trevoradigwe

Found an old Kuwahara. Alley Cat 2 at a garage sale yellow in color attempting to find the value but cannot find hardly anything about this bike

Bianchigirll 

Good Morning.

Welcome to the forums. Usually the only information on the internet about bikes built before say 1995, is done by enthusiast of that brand.

We would love to help you but you need to help us.Pictures are very important to determining value. Can you post a few good pics of the bike from the side with the chain, close up things like the brakes, gears and cranks help us. Is there any kind of sticker that says what the tubing is?

Persoanlly I am not familiar witth the brand but it is my understanding that they made nice bikes.

Our system is a bit clunky when it comes to pics but you can upload them directly from your computer. Click on the "Go Advance" button. When the new window opens click on the little paperclip at the top and then just select your pics.

wrk101

In garage sale condition, a vintage mtb value is typically in the $25 to $50 price range. Vintage MTBs get minimal response in the marketplace, less than they deserve. There are only a few exceptions, and the Alley Cat is not one of them.

I buy a lot of stuff at garage sales. The typical life cycle of a bicycle goes from being new, ridden for a while, ignored for a while longer, tripped over in the garage, car doors banged into it, tires dry rotted, and finally rolled out for disposal at a garage sale (or donated to a charity).


A thorough reconditioning of such a bike will usually cost more than its worth. You have to be very resourceful and do all the work yourself to keep from being upside down on value. If you don't have the time/tools/aptitude/pile of parts, best to sell such bikes in as found condition, clean the dirt off and air the tires up first.

Although I go to a lot of garage sales, I rarely find bikes worth picking up. 99% are Walmart/box store bikes (most of them are kids bikes), of the remaining bikes, maybe half have dreamland high prices, leaving a rare bike or two per year worth grabbing.

I do grab more bikes now if they are cheap enough and just donate them to the co-op. The co-op has the advantages of free consumables and free mechanics time, so they can turn around a bike and not lose money on it.

zukahn1

I would tend to agree with wrk101 lesser hard frame MTB's from the 80 & early 90's don't get much value wise. The Alley Cat II is basically much less desirable vintage MTB than the I. Prestine examples have listed in the $200 range on ebay and major markets CL recently and not sold. I would give nice one ready to ride one in a major market at around $125-150 value.