Wanted - Looking for cheap project bike

[kakashi1578]

Hello all, new to these forums and to motorcycles in general. Looking for my first project bike. Im looking for a 1970's four cyclinder bike, or especially a first gen GL1000. Im not picky about condition as i plan to completely restore the bike anyway, just needs to be 90% complete, have a clean title, and be fairly near me (under 4 hours from Phillipsburg, Ohio). Looking for something around $600.

 

[amc49]

'Im not picky about condition...'

Famous last words bucko. Plenty of them sold with all parts there but butchered to not be restorable. At $600 you could get ripped off bigtime. Engine condition especially can kill you, you want the bigger hard parts to still be good (crank, rods, trans, etc.). Broken or mishandled cases and the like can really complicate your life there.

 

[madmtnmotors]

'Im not picky about condition...'

Famous last words bucko. Plenty of them sold with all parts there but butchered to not be restorable. At $600 you could get ripped off bigtime. Engine condition especially can kill you, you want the bigger hard parts to still be good (crank, rods, trans, etc.). Broken or mishandled cases and the like can really complicate your life there.

+1

$1500 on something that actually runs might save you money in the long run. If you are bent on a non runner you should at least be able to do a compression check of the motor before committing to buy.

 

[amc49]

I welcome basket cases as they are much cheaper but believe me, I'm going over ALL the big parts before I agree to a price. Most stuff like that is junk, it has been too much messed with to be good quality part by the time they are that diassembled. I've gotten a big surprise (good one!) before a time or two. Mostly no though.

The more in one piece things are generally the more you can assume not messed with to detract from value.

Compression check like said if allowed and not allowing says much as well.

I remember one that was given to me free and literally I could not use one single part off of it, unbelievable that somebody can manage to frag every single part like that, both body and engine. I tossed the whole thing as junk. I've gotten 2-3 that were free and most of it still in good shape.