thinking about buying a second 88 Venture

[Geobob]

Any thoughts, I ran across a white 1988 Venture for sale and since I still have mine and can not seem to sell it I thought I should probably consider buying it. Any thoughts. Things to consider. I have had mine for maybe 30 years and it has 90k on it. Body work is good but not perfect. Has new paint in the original color. I have been repairing everything as needed and done so many I have a hard time remembering them all.

 

I have found a two 88s and both owners have only had them for a short time and know very little about the bikes. I figure I am basically buying a parts bike and with that in mind what do you guys thing a parts guy is buying these bike for. I see lots of parts on ebay and PinWall would be a good example of someone that would give something for the bikes just to part them out. My guess is a parts bike might be worth a $1000 if the motor starts and runs and the bike is in good shape.

[Condor]

$1000 is way too much for any pick,n,pull parts bike. 1stGens don,t go for the bigger bucks like they use to. A couple hundred at best. An 88vr is 32 years old.. Unless it's been stored in a vacuum it's going to have its own problems. Motor running or not...

Edited March 30, 2020 by Condor

[Marcarl]

Consider that the motor is pretty much worthless, except for scrap. After that, what is there that is saleable?, then you have to do the work, shipping and storage, and take a chance that there are any good parts at all. Personally, I think if you were to go into a business with more bikes like PinWall, you could come out ahead, or if you already own a bike and want to sell it but can't get a buyer, then parting it out is an option, but to buy it to part it??? I've thought about that for myself, but I thought it would use up too much of my retirement.

[Condor]

Consider that the motor is pretty much worthless, except for scrap. After that, what is there that is saleable?, then you have to do the work, shipping and storage, and take a chance that there are any good parts at all. Personally, I think if you were to go into a business with more bikes like PinWall, you could come out ahead, or if you already own a bike and want to sell it but can't get a buyer, then parting it out is an option, but to buy it to part it??? I've thought about that for myself, but I thought it would use up too much of my retirement.

The motor has more value in it's parts.. carb's, clutch, covers, etc.... then it does as a replacement. Even the stripped down block is aluminum scrap. There used to be an eBay seller in SoCal that would by a VR, leave it on a flat bed truck, and render it down to parts. Then but them up for auction on eBay starting at .01¢. Just for the heck of it I kept track of what he got out of one bike. $3200 is the number I finally came up with. About twice what the bike would have sold for... I even picked up a few things from him back in the day...

[Geobob]

Interesting points guys. As I mentioned I was curious if anyone was buying these bikes for parts and it sounds like you guys are in agreement that he is unlikely to find someone to give him money just to part it out. I have not been up to see it but I have thought through the numerous and continued repairs that I keep making on mine to keep it running. It is most likely that this bike has not had much done to it so it is most likely a repair waiting to happen. Hell you could even say that about mine but at least on mine I know what I have done or at least I can remember most of them.

 

On the other hand I just took mine out for its first long ride of the season. Came back as usual just astounded at how nice this bike is. It sounds like there is a v8 in there and feels like it also. I keep asking myself its it just me and that I have learned to love this bike or is it really that good still. That fact that I still think it looks good helps a lot also. I am thinking a nice collection of replacement parts would be a good idea and having the body panels the same color make this one to consider. I have given some thought to how the color match might be. I repainted mine to stock 7 years ago. I suspect the original paint might not be a perfect match but this bike seems to hide the differences. I think I had one side of the front fairing different from the other side for years and people often never noticed.

 

I will keep all this advice in mind.