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MOTOBRICK.COM => The MBdotCOM Community Center => Topic started by: wanderlust kid on July 02, 2014, 03:16:07 PM

Title: Parting a K Bike out
Post by: wanderlust kid on July 02, 2014, 03:16:07 PM
My faithful 91 K75S unfortunately just had the main rod come loose and tear up the splines and clutch disks making it needing of a job I don't have the money to put into it. I already got an offer for 500 bucks to sell the bike as a parts bike. I was just curious as to what price, you much smarter and older men on here, would see as a reasonable price to sell a 91 K75s with a torn up transmission out as a parts bike.

 :falldown:
Title: Parting a K Bike out
Post by: Turkus on July 02, 2014, 05:32:01 PM
If you had the time and wherewithal to sell parts individually, I bet you could make a small fortune.

If I had some $$ I would relieve you of some small goodies if they fit my '93 K75S   :yes
Title: Re: Parting a K Bike out
Post by: Chaos on July 02, 2014, 06:40:02 PM
$500 is not bad, probably $800 tops if bodywork is in good shape.  Your could probably make twice that parting it out but it takes time, effort and you're usually left with a frame and pile of wires and rubber bits. These are some typical prices for good stuff....

The front blinkers on a K75s go for $50 each
gas tank $200-300
Headlight $50
bodywork 4-6 hundred
bellypan $100

Check beemerboneyard.com to get an idea on prices
Title: Re: Parting a K Bike out
Post by: Scott_ on July 02, 2014, 06:52:19 PM
If you had the time and wherewithal to sell parts individually, I bet you could make a small fortune.

The question is really, what is your time worth to mess with single parts, our just price it and unload it and be done with it at one time.   :dunno

Could someone want to buy it to rebuild it?
Title: Re: Parting a K Bike out
Post by: argent brick on July 02, 2014, 07:08:26 PM
If you had the time and wherewithal to sell parts individually, I bet you could make a small fortune.

I am sure that many of us would like parts off of that machine.I know I would. I you part it out, pleas let me know.

How much would it cost for a used engine for your bike?
Title: Re: Parting a K Bike out
Post by: richarddacat on July 02, 2014, 08:49:08 PM

If you had the time and wherewithal to sell parts individually, I bet you could make a small fortune.

I am sure that many of us would like parts off of that machine.I know I would. I you part it out, pleas let me know.

How much would it cost for a used engine for your bike?

Yep,

dibs on the tip-over bars if you got'em. :)
Title: Parting a K Bike out
Post by: Turkus on July 03, 2014, 12:37:29 AM
What corner of Motobrick World are you in ??
Title: Re: Parting a K Bike out
Post by: Motorhobo on July 03, 2014, 06:24:45 AM
Turkus is already on his way with a truck, a wrench and a six-pack.
Title: Re: Parting a K Bike out
Post by: johnny on July 03, 2014, 08:20:58 AM
i will take the clutch o ring if nobody else wants it...

j o
Title: Parting a K Bike out
Post by: Turkus on July 03, 2014, 08:56:42 AM
Turkus is already on his way with a truck, a wrench and a six-pack.

Oh don't you know it.... :2thumbup:
Title: Parting a K Bike out
Post by: Turkus on July 03, 2014, 08:57:45 AM
i will take the clutch o ring if nobody else wants it...

I got dibs on the rear bung and the taint cooler.....  :hehehe
Title: Re: Parting a K Bike out
Post by: orforester on July 04, 2014, 02:15:17 PM
I want the chrome muffler bearing!
Title: Re: Parting a K Bike out
Post by: argent brick on July 07, 2014, 01:53:07 AM
I want the chrome muffler bearing!

Chrome? What are you trying to do, make it into a H-D?

I think that I would kinda like to try some "S" bars ILO the "C" bars that I have now. Maybe some K1 bars instead.
Title: Re: Parting a K Bike out
Post by: Chaos on July 07, 2014, 05:28:18 PM
S bars with barbacks are the cats meow!
Title: Re: Parting a K Bike out
Post by: richarddacat on July 07, 2014, 08:07:19 PM
S bars with barbacks are the cats meow!

I prefer C bars with barbacks....mow.
Title: Re: Parting a K Bike out
Post by: Bokobob on July 13, 2014, 08:49:38 PM
I prefer just plain Jane touring bars on K75...no back pains...
Title: Re: Parting a K Bike out
Post by: GoatLord on September 02, 2014, 12:10:55 AM
On the off chance you're local to the Denver area (probably a long shot) I'd be happy to buy the whole works from you. PM me if interested.

If not, and you go the part out route - here are some tips from my own experience.

I made my full time living parting out bikes on Ebay for 3 years, and a buddy of mine has the business now and he's doing quite nicely (though he's moved on to quads now as his mainstay - mostly due to what's available in his location).

It will take a while for all the parts to sell, and it takes a substantial amount of effort to dismantle, photograph, list, and ship parts. That said, if you do it right making $1600 on the parts is probably way low. I've never parted a K, but almost any bike was worth about $3k in parts, and that was the low end. Had a couple do more like 4-6k. That's gross, mind you - have to figure in Ebay fees, Paypal fees, shipping costs and materials, returns (inevitable), and income tax (if you're selling a couple grand worth of inventory on Ebay, it will be reported to the feds and you really do need to pay tax on it).

The bikes that tend to do well seem to have a combination of a) enough riders that want to keep 'em on the road, b) at least some parts that break down and are spendy / hard to obtain, and c) something that not everyone and their brother will part out. The K seems to fit these conditions nicely.

I think I did best on an early-2000's GSXR (people break them a LOT and it's an old enough bike that the demographic of owners aren't so much the type of person who will simply buy a new bike when it breaks) and worst on an 80's KZ - not a big fan base there, and it's hard to find one that HASN'T been parted out. If it was a Honda from the same era that might be different story - I recall selling a set of faded but uncracked side covers for an '83 NightHawk 650 for $50 MORE than brand new OEM parts, simply because it's something that people break a lot and they are no longer available from Honda. On that note - everything should be listed as a Buy It Now, not auction style UNLESS it's an unobtainium part like those side covers. When you want a part for your bike you want to buy it today and have it in hand right away, not wait for an auction to end that you may or may not win. At least, that's my theory on why auction style parts listings seem to do poorly. If you have a really rare and desirable part, by all means go auction style and see what the market will bear. 

Parts will take a while to sell. Some things will sell the day you list them (gee, maybe I priced that a little low...) and some things that you think would be gone immediately take a year or more to move. If you have a low enough cost to keep them listed, it doesn't take much effort to ship a couple times a week so my tactic was to just wait it out - almost anything sells, sooner or later.

Don't overlook the unsexy stuff like bolts and fasteners. They are often dealer-only parts, and someone will be glad to have them. $10 for a box of assorted bolts is $10 - I always looked at it as "if I had a $10 bill in my hand right now, would I throw it away?" To that point, don't damage parts when removing them - take your time and do it right. This should go without saying, but on my first part out I snipped wires like a bonehead instead of unplugging them, and you better believe that made them sell for a hell of a lot less than if I'd taken the extra 30 seconds to do it right. Same goes for stuff like flywheels - if it needs to be removed with a puller, use a daggone puller and not a prybar with a BFH.

Price within the range of what similar parts for the same bike are going for on Ebay, unless what you have is in much better or worse condition than average. If there is an outlier on the low end - for example, some guy is selling a final drive for $20 while everyone else is asking $150 - don't sweat it, price at $145. When that guy sells his FD for $20 (which will probably happen in a day), yours will be the cheapest on Ebay. Also, some parts - like engines - people would rather spend more on than less. It gives the impression that they are buying a quality part, even though the $50 engine might be just fine. Obviously, only sell a quality part at a quality price if it IS a quality part, and lean toward describing your part's condition as being slightly worse than you think it is - you'll have happier customers and better feedback than if you do the reverse.

Shipping: Ship fast and charge accordingly. Nobody likes to wait on parts while their bike is out of commission, and they tend to forget that they cheaped out on shipping when it's been a week and their USPS Parcel Post box still hasn't arrived. Don't offer slow crappy shipping, it won't make people happy and that will cost you money in the long run. USPS and FedEx seem like the best bang for the buck. Flat rate boxes are amazing for MC parts, and you can get the USPS to send you free Priority boxes (not just the flat rate) for free, which saves some on cost.

So if you like taking stuff apart, are somewhat online savvy, and don't mind shipping on a semi-daily basis it can be a really fun way to make a decent little sum for something that's not really worth much in complete form. It is some work a lot of work though, and because you need to ship fairly promptly to keep your customers happy it's not something that you can do a couple weekends here and there when you feel like it. 

I happen to like all of the above so it's something I continue to do from time to time, though I don't have anything going at the moment. If you're not so excited about the effort involved, you can always sell it complete to someone like me for a few bucks and have it off your plate.