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Is breaking for parts actually worth it?

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Tierbirdy
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PostPosted: 23:11 - 12 Mar 2018    Post subject: Is breaking for parts actually worth it? Reply with quote

So my Bandit has been off the road for coming up to 6 months now, I've well and truly lost my rag with it, and its neverending myriad of electrical gremlins due to previous owners being fuckwits and doing shit jobs of adding and removing bits of wiring, chopping alarms in and out etc. The alternator & reg/rec is fucked, there's a mysterious problem in the aux circuit somewhere, it keeps blowing fuses, I don't even know if I've fixed the original problem of it dying in the rain, the battery is fucked after being flat for months and I just cant be fucked with it anymore.

So fuck that, I'm gonna buy a brand new shiny MT09 instead.

Which leads me to my next point, what do I do with the Bandit?

It starts (as long as you jump start it) and runs ok, it just keeps blowing fuses, wont charge the battery and (might) die in the rain. So as far as I can see my choices are:

-Fix it, flog it. Far too much effort, if Im gonna fix it I may as well keep it.

-Flog it as-is "spares/repairs" - will probably get about £3.80 and a pack of polos for it.

-Break it into parts and flog them.

On the basis Id probably get significantly more money for breaking it, Im tempted. But I'm also concerned I'll sell about 4 bits on eBay and then be left with a garage full of various bandit bits that take the next 3 years to eventually sell off and still end up with a few random parts that never sell.

So what's peoples' experience of breaking vehicles, is it actually worth doing? Do people snap up parts for common bikes like this? Or should I just fuck it all off and put the whole bike on eBay for 99p no reserve?

Also considering torching it and claiming insurance. Just for the satisfaction of seeing it burn after it left me stranded at the side of the M3 for hours in a monsoon.
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Polarbear
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PostPosted: 01:02 - 13 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Breaking is a funny game. I broke a Virago for a mate. Other than the engine and frame the thing that made the most was the original chrome horn. Shocked

You should make more. It will be a pain in the arse. You WILL end up with a pile of parts you can't shift.

IMO it's do you really need that money. If you do, break it. If you don't, spares or repair. 99p start.
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M.C
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PostPosted: 01:49 - 13 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Stallion. wrote:
Of course that is assuming you are fortunate enough to have a garage.

If you don't I will start the bidding at 50 ponds.

51 pounds...

Never broken a whole bike but the bits I have sold took f'ing ages to sell, and I've still got a pile that didn't. I'd sell it as a project.
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1198
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PostPosted: 08:39 - 13 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Unfortunately you're too far from me - either South Yorkshire or Glasgow - or I'd offer £52 and a bag of Wotsits. I like a project...j
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rpsmith79
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PostPosted: 08:55 - 13 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have broken a couple of cars in my past, but they were fairly well modified at the time, and i pretty much knew the parts would sell when i broke it based on being a member of single marque car clubs at the time (shell weighed in for scrap both times)

It might be worth a bit of simple research though, like go on ebay, and see what other folk are selling stuff for, for how much, and see how many are about, also filter by sold listings too, that should give you an idea of how much each 'major' part is worth, and how likely they are to sell
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Rogerborg
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PostPosted: 09:25 - 13 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'd rather dangle my sporran in a dogfighting pit than deal with multiple eBay buyers.
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Skudd
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PostPosted: 09:31 - 13 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would get a full wiring loom and treat it as a project, then flog it as a working bike.
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doggone
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PostPosted: 11:09 - 13 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bandit is/was a popular bike, there will be demand but I'd try flog the whole thing and hope to get £300-500.
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grr666
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PostPosted: 11:14 - 13 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rogerborg wrote:
I'd rather dangle my sporran in a dogfighting pit than deal with multiple eBay buyers.

Most items I'll have on for sale at any one time is 6. After 6 it becomes work almost, fielding enquiries from the intellectually
challenged, the annoyance of just getting something sent off and then something else sells meaning you've got to drag the
printer and the tapegun out again, moments after putting it all away. I normally hold about 3 'sales' a year whenever I get
the "pay £1 commission max" emails through. I don't know how some folk do it all day.
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Baffler186
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PostPosted: 11:17 - 13 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

All dependent on space. Remember that bike breakers have rows and rows of shelving, so they can afford to put a BIN price or a decent reserve and wait it out until it's bought. As others have said, you may sell a few parts but you will be left with a lot. Also, factor in the postage. You won't have to pay (or charge) postage if you sell a running or a project bike.

If you're anything like me, you'll get impatient and list all parts for 99p, coincidentally at just the right time when no-one wants to buy it and everything will go for peanuts.
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RhynoCZ
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PostPosted: 12:29 - 13 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Is breaking for parts actually worth it?


Yes, if you have the time and space.

Time? Unless you want to be ''losing'' money, you will have to wait for the right buyer.

Space? Well, no need for an explanation there.

I sold various machinery and even computers for parts. Sometimes it takes a long time to sell all the bits, but in the end it always earns significantly more money than selling it as a whole thing.

Bandit? Without doing any research (can't be bothered), the wheels and brakes fit all sorts of Suzuki and Kawasaki motorcycles.
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stinkwheel
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PostPosted: 12:36 - 13 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Remove the mudguards and airbox, fit a cheap set of fork gaiters and pod filters and drop the forks about 3" through the yokes so they bottom out at full compression. Put it on ebay as "bobber project, 95% complete, just needs a little work for MOT". Start the bidding at £1500.
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Rogerborg
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PostPosted: 12:41 - 13 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

That'll never sell. Not without binning the seat and cable-tying on a piece of thin black vinyl stapled to two layers of camping mat foam.
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Hawkeye1250FA
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PostPosted: 12:43 - 13 Mar 2018    Post subject: Re: Is breaking for parts actually worth it? Reply with quote

Tierbirdy wrote:

-Break it into parts and flog them.


Also.... What condition is the rad in? How much do you want for it? Smile
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TheMadRatter
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PostPosted: 13:09 - 13 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've a LOT of bike parts left over from bikes that I've broken for parts before.

Y'end up with a lot of bits that no-one wants. If you've got the time, and don't need the mony, or it gone quick, then break it. Otherwise - if it's all together I'd sell or keep it as a project.

What people are saying about space is right - I've two workshops and a shed. I get to use half of one of my workshops Razz
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Ste
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PostPosted: 13:18 - 13 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Breaking it for parts could be worth it if you knew which electrical parts are working and which are fubar.

As such, I'd say your Bandit is probably best sold as a whole bike.

Be brutally honest in the for sale ad / eBay description. The first paragraph in your post is quite good.

"my Bandit has been off the road for coming up to 6 months now, I've well and truly lost my rag with it, and its neverending myriad of electrical gremlins due to previous owners being fuckwits and doing shit jobs of adding and removing bits of wiring, chopping alarms in and out etc. The alternator & reg/rec is fucked, there's a mysterious problem in the aux circuit somewhere, it keeps blowing fuses, I don't even know if I've fixed the original problem of it dying in the rain, the battery is fucked after being flat for months and I just cant be fucked with it anymore. "

Everything else is up to the buyer to work out, if you could answer all their questions then you wouldn't be selling it as a project bike.

Mr. Green
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Baffler186
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PostPosted: 14:25 - 13 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ste wrote:
probably best sold as a whole bike
Just to add, I had a very similar situation with my mark 1 Bandit. It wouldn't run right, it had been chopped about but was otherwise in average nick. I put it on Gumtree for £450. The same day, a chap came to look at it and bought it, even though when we tried to start it, it wouldn't start but he bought it anyway. At the end of the day, it's what your time and effort is worth
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Holdawayt
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PostPosted: 14:43 - 13 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'd buy it, replace the entire loom then polish the turd and sell it on.
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Ste
Not Work Safe



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PostPosted: 15:23 - 13 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Baffler186 wrote:
I put it on Gumtree for £450. The same day, a chap came to look at it and bought it, even though when we tried to start it, it wouldn't start but he bought it anyway.

I sold my XR250 as a non runner project bike.

https://i.imgur.com/9t56CtK.jpg

I used that for the main photo in the ad just to avoid people having any misconceptions about what type of life the bike had lived. Laughing
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Hawkeye1250FA
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PostPosted: 16:12 - 13 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ste wrote:
Baffler186 wrote:
I put it on Gumtree for £450. The same day, a chap came to look at it and bought it, even though when we tried to start it, it wouldn't start but he bought it anyway.

I sold my XR250 as a non runner project bike.

https://i.imgur.com/9t56CtK.jpg

I used that for the main photo in the ad just to avoid people having any misconceptions about what type of life the bike had lived. Laughing


Laughing Laughing Laughing Laughing Laughing Laughing Laughing Laughing Laughing

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STONEY!
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PostPosted: 17:07 - 13 Mar 2018    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'd give somewhere between £300-600 for your dead bandit, if your interested in selling whole pm me more details.
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