1985 YZ80 $500 good deal or not?

[FadedVoices]

I am gonna buy a new dirt bike, my pit bike is starting to fall apart, because yesterday I was riding and the piece that holds the front sprocket on fell of making it unable to be rode. I was searching and found a 1985 YZ80 on craigslist for $500 and the guy is willing to go down on price. I am going to sell my pitbike , is it a good price for the YZ80? and how much should I ask for the pitbike?

 

Thanks! 

FadedVoices

[KcDavis]

What is your "pit bike"? You may have to pay someone to take it.

I would look for something newer. Parts would be hard to source for a bike of that age. Unless you just ride bikes til they fall apart. Then, go ahead and get it.

[FadedVoices]

My pit bike is a 2005 orion 125 , and we have a Yamaha dealership and repair near us, is that any help ?

[KcDavis]

Doubtful.

[FadedVoices]

I just want to know what I should ask for the pit bike. Cause I have the time nor money for the repair that it needs. I am hopefully doing to buy the 1985 yz80 and i was also wondering what offer I should put in for it? He's asking $500 and its been on Craigslist two months and he has had no offers.

[BayAreaMoto510]

I just want to know what I should ask for the pit bike. Cause I have the time nor money for the repair that it needs. I am hopefully doing to buy the 1985 yz80 and i was also wondering what offer I should put in for it? He's asking $500 and its been on Craigslist two months and he has had no offers.

The yz probably needs a lot of work.

Save 1000 and get a xr100 for a pit bike

[FadedVoices]

He said it only needs air filter and box. And for me that's easy to get

[KcDavis]

Like I said. You may have to pay someone to take your pit bike. I can't imagine it has much value left. Especially with it falling apart.

[KcDavis]

He said it only needs air filter and box. And for me that's easy to get

 

A bike that old will probably need a lot more than that.  But you will never know until you can ride it.  I wouldn't pay for it without riding it first.  

[FadedVoices]

Should I just try to fix the brake, cause I fixed the sprocket part, I just don't have any back brakes.. Should I do that instead?

[KcDavis]

It's your money. Do what makes the most sense to you.

[USED YZ426F]

As others have said, getting a bike that is nearly 30 years old, with missing parts, is not generally a good idea.  The YZ80 missing its airbox is a headache just waiting for you to look for some aspirin.  I would venture a bet that your local Yamaha dealer doesn't have an airbox for it, and they probably cannot source one for you either.  If they are able to source one through the Yamaha dealer network, you will be looking at a price of at least $200 for it. 

 

You would have to source 90% of the parts through eBay on any bike that old (trust me on this one, I am in the process of restoring a 1983 IT490K).  Doing my own quick search, the airbox for that bike was only used on the '84-'86 YZ80.  If the part was easy to obtain, why wouldn't the seller get one and sell a complete bike?  There is one on eBay currently, and it looks like it is serviceable, but once it is gone, how long until another one pops up?

 

As far as your pit bike, what all does it need to be right again?  Tires are fairly easy to do yourself with just some spoons and a little effort.  I would think that you could fix your pit bike for less than the $500 asking price of the YZ80, as long as you are able to do the work yourself.  If not, well then you are looking at some big bills to repair any bike.

 

I personally wouldn't consider the YZ80 as a viable bike, unless I could get it for $100-150 tops.  For that low a price, I would roll the dice and try to flip it for a couple hundred bucks.  But I wouldn't keep it as a rider.  My '83 IT490 is a labor of love, but it isn't my primary bike.

Edited August 19, 2014 by USED YZ426F

[Thinlineggman]

Just plunk down $400 for an '85+ xr100 and you'll be way happier. The same engine was used for basically the entire xr100 line from 85-03. So engine parts are easy to find and there's tons of those suckers floating around for parts. The xr80 engines will bolt right up, too AND they have the same frames, so all the other parts will swap over.

[KcDavis]

Just plunk down $400 for an '85+ xr100 and you'll be way happier. The same engine was used for basically the entire xr100 line from 85-03. So engine parts are easy to find and there's tons of those suckers floating around for parts. The xr80 engines will bolt right up, too AND they have the same frames, so all the other parts will swap over.

And those XR's will run forever with little to no maintenance.

[Thinlineggman]

And those XR's will run forever with little to no maintenance.

Yup, just keep the cam chain tight and oil in the thing and you're good to go.