# Early 90's Kona Cindercone-A Steal for $1,500!?



## SweetDoug (Jan 1, 2011)

Wow.

My old man is rolling over in the ash box that he's sitting in!

Yeup. Get yourself a vintage, immaculately kept Cindercone for $1,500.

That's what a bike store fellow told me that these bikes were going for a little while ago, before the economy tanked.

Is he full of "this" rearranged and smoking too much?

It's a bit of a legacy bike for me. My old man died on it. 75 years old. Killed by a weasel while riding.

He was crossing the rail tracks and didn't hear the...

Sorry. He was a bit of a goof too, and would love to see an old fav of a joke of his, worked in here. But seriously, he died on it, doing what he loved. The old bugger put 10's of thousands of miles on this bike riding country roads. He went out for his second ride a couple of springs ago, and croaked. Never even had dirt on his elbows. Died doing what he loved to do. It was his baby.

So if I can get $1,500 for it, wu-hoo!. I'd be happy to get $200. And hell, I'll keep it to go south on if it's worth less, as it's a well built bike.

What's the opinion on value? Is it a collector's item? I see an ad for one going for L250 on ebay, about $500 Canadian.

I'm not going to sell it here, but I'm just curious as to your input, folks.

Are there any upgrades that I could make for myself that would be worth it? I'm planning on returning to the deserts and riding and it's a very reliable bike. I'm not hardcore, though. If the head goes down, I'm not looking around at the beauty of the desert, and therefore, it's work. I'm there to use the bike as transportation, not to mountain bike the deserts.

Maybe forks, as the rear-end does get a little sore after riding 4 or 5 hours?

Thanks

SweetDoug


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## jtmartino (Jul 31, 2008)

No, that bike is not worth $1500. It was a mid-level bike and isn't really collectible. Also, they never retailed for more than $850, so it truly is worth nowhere near $1500.

They regularly pop up on craigslist and ebay for around $200, but usually in better shape than yours. I'd say yours could only bring that much if you did some serious rehabilitation to the bike and got it back to as close to OEM as possible.

Also, for future reference, there's a What's it Worth thread that you should have posted this in. It helps to read the stickies at the top of the forum.


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## mechagouki (Nov 30, 2007)

Fishing for prices is kind of frowned on here, but no, even an immaculate Cindercone is not worth near $1500, it was a mid-range bike and retailed for less than $1000 when new. I bought a near NOS Kilauea for $300 CAD a couple years ago and flipped it for $450 - I had the bill of sale showing it cost $1400+ new. I've seen a nicely equipped Hot sell for under $600 and an XTR equipped Hei Hei for under $1000.


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## Jak0zilla (May 16, 2010)

Vinatage Konas are cool bikes, and some models do fetch good prices (the titanium Hei Hei, the handmade Explosif, ,etc. etc.) That Cinder Kone is pretty much exactly as jmartino described - a nice rider. Nothing to sneeze at though.

That's interesting about your Dad. Sad and funny. I think you are right to point out that he died doing what he loved. I know that I hope to go (in 80 or 100 years) riding my bike, or maybe sipping one last Herraderra margarita and watching the sun going down.


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## Boy named SSue (Jan 7, 2004)

mechagouki said:


> Fishing for prices is kind of frowned on here, but no, even an immaculate Cindercone is not worth near $1500, it was a mid-range bike and retailed for less than $1000 when new. I bought a near NOS Kilauea for $300 CAD a couple years ago and flipped it for $450 - I had the bill of sale showing it cost $1400+ new. I've seen a nicely equipped Hot sell for under $600 and an XTR equipped Hei Hei for under $1000.


An all XT Hot sold on the San Diego CL for $200 six months ago. Sat on there a couple of days even, just wasn't my size.


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## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

We apparently have different definitions of immaculate.


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## jtmartino (Jul 31, 2008)

Rumpfy said:


> We apparently have different definitions of immaculate.


The tape job on those bar ends looks pretty clean to me...


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## yo-Nate-y (Mar 5, 2009)

Rumpfy said:


> We apparently have different definitions of immaculate.


It is all in the conception. It is his dad's, after all.


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## wv_bob (Sep 12, 2005)

> So if I can get $1,500 for it, wu-hoo!. I'd be happy to get $200. And hell, I'll keep it to go south on if it's worth less, as it's a well built bike.


The way I read the OP, he knows it's not worth much.

I'd keep the bike forever and ride it on Dad's birthday if it were me.


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## KDXdog (Mar 15, 2007)

I bet your Dad is proud of his "goofy" son making sport of his death, and considering selling off something he apparently cared about, (if the price is right).

Another "what's it worth" question wrapped in a personal story. 

That is my input. Remember, you asked for it.


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## MendonCycleSmith (Feb 10, 2005)

If I were his dad? I'd want wv_bob's plan.


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## mechagouki (Nov 30, 2007)

For future reference here is the Kilauea I briefly owned ( If it had been a 19" I would have kept it). I think it deserves to be called "immaculate", though I must confess that having looked back through emails I remember that I sold it for $600 not $400. It was basically a brand new sub 24lb steel bike though so I think the buyer got a good deal.


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## DeeEight (Jan 13, 2004)

I flipped a rebuilt version of that exact year of cindercone locally in 2008. I think I put about $225 into it and it sold for $350.


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## MERK26 (Aug 31, 2009)

mechagouki said:


> For future reference here is the Kilauea I briefly owned (


Great bike. I have two, identical to that. Bought them new in 92. One has thousands of miles on it, and is still an amazing ride...


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## SweetDoug (Jan 1, 2011)

Thanks for all the input guys. Hope you had as much fun reading my post as I did reading all of yours. Don't worry, not jonesing to sell it here, I was just interested in doing some homework on the price of such a bike. Didn't know that was such a faux-pas. Turn those frowns upside down!

I was kind of surprised, too, that a professional bike shop would tell me it could be worth so much, which is why I thought I'd run it by a mountain bike forum on vintage bikes. 

And yeah, after I strip the tape off the bar ends, it is in pretty much immaculate shape. If it's worth only $200, I'm going to keep and ride it, maybe put some front boingers on it and take it down south.

I think the old man would like that.

Thanks for the help,

SD


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