Total Motorcycle Community Forums

I have 1982 KAWA; IN LINE TO REPAIR.I WANT O FIX IT UP FOR CLOSE fRIEND.It has 6500 miles on it.It needs to be made to run after sitting 15 years.no key.Am i getting in to a money pit here.or is it worth the work. i do it.
it has to have tires , battery. maybe tires. but it was put away.all together, no rust in tank.ugly large spoke wheels. Can anybody give me some tips on ---should i, repair it, sell it,junk it.And is it worth any thing at all????

15 years is a long time. You'll need a battery, tires (no maybe about these. those tires are shot), all fluids changed and a thorough carb cleaning at the very least. Once all that is done, you may find that many of the old seals (engine and forks) have dried out and will need replacement. After that, it's a crapshoot. It may run fine, or it may have bugs in the electrical system from dried/cracked insulation in the harness. I won't even get started on the possibilty of internal engine corrosion after 15 yrs. Although the absence of rust in the tank is a good sign, it doesn't guarantee that the cams aren't corroded (most common spot for internal corrrosion).

Unless you have some experience in motorcyle maintenance, I'd say leave this one alone (unless you need a new hobby). Just the cost of shop labor to rehab could easily exceed the value of the bike. There are some who have gotten lucky and resurrected a garage queen without all of the problems listed above, but they're exceptions. I've resurrected a dozen garage queens over the years and the above problems are more the rule than the exception.

As for value, it's worth something to someone who will be willing to do a lot of work on the bike, but not much. Since it's not running, there's no way to tell how much it would take to fix it without taking it apart. As it sits, the bike has salvage value. Maybe $100-$200.