The Bike Shed Times

The business was founded in 2016 by journalist Peter Terlick, who aimed to build a community of like-minded Australian motorcycle enthusiasts seeking to buy or sell rare, exotic, vintage and classic motorcycles.
And he has done just that! The Bike Shed Times has grown to become a key player in Australia’s motorcycle industry. The website is home to clients’ substantive advertisements, featuring high-quality photographs and linking to The Bike Shed Times’ own YouTube channel for video content.
The company uses social media, primarily Facebook, to recruit readers and to spread the word about its latest listings, and produces a weekly newsletter to a targeted group of Australian motorcycle collectors and enthusiasts.
The Bike Shed Times’ audience is primarily Australians who buy, sell, restore and maintain older motorcycles, so people advertising their special motorcycles for sale can be confident they are reaching the right people. Peter says that specialised audience is key.
“There are forums out there that can offer a bigger audience, but big isn’t always best,” he says.
“The trick is to find that one person who understands the value of your bike and has the capacity and the inclination to actually buy it.
“We have spent a lot of time and effort over the years building our audience, so sellers don’t have their time wasted by scammers or tyre-kickers.”
The Bike Shed Times is unashamedly Australian-based, but it has developed international readership too.
“We have sold plenty of Australian bikes to overseas buyers, and also overseas bikes to Australian buyers. In one case, we had a classic motorcycle collector from New Caledonia who was looking to sell off his collection.
“Understandably, there were not a lot of buyers in New Caledonia, so he needed to find a way to reach the right people in nearby Australia – people who understood the value of his machines.
“We were able to put together a campaign that put his bikes in front of the right people, and over a period of six months we sold all his bikes except one, which he decided to keep.”
Peter says the future for classic motorcycles remains strong, despite the arrival of electric motorcycles.
“Like many collectible items, motorcycles give people the chance to relive their youth. They are an enjoyable and functional asset that just happen to be remarkably good investments. In addition, in Australia at least, the capital gain on motorcycles is generally tax-free.”
Peter says there are many motorcycles that are proving to be solid investments.
“There was a time when only very expensive European bikes and very old American bikes were considered to be genuine investment machines,” he says.
“Japanese bikes were considered inferior, and British bikes were seen as ‘daily riders’, not investments. Equally, dirt bikes were long considered disposable items.
“But the market has really changed in the past decade or so. Old Triumphs and Nortons (and others) are climbing in value, and so are the off-road bikes that so many of us learned to ride on.
“And of course those top-shelf European bikes remain highly valued and highly sought-after.”
The Bike Shed Times offers a range of advertisements, ranging from simple website-only advertisements through to more sophisticated campaigns that can include video, dedicated editorial content, and social media marketing.