I just bought a 1983 Venture XVZ1200 at an auction for $216 sight unseen. The original plan was to part it out but after just sitting on it I think it might be the most comfortable bike I have even been on and I'd like to ride it on some longer trips (I'm a Triumph guy and a cafe racer'd Bonneville t100 isn't exactly a joy on the longer rides). It has a ton of minor issues, but other than some minor surface rust from being from New York on the chrome (comes right off with the old aluminum foil trick) its in almost perfect cosmetic condition. I found this forum and saw a youtube video mentioning the website and was wondering if you guys had any advice on common issues that could save me hours troubleshooting. It hasn't been tagged since 1987 and shows 5k on the odometer, which with the cosmetic condition, tells me it either got garaged and forgotten or something really bad happened to the motor a really long time ago. Once the new igntion and keys come in (had to get another full set of keys, saddlebag locks and keys etc..) I'm gonna try to see if it even wants to turn over on a new battery.
So far the problems I've just noticed looking and sitting on it are:
Brake and clutch lever don't do anything at all.
The brake fluid reservoir on both sides of the handlebars have what appears to be dark brown oatmeal in them.
Fork seals have seen better days.
The only cosmetic problem is that the mufflers are pitted out.
Minor corrosion but no rust in the radiator.
Also, is the bike financially worth fixing (are parts plentiful and cheap, etc...) or is this going to be a $5,000 dollar money pit that's better off being parted out for someone else?
And, might be a little optimistic on whether it'll ever run or not but it does not have any sort of radio, are there any decent modern options for radio and speakers for these bikes that don't require hacking the dash and look fairly retro but still have Bluetooth?
Any advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!!
