people, your advice please. where to go now..

[carlmalibu]

Hello all. I've been having a bit of a saga with my RS.
It's had a dodgy powervalve and the back brake pads needed replacing. Today I refit the pvalve, and tried to get the bike running.
This isn't a workshop thread but suffice to say it didn't work.
starter motor turned over the engine but this was whilst it was in gear and it didn't lurch. I honestly don't understand what I could have broken but I've done it (apparently).

Some history on the bike - it's 10 years old (97 R) and probably was looked after very well for the first 8 years of it's life. Then a family friend got hold of it and ragged it around, dropped it a couple of times then left it in his garden over winter.

Thinking I could get a fantastic deal out of this I paid him £100 for it and took it straight to a mechanic. I think I was (to an extent) ripped off - it cost me £550 to get through MOT and another £250 for a ring replacement (using apparently official aprilia £50 rings). That was june/july last year. I then spent the next couple of months warming it up well and what not, after a few teething problems it was running fine and dandy so I didn't bother maintaining it properly.

This was bloody stupid of me I know and I have no defence for it but it's how it went. Then one (incidentally brand new off ebay very pretty) fairing got stolen outside my girlfriends house. Then the other fell off. Then the speedo stopped working, also the mechanic told me I'd defo need a new rear shock for the next mot.
now it seems the back brake pistons have seized. And the bike won't even start.

I'm starting to get really angry about it now - it's my form of transport, its unreliable, but the real reason I guess is that ultimately it's my fault. My fault for buying a bike that needed more care and mechanical knowledge than I had, for neglecting it, and for trying to take it apart thinking I could do things that I very blatantly couldn't.

I stand now with a bike that even if I spend £x on getting working now I'll have to replace this that and the other at its next MOT, its worth next to nothing AFAIK due to it having no fairings, and in its current condition I could try selling it as a very expensive paperweight.

I am getting some money in march, some of which I want to spend on a new bike. Either the cheap and cheerful Divvy or a silly but will probably last me a while thundercat, but either way I have a choice of trying to fix it and get it working so I can try selling it as a working bike (but I don't have the knowledge personally to do it)
or trying to sell it as-is (would I get a pittance for it?)
or breaking it and selling the parts on ebay (pros and cons here?)

Wow, that ended up being a pretty long story and sorry if I've bored you but some advice would be very much appreciated.
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Shine on, you crazy diamond
CB500, woop.

[beatnck]

i dont really know what to suggest mate, maybe you could try breaking it and selling parts on ebay. i guess you need to add up the cost of getting it roadworthy and see if you're prepared to spend it - but from what youve said it seems like it might be more than what the bike would be worth..

[Gradog]

OK as it is not a workshop thread, i will try to keep this short.
I know little about powervalves, so will keep away from that.
Starting can be numerous causes, just check out the workshop.
The turning over whilst in gear, suggests a knackered clutch.
If it won't start and has a knackered clutch the engine value is decreased dramatically.
Do you have the skills to break it successfully? It sounds easy, but it is not always especially on older bikes.
I am afraid you are stuck between a rock and a hard place. I would however not spend anymore on it, and put your cash to a new bike.
Advertise yours as a project, and hope that someone will give you your initial outlay and put the rest to experience.

I hate being gloomy but it is not looking good.
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Grey haired bikers don't get that way from pure luck. Only a biker knows why a dog sticks his head out of the car window.

[carlmalibu]

indeed! the thing is I can't imagine that removing/refitting the pvalve is likely to cause problems like I was having so I can only assume that something unrelated has gone wrong?

Tis rather upsetting. Could whack it on ebay I suppose
____________________
Shine on, you crazy diamond
CB500, woop.