To break or not to break

[jonnybgood]

Sadly Im thinking of saying good bye to my 1993 AT as I spend more and more time on my xr and hard off roading and the AT just isnt getting out as she should.

My dilema is this :- I live in france and paid over 3000 euros for it a couple of years back from a dealer. Since then because of my off road antics she has picked up a load of minor scuffs and sratches but still only has around 60000kms (not miles) on the clock. She rides well but I'd be lucky to get half of what I paid for her - and in france things take a very long time to sell. So I have been considering (even more sadly) breaking her as in parts (most of which are in g.condition) I maybe able to claw back some of my original outlay.

The question I have is there a big demand for parts in the UK - I would have to drop my prices slightly to make up for P & P. I was thinking of ebay. Would they sell ?

What I dont want to do is sell one or two crital parts and be left with an unsellable bike.

Im just looking for advice and views - please Im not breaking yet and may not do so - so no good asking for parts - if I do decide to do so I will put a post up in the buy and sell section before going to ebay.

cheers

[GSPD750]

What I dont want to do is sell one or two crital parts and be left with an unsellable bike.

Uhhh....ok. Then don't part it.

[jonnybgood]

Uhhh....ok. Then don't part it.

If the feed back I get sounds like there is a big demand for broken parts from a 93 RD07 model then it may make economical sense to break! If no ones really interested then I will sell as a whole and cut my loses.

Im not too worried if it takes a few months to clear the bulk of the parts but if only one or two parts are desirable then this is not the way forward! As I dont know what the market is for broken parts Im looking for advice from any one who may have done the same.

Hopefully that makes some sense!

[GSPD750]

Sorry..I did not mean to be sarcastic in my last post ...but if your willing to wait it out as you say then parting it is an option....why not. Ebaying can take up alot of your time with the many pics you will have to take...then comes the listings... all the postal calculations as you will be shipping all over the world.
Alot of it will be nickle and dime as we say over here and probably not fetch much. Of course the engine will probably fetch the most $$ but again it may not be as much as you would want unless you put a reserve on it.
Wheels are a safe bet providing they are not corroded. Not much demand for front forks it seems. Like I say...the rest will nickle and dime you to death.
Option #2...keep it. Buy some some Boano kevlar fairings because you mention much of it is cosmetic. Paint them up nice and pretty ask top dollar.

[jonnybgood]

Thanks GSP750,
Cheers for info - well - I think your right about the nickel and dime stuff being the death of me - although I do have quite a bit of time on my hands so pulling a bike to bits, taking pics and even sorting the postage out doesnt sound that off putting - but have to work out whether time well spent!!

Will defo look into you faring option tho - sounds interesting as under the scratched panels lays a generally sound bike!!

cheers

[Snaphappy]

Give it a good clean and polish and put it up for sale
you can advertise away from fleabay and see what happens. although I'd say keep hold of it, you will want it back next year.

Motorrad-Suche bei mobile.de
MotoScout24: Motorradmarkt - Motorrad, Roller, Motorräder, Mofa, Moped und Quad-Bikes

These are the two biggest here, I'm sure there's the same in the UK,

Your location is France, bloody big area, where abouts

[desertjoe]

i just spent 14 evenings of work (total body rebuild) and 200 euro on my bike that was worth 2000 euro. been offered 4000 euro for it today! think it takes ages and a lot of effort to sell a broken bike, less methinks than spending a bit of elbow gries, and selling her whole. or take her for a hard ride, and remember all the reasons to keep her!

[jonnybgood]

i just spent 14 evenings of work (total body rebuild) and 200 euro on my bike that was worth 2000 euro. been offered 4000 euro for it today! think it takes ages and a lot of effort to sell a broken bike, less methinks than spending a bit of elbow gries, and selling her whole. or take her for a hard ride, and remember all the reasons to keep her!

Id love to keep her but need the dough for a competitive enduro bike - I have the AT and an XR400 - one must go to pay for my new obession - the xr I can use for every day green laning - the AT - well she'll do it but its hard work and limiting!!

You say you did a total body rebuild - what about panels and stuff?? Here in france there are a lot of ats on the market so difficult i think to get a good price!!

[AlanH]

What I dont want to do is sell one or two crital parts and be left with an unsellable bike.

Im just looking for advice and views

Breaking a bike can take ages. Some bits will sell quickly (engine, CDI, wheels if they are good) but the rest will take months. During this time you'll deal with some great people all over the world (sold a CDI to New Zealand and barrels/pistons to Australia). You will also attract some complete and utter morons who want everything for nothing and just end up wasting your time.

I only broke the RD04 because it really was beyond economical repair. It was a cheap bike and I broke even on it - eventually. It's lots of hassle. You won't get the money back quickly and you may end up with less than you could get for a running bike.

[Sully22252]

I agree with Alan, I bought a partly stripped AT as I just needed a couple of bits and intended to sell off the rest but realised very quickly that an awful lot of it is very hard to shift. People want the bits that suffer accident damage and a lot of engines have gone to Honda Bros and the like, but otherwise the AT is a tough bike and holds up well and I found myself with most of it still in my garage.

Instead I ended up buying lots of pieces on ebay for not much money and put it back on the road and sold it. After doing that one I've rebuilt another six, but overall have only just broken even. Unfortunately sellers are now asking silly money even for tatty non-runners so its no longer worthwhile, but if I were you I'd clean it up and consider putting it on UK ebay with an offer to deliver to Dover for collection.