to buy Ducati out of the deal to give it the rights to produce the model under its own name. It would still use Ducati's 750cc engine, but it would be marketed as a Bimota instead. Ducati accepted, and the DB1 launched in 1985. Examples were sold in a variety of global markets, with Japan being the largest.

American-market examples remain rare, but do occasionally appear for sale. A non-running barn find example sold on Bring a Trailer in December 2025 for $8,500, but working examples are worth far more. According to Hagerty's valuation tool, a DB1 in good condition is worth $23,500 today.

Although the Ducati 900 SS first hit dealerships in 1975, later models are still just as valuable. According to Hagerty, a 1980 900 SS in good condition will set collectors back $29,400 today. Far from affordable then, but a price that many collectors are willing to pay thanks to the bike's racing heritage and boundary-pushing performance. The 900 SS' "square case" engine was actually 864cc rather than 900cc, and it made around 70 horsepower, giving it a top speed in the region of 135 mph.

The bike was an evolution of the 750 SS, which had been developed from the competition-spec Ducati that took first and second place at the Imola 200 in 1972. While it was road legal, Ducati changed relatively little from the competition bike, leaving it to fulfil the "racer for the road" cliché more convincingly than most other motorcycles of the era. The 900 SS built on that foundation with even more power and various mechanical improvements, making it an even more fearsome machine than its predecessor.

Speaking to Cycle World, Suzuki racing engineer Makoto Suzuki said "people thought we were crazy" when developing the RG500, since "two-stroke engines were only used on small bikes," not on racing machines. As it turned out, using a two-stroke was a lot less crazy than many people initially thought, since the RG500 proved to be not only competitive with its four-stroke rivals but a race winner to boot. Initially introduced in the mid-'70s, the RG500 would eventually become one of the most successful Suzuki motorcycles in history.

Examples that won major races are especially valuable to collectors today, although even the roadgoing variant of the bike can cost a fortune. The opportunity to purchase one doesn't come around very often, but in January 2026, a road-legal RG500 appeared at a Mecum auction. According to sales data from Classic, it sold for $38,500, making it one of the most expensive series-production motorcycles of its era.

Unlike the other motorcycles here, the Yamaha XT500 isn't necessarily worth a fortune. Valuation data from Hagerty puts a base 1988 model at around $3,000. However, one XT500 in particular recently sold for a staggering amount of money. At a 2025 RM Sotheby's auction, an unused example of the bike sold for €84,000, which equated to around $98,000 at the time. The phrase "in new condition" can get thrown around a lot at auctions to hype up a low-mileage vehicle's minimal usage, but in this case, this XT500 had literally never been used.

It was even still sold in its original shipping crate, having been originally delivered to a dealer in Paris and given a French license plate but never fully assembled. According to the listing, the bike's odometer showed zero mileage. It's safe to assume that the auctioned XT500 is the only example of its kind in the world, but its near-six figure selling price is still surprising. Thankfully, buyers who actually want to buy and ride their XT500 will have to pay only a small fraction of that price, although there are plenty of even cheaper alternatives to the Yamaha as well.

When it comes to classic motorcycles with high resale value, few '80s bikes can beat the RC30. Honda's legendary superbike proved to be dominant on the track and on the road, with Joey Dunlop using one to win the Isle of Man TT in 1988. Throughout his career, Dunlop won the TT 26 times, and his race-winning RC30 appeared for sale at a Bonhams auction in 2025. It was the first time that the bike had been put up for public sale, having previously been maintained by Dunlop's family.

The auctioneer's gavel went down at £132,250, which is the equivalent of more than $170,000. Even versions of the RC30 without the unique pedigree of the Bonhams bike still cost a fortune, with a Canadian-market example fetching $42,250 on Bring a Trailer in 2022. According to that listing, that RC30 was one of 32 that were originally sold in Canada out of a total production run of around 4,800. The bike is rare enough that many enthusiasts would find it tricky to even get to see one in person today, never mind ever having the cash available to purchase one for their own collection.