I thought mine was tatty...

[matthewmosse]

I would think it was quite a gamble to think it has enough bits left in decent or even useable order to justify the cost. I am about 60 miles from there and decided it would need to be £50 to be worth a bid. I very much doubt the frame will be sound enough to avoid welding and as the rear frame loop is vulnerable by the footpeg hangars I think anyone wanting the frame will in all probability be spending a wee bit of time welding. I wonder if the buyer is on here or will find their way here. I geuss if you need the right bits and the time and fuel to collect ard not an issue it might be worth it. Very brave if restoring or even for a special....

[mike the bike]

It went For £99in the end.  The engine may have been worth buying but the rest of it looked like scrap.

[matthewmosse]

Hmm, engine was siezed, are they worth that much? I have 3 500/4 engines that run, and probably enough bits for 1 or 2 more. I must be a richer man than I thought.....

[Johnny4428]

Actually sometimes a bike that looks like a runner can require as much work as one that looks like a scrapper. I am in the process of restoring my 550k3 (second time round). Twenty eight years ago I saved the bike from the knackers yard, my first bike after passing my bike test. I had the usual financial restraints we are familiar with at the time and therefore it was a budget botch up, but the result was a runner.  Actually the bike even before this restoration looked a lot better than when I purchased it. The last few years it has had the exhausts patched underneath just to keep on the road. When I saw there was new exhausts available again I had to commit. This is a full nut and bolt restoration. I have a lot of new parts, but still need a few bits and pieces such as authentic looking rear shocks and clocks either refurbished or replaced any help or comments gratefully recieved. Removed all chrome parts today thought that there was just a few pieces needing chromed, WRONG, the entire package apart from the bits I am replacing. I am rebuilding the engine at the moment as well, new shells, drive shaft bearings seals etc.
But alas no steel wool and paint over chrome this time, not to mention the worst looking copy of a k3 seat I have seen but it did the job, o' anybody want to buy a seat?

[UK Pete]

It seems like anything sells on ebay, pre ebay days you could not even give away something like that
pete

[AshimotoK0]

Reckon I could easily find 100 quids worth of parts on that bike if you compare with  DK's prices.

[UK Pete]

Yes , very true ash

[haynes66]

so you were probably wondering who would be stupid enough to buy this heap of junk.....     

well, that would be me then!  and here she is in all her glory.



the seller also has another front wheel and some other bits and bobs to drop off later, but it also came with these.



obviously rusty and welded up here and there but if anyone has a use for these at a reasonable price, i'm travelling up to oxford tomorrow if that's any good.  i havent had a good look at the bike yet so not sure if its broken for spares or a base for a cafe racer. it will sit in my shed for the next year or so while i carry on with my current stuff.

[matthewmosse]

If it is close enough then it is worth it, especially if extra bits have been included. If the engine can be freed off -bargin or if it just needs a rebore it could be a bargin. Keep us posted.

[haynes66]

it was only a few miles away from me so no travel costs involved. apparently it was brought over from the states to RAF brawdy so it may be ok-ish underneath all that rust. time will tell.

[matthewmosse]

I geuss it was worth a shot at doorstep close, I was 60 miles away but these roads are slow moving in a car. I recently bought 3 howard gem rotorvators from just outside Carmarthen.

[haynes66]

had a quick inspection of the wreck last night and i can confirm that the frame is paper thin on one side, so that's being binned. engine wise, it turns over on the kickstart and the oil is just black, so there might be some hope for that. but we'll see.

[matthewmosse]

Don't nesisarrily bin the frame based on rust, I assume the rear subframe is the worst bit and footpeg hangar. If you have or can get paperwork - eg logbook and intend to build a cafe racer then it is probably perfectly fixable. I have a thread somewhere on this forum detailing my fix of a well rotted cb500 sub frame. A job I have done twice now, on first 1 side then the other of my 500/4. It pulls a sidecar and did over 100000 miles after I did the first repair so strength of repair should be fine. On mine I even retained the original frame lines as I kept the bike stock, easier to modify for a cafe racer. I also know of two proffesional frame builders who might well be able to and willing to fix it, one near Aberystwyth and another in Bishops castle.

[Bullit]

If it's only rotten at the rear then would be ideal for someone wanting to do a bobber conversion as all that would get cut off anyway

[haynes66]

sadly, its rusted through around the right hand engine mount and footpeg area which would mean replacing tubes and so on. i'll be looking at the engine in the next month to see if its salvageable, which would then determine what i do next. no rush though, plenty to do in the meantime.