Restore it or sell it?

[Deeuubee]

Hi folks,

I bought an 83 Venture in April from a, LOL, "friend" in need of some TLC. Brought it home in the dark. Been starring at it for months. I realized it might need a lot of TLC. I just don't know how to determine if it's worth starting the project. Been sitting in a garage for 20 years. Came with a new Corbin seat, stuck in gear, clutch master cylinder shot, won't start, looks like a drunken sailor. Should clean up after the hang over, but I don't know where to start. I have the service manual. 

Funny how you never see something until you own it. I took my VTX 1300 in for service the other day, sure as $hit a guy pulls up with an 83' Venture.

Please push me one way or the other... fix it or sell it before I fall into the void.

[Freebird]

Unless it is actually in great cosmetic shape, you will likely put more into it than it will be worth.  Also remember that the ‘83 - mid ‘85 had a transmission issue.  Repairable but unless you are able to pull the engine and do the work yourself, it will be expensive and maybe hard to find anyone who will do it.  Depending upon how many mikes are on it, either it has already lost second gear or will sooner or later. Sorry, probably not an opinion that you wanted to hear. 

[BlueSky]

If you can do the work yourself and want to do the work, keep it and ride it.  If not, sell it. Like Freebird said, the bike won't sell for what you will have invested in it fixing it up.  But, if you want to ride it, they are great sport touring bikes.   The bike can be ridden without second gear as our dear friend Cowpuc did for hundreds of thousands of miles on several 83s and 84s.  

[Marcarl]

I worked on an 84 this past winter,, Mark bought it new so it has that value for him. So far he has over 2k into it and now we need to pull the engine, found a weak cylinder and a shifting issue,,, he says, go for it! Could easily be another 2 k.

[circa1968]

What's the mileage and where are the pictures of your new machine??

For what its worth, I joined this group 3 years ago, knowing almost nothing about working on motorcycles, after purchasing my 2007.  With helpful guidance & encouragement from this group here, I worked through an issue on my bike (basically, gunked up carb from sitting too long).

Well, lo & behold, after that experience of wrenching on the Venture, I discovered that I actually enjoyed working on motorcycles and this old dog set out to learning a few new tricks.  Thanks to the immense wealth of knowledge about all things on the internet, I'm now on my 7th & 8th motorcycle projects in the last few years, learning more with each project.  All have been Japanese bikes, with low mileage (except one) that had been sitting for years (30 years in one case).  A couple were parked long ago for other reason's that I had to sort out, along with the resurrection process.

With all that said, here's my advice and the first thing I do when I get a new project home:  Give the bike a good bath and do a quick polish up on the side you first see when walking into your garage.  It may sound silly, but seeing what it will look like, or close to it, as the first step keeps me motivated to keep going on the rest of it.