It was hard to ignore the kerfuffle when young property tycoon Tim Gurner suggested young Australians would have a better chance of getting into the housing market if they lightened up on the $4 cappuccinos and smashed avocado on toast. I’m not sure I would be keen to share an office with a gaggle of caffeine-deprived co-workers, especially if I too had decided to forgo my morning cup of face-the-world medicine. Whether I agree with Gurner’s comment is irrelevant to this week’s soapbox rant, but it did get me thinking about material things that offer a high joy-to-dollar ratio, and not surprisingly motorcycles were near the top of my list.

When it comes to performance machines, there is surely no better bang for your buck. For $30,000 you can hop aboard a sportsbike packed with electronic gadgets and performance to rival a $250K supercar. As investments, bikes are also a good deal – there’s a treasure trove of future collectables presently swapping hands for spare change.

For the first few years of my bike journo life I was content with riding whatever was available from the press fleet. When I finally purchased my first bike for two decades, I felt a real sense of satisfaction that only comes with tinkering and improving something you own. Since then I have added a couple more toys to the stable, and I have my ear to the ground for another. The best part is, none of these diamonds in the rough set me back more than $2000. Maybe their value will remain at $2000 for another decade, but you only need to look at the crazy prices being paid for a Datsun 120Y to see that anything can become collectable.

In the meantime, I’ll be having fun tinkering with them, and – irresponsible motorcyclist that I am – probably enjoying a few coffees and smashed avo toasts while I’m at it.