ATV Thing is addicting!

[Arizona]

Went shopping on Saturday, picked up another Kawasaki Bayou 220 and a Yamaha Timber Wolf 250

I really should sell some of these but they are a lot of fun to find, fix and ride

Of course neither of them run but that's part of the fun!  Az

[Frank Angerano]

Wow great finds!!!! You have to be over the moon with that find.  What did you pay ? 

 

[Arizona]

little on the high side, 650 for both. But ill probably get it back out of them later. Looking at the Bayou  see anything wrong lol, has the pos grounded! Pos wire is broken in half. 

. 

[Frank Angerano]

Def going to make your money back two fold minimum.   

Keep us posted. 

[Ajmboy]

@Arizona Nice find and nice find. Definitely worth more. How did you find them, Craigslist?

[Arizona]

The TImberWolf looks really fun, and is actually in great shape. I got it to spin over with a jump

So that's a good start. Needs some tires and tlc but gonna be a quick one for sure.

Takes a lot of cleaning, usually pull everything apart and go from there but they usually clean up nice.

I pick them up off craigslist or facebook. Most are way over priced. I limit myself usually to 350 max apiece. Az

[Frank Angerano]

That’s a good price range to go off of.  I have a max of $500 when buying.  Hopefully that bayou is not burnt up  due to the wires being backwards.  I’ve never seen that color pattern on a bayou either. 

I’m really hoping they both only need a good tare  down and cleansing of the carbs and that’s it.   What’s with the seat for the bayou did it come with the bike? I don’t see it. 

I’ve gotten into making and installing my own seat covers  and they come out great. I use an air powered staple gun and they look sharp.   I but whatever material I need from amazon.  

If your going to keep the plastics the original color then spray them down good with armor all now and let it soak in, it helps a lot. 

Keep us posted.  

[Arizona]

Yea it came with the seat but was off and did not want it to blow out of the truck

so I had it inside.  I don't know whats up with people wiring batteries backwards. 

The Bayou 300 I have was wired the positive and bolted it to ground! People just dont

pay attention. Thank god most batteries are dead when I get them. 

[Frank Angerano]

It’s amazing but people do it more then we think.  Well hopefully there was no damage to the harness.  Have you some anything to the bikes yet ?

[Arizona]

Started tearing it apart, pulled the carb to rebuild, removed exhaust, battery, fenders etc. 

cleaned it up pretty good, did some painting, reinstalled exhaust, carb, other accessories and

got it to fire up. Runs pretty good. Ordered me a seat cover, battery and front tires and a petcock. 

few more pics after. Will post finished pics when done.  Next will be the Bayou 220 Az

[Frank Angerano]

Looking real good @Arizona it’s amazing what a few tools, elbow grease and some spray paint can do! 

Of course the knowledge as well. 

Keep the pics coming, this is what I love to see. 

 

[Arizona]

Well yesterday went shopping, found this 02 Honda, pretty dirty but in perfect working order except

for rear brakes and maybe some brake cable and tlc needed. Starts right up and runs pretty good. 

Ended trading for a .22 that I paid nothing for and a C-note. 

[Frank Angerano]

Nice, is that dirt or beige paint on the plastics ?

[Arizona]

Little of both but mostly paint. Seems to scrape off pretty easily. 

Gonna hit it with the power washer on my day off and see how much

flies off lol. Az

[Frank Angerano]

Pressure washer will take all of that off 100%. I had a Polaris Phoenix that was covered in paint.  Pressure washer took it all off.  Great find, be sure to post some some pics. 

[Arizona]

So I sold the Moto 4 a few weeks ago, did good on the profit. 

Today I Sold the TimberWolf, Man that thing was a blast to ride, wheelie city!

Get this I ended up trading it for a 01 Polaris Explorer 4x4. and he also gave me 900.00

Catch is he blew the motor. I pulled the pull cord and no compression. He said it got super hot

and would not turn off with the key. I assume it was dieseling off the 2 stroke oil, any way he said some

thing flew out the tail pipe (Yea probably the top of the piston) and wont start now. So its on the back burner

while I finish the 220. Couple of pics. Some of the Timberwolf and the rest of the Polaris. Stay Tuned lol Az.

[Frank Angerano]

And another one!!!! Love seeing the old bikes brought back to life !!!! 

That bike came out sweet! The colors are great! Well done AZ.   Nice job on swinging that Polaris onto the deal! 

[Ajmboy]

@Arizona They look awesome! What black paint did you use on the frames?

[Ajmboy]

@Arizona @Frank Angerano if you guys limit yourselves to $350 and $500, what are the asking prices of the atvs you are going to check out? What are the price ranges of the ads you are going for, as well as year range?

[Frank Angerano]

Great question @Ajmboy so I always look in the $1000 range. Most people don’t know what the value is so they list a machine that’s really worth $500 or less for $1000.

When I get there I go through the bike and start to negotiate from there.  Most people want it gone and when they see cash it’s a done deal.  

Perfect example is the  Mojave that I just rebuilt. The bike was listed for $850 put it in my truck for $300. Bike didn’t run and the owner didn’t know much about it.  The bayou I did the black one I picked that up for $250 owner wanted $750. Sold that for $1600. 

My bayou 400 I paid $400 put another $250 maybe $300 and sold it for $1800

Other owners have held to there price and I had to walk away. 

I check Kelly blue book to see what the values are and use my past history on what I have sold before. I know that utility atv’s sell better then the performance atv’s in general. 

I also use a lot of different keywords like atv needs work or not running etc when looking and use craigslist, letgo and marketplace for atv’s.   I also have a habit of looking in peoples yards while I’m driving and have knocked on a door to ask if it’s for sale! 

[Frank Angerano]

Look at this Mojave, I wanted to buy it for parts for the one I just rebuilt. I needed the air off of it and some nonsense parts as well as maybe taking that cdi for stock. He was firm on $300. I told him $100 bucks to take it away. He told me I was crazy. I said nobody is going to take it for that price! It’s buried in weeds and missing a lot of stuff. 

So I said $150. He said nope  so I walked away. He has messaged me 10 times now for $150 he said he has to get it out of his yard. The last message he sent was $100 will be fine. Unfortunately I made my own air filter set up and no longer need the parts.  Some people think that they have gold!!! 

 

@Ajmboy did you check out that post on the Mojave? 

[Ajmboy]

@Frank Angerano good negotiation skills! I haven't checked that Mojave topic in some time. I'll look now.

[Arizona]

The Mojave turned out great, good job. 

I try to limit myself on the price and if I cant get it fairly cheap

ill pass. Few things matter is the shape, If I can find parts, the price and 

what I think I will have to put in to it to fix. If you pay too much you will 

never get your money out of it. Its fun to build them but it has to be profitable. 

Hey Ajmboy, the paint I use is usually semi gloss rustoleum from Lowes. Its all in 

the prep. spend a little time before painting goes a long way. Most people will buy a 

clean machine pretty quickly. I always make sure nothing is rigged and is working a 100 %

Some of the most expensive items are batteries (which they all need) and Tires. 

[Arizona]

Ok, so the Bayou 220 is done and gonna post for sale. Couple of pics. Gotta love that old nasty seat lol.

That's the best I could do with that beat to hell muffler. Must have flipped it at one time. Az

[Frank Angerano]

Looks great! How much you going to ask ?

[Arizona]

1350.00 But probably end up around 1150 or so. Just put it up and someone wants it for 1000

I think I will wait and see what it brings. That thing is super clean and runs really good. Az

[Frank Angerano]

That’s what I do. I would rather wait and see how it goes and let it go to the right person.  

[JustRandy]

When my friend and I were doing this roughly 10 yrs ago, we found there was no way to avoid the $1500 rule: meaning that regardless how cheap the quad is, we're going to have $1500 in it in the end.  $500 for a quad + engine rebuild + tires, battery, brakes, etc = $1500.

One trick I learned the hard way is to always check the rod bearings before I buy.  On the bayou it would be a cinch to remove the 3 bolts on the pull-starter and rock the crank back n forth.  If there is play, it means the rod bearings are shot and the engine is worthless.  A lot of quads were run without oil.  Anything else I can fix, but rod bearings I can't fix.

For instance a bayou 220 was run without oil and the cam was ground down, so I welded the lobes back on and filed them down square with the rockers.  Roughly a decade later it's still going.

Btw, 25 inch tires on the back of a 220 bayou makes the gearing about right.

[Frank Angerano]

That’s crazy thinking your going to be into a machine for $1500 in my opinion. I can asses a machine in 15-20 mins weather it’s worth buying or not and look for the $500 or less if possible. Most people are asking $1000 and never get that and I wind up negotiating it down to at least half of that. 

I don’t intend on putting more then $250 -$300 and sell it for $1500 to $1800. Most of the time I get my price or dam close to it. 

Ive come across the occasional quad where the owner was asking $1000 firm and it was worth it. So we get it down do $800- $900 and put very little money into it and more of a clean up then anything. List it for $2000 and get $1700-$1800 but they are far and few in between. 

In addition to all of this I keep in mind if a machine is beyond repair I look very carefully at the plastics and parts and know I can make my money back if not more on parts.  Especially the plastics, they are worth money on certain atv’s. 

And keep in mind I also track my labor which is a love but also a real cost.  

[JustRandy]

Sure you can put less than $1500 and sell it, but to have a quad that's reliable on the trail always seems to require $1500.  Idk, it's just a rule that a buddy and I decided we could never violate.  He bought a 250ex for $100 from a pawn shop that was closing down, gave it to his daughter and still had close to $1500 in it by the end.  I mean, it could be $1200, but close enough.  (btw a high-comp piston in a 250ex makes a beast)

I bought my 250ex for $1000 and put new tires on it, then battery, so I'm close to $1500 into it.

I got my 300 King Quad for $100 and a bottle of scotch and have way more than $1500 in it (but much of that is winches n stuff).

My quadsport was $100 and have $3000 in it at least, but it has a big bore kit, +4 swingarm, +6 a-arms and is more of a crotch rocket than anything else.

My Lakota was about $100-$200 and after a bore job, tires, rims, battery, chain, sprockets, etc, viola... $1500.

Usually a quad selling for less than $500 is going to need a bore job.  If it doesn't, then the seller didn't know what he had or else the plastics are trashed or something else is wrong with it.

Then of course if we're doing a bore job, we may as well do the valves.  Then carb rebuild and air filter.

If the quad is kinda old, then electronics start breaking down, so maybe a regulator is needed.  And the brake pistons are plugged with rust.  Wheel bearings are trashed from years of water infiltration.  Shocks are blown, bushings are toast, ball joints and tierod ends are loose.   And the tires are usually either worn down or rotted.  Then all the cosmetic items like plastic and seat.  Then we get the beast built back up only to find the clutch is slipping lol

It seems flipping quads is less about mechanics and more about being able to get people to sell for less than what they want.