Post by motorhead on Mar 8, 2011 9:38:06 GMT -5
With the price of gas at $3.50 -+ .10 its getting harder for me to find used scooters with simple problems for me to fix and flip. Gas prices have forced a lot of bike owners to get their hands dirty and fix their bike instead of buying new. What this means for someone like me is that The selection of cheap broken bikes on craigslist has gotten worst. I used to find bikes where the belt broke or the airbox was open so the bike wouldn't start, blown piston, and I find the occasional busted crank. About 2 weeks have gone by without me finding a single cheap bike for repair. Bikes with the problems I listed above used to be listed for $100-$150, came wiht title, and I could negotiate %25 off. But now they list for $300. And even after negotiation, depending on the mileage and/or body condition I don't have a profit margin that makes it worth buying a bike for $200.
This past Friday. I found a bike worth going after. Its the newer single headlight version of the hockey mask/handsome boy. It was missing the body panels that go arround the seat and it had to start with starting fluid. Listed at $250. So I put my rack on my car and went to see it. It started up and ran with starting fluid but the bike was very boggy. had no air filter, broken gauges, tires deflated. The odometer was stuck at 3,500 miles, the only thing that worked on the dash was the tach. Since I have the plastics and gauges at home I decide to invest in it. I negotiate $175 for the scoot, $10 gas.
At home, I discover the bike wont start now, not even with starting fluid. I remove the seat and find that the bike is set up all wrong. The CDI was moved to the battery box. The vacum hose that is supposed to connect to the manifold is connecting to the carb drain. When I pull off the vacuum hose from the carb it starts to pour gas. And the intake is missing the nozzle so that you can connect the vaccum hose to it and the bike was allowed to run with a hole in the manifold. The petcock is broken, gas pours out of both vaccum copnnections. The fan cover is broken and backeted to the shroud. The measurer on the diptick is broken off in the crank case.
As of today, I've switched the gauges, 2 turn signal bulbs, repaired the manifold, cleaned the carb and I'm waiting on a new petcock while I check the valves. By the time I'm done with it It should be a descent bike again. But to anyone who doesn't know how to fix these things I highly suggest Buying a new bike. To my experienced eye, this scooter was obviously crashed and was rode hard while receiving little care and was patched up with quick fixes. The panels are missing but the seller claims he took it off and his kids lost it. Yeah Right, I know better. At the end of the day I should profit $200-$300 off this scoot and I will have earned it.
(By the way, I can't post pics now for some reason, any one else having this problem with no option to attach files)
This past Friday. I found a bike worth going after. Its the newer single headlight version of the hockey mask/handsome boy. It was missing the body panels that go arround the seat and it had to start with starting fluid. Listed at $250. So I put my rack on my car and went to see it. It started up and ran with starting fluid but the bike was very boggy. had no air filter, broken gauges, tires deflated. The odometer was stuck at 3,500 miles, the only thing that worked on the dash was the tach. Since I have the plastics and gauges at home I decide to invest in it. I negotiate $175 for the scoot, $10 gas.
At home, I discover the bike wont start now, not even with starting fluid. I remove the seat and find that the bike is set up all wrong. The CDI was moved to the battery box. The vacum hose that is supposed to connect to the manifold is connecting to the carb drain. When I pull off the vacuum hose from the carb it starts to pour gas. And the intake is missing the nozzle so that you can connect the vaccum hose to it and the bike was allowed to run with a hole in the manifold. The petcock is broken, gas pours out of both vaccum copnnections. The fan cover is broken and backeted to the shroud. The measurer on the diptick is broken off in the crank case.
As of today, I've switched the gauges, 2 turn signal bulbs, repaired the manifold, cleaned the carb and I'm waiting on a new petcock while I check the valves. By the time I'm done with it It should be a descent bike again. But to anyone who doesn't know how to fix these things I highly suggest Buying a new bike. To my experienced eye, this scooter was obviously crashed and was rode hard while receiving little care and was patched up with quick fixes. The panels are missing but the seller claims he took it off and his kids lost it. Yeah Right, I know better. At the end of the day I should profit $200-$300 off this scoot and I will have earned it.
(By the way, I can't post pics now for some reason, any one else having this problem with no option to attach files)
