What Jeff said...
plus that EX500 is worth $800-1200 as a racer, and not a good platform if you are planning to use lead-acids. You'll
need to prove its not stolen. There's lots of cheap, running, licensed bikes out there, just go to Craigslist or ebay.
My advice is to decide which bikes make a good platform for you first.
HTH
John
Jeff Blamey wrote:
Hi Steve
I found my donor bike on ebay and it was located locally, south of Denver at
Steeles Cycles. I paid $799 for the bike and ran a trailer down to pick it up.
The titling/registration took 20 minutes and there was no hassle with having to
see the VIN as the sale was from a dealer. The bike had 21K and is in very good
condition, paint pretty awesome seeing as it is more than 20 years old, and
this has new Bridgestone tires as well. The motor spins but I think it is good
enough to ebay for some VF500 owner needing an engine to rebuild, the starter
and alternator, and ignition can all be parted out, so if I can get a couple
hundred my donor cost will be down to $600.
For what is is worth you may be opening the can as you try to locate the previous owner
to free up the title on the abandoned bike, and "title" companies assurances
aside I would avoid that.
What you might want to do is locate a local bike salvage company and tell them
you want a complete bike before they start stripping it and with a title. Your
local cycle shops might also be a source. Frankly if faced with $800 to flip
the bike they may find you a cherry old bike. My time was worth not having to
find missing parts.
Jeff
