Trying to decide if I should part out or fix my 12 280i. Broke the seat and can't find a replacement except 13+ which requires new fender and graphics as well. Also broke a pin in the shift shaft which can be fixed reasonably. Would probably have $600+ in fixing. Everything else is in great condition. what do you guys suggest? how much do you think I could recoup in parts?

Edited June 22, 20197 yr by bfaucett

There's not many around so breaking it might not work also they all seem to have similar problems.

Thing is they're worth very little so any major repair has to be questioned.

My 14 sounds like it needs mains which wouldn't normally worry me but it's done nothing since the last re build .

At 56 I really am past fiddling with bikes, I've got a puncture on the boys Beta this morning and even that's a chore these days.

My advice sell it as a project and take the hit , life's too short to worry about these things.

Breagh makes a perfectly reasonable argument.  Selling the bike as a project would be infinitely easier than parting it out.  But even selling it as a project may not be easy.  The US market is small and it's unlikely you'll find a local buyer.

Alternatively...  graphics is a "don't care" issue for me.  Make the bike functional and forego the appearance.  I have a huge amount of time and effort in my EFI OSSAs.  They return that investment by working exactly to my liking. (I just bought a 4RT for practice and will save the OSSAs for competition.)  In the end, I love tinkering with bikes and if I have to make/repair or modify parts to keep the OSSAs running, I'll do exactly that. 

If the OSSA performs to your liking, fix it.  If not, move on to something else.

Edited June 22, 20197 yr by konrad
typos

Not sure I understand your situation, you have fixed the shift shaft pin ? but then say it's going to cost $600 to fix up, is that the cost of the cosmetics or having the shift shaft pin re-worked as well.

If it runs and rides and it's just the cosmetics of the seat why not fix the seat, bit of fibre glass / plastic welding and your back in business. So it may not look perfect but it's a Trials bike and you may smash it up next time out anyway.

I spent around £250 on a lovely paint job on my pre65 fibreglass tank ( got talked into having it done by a mates mate who was a perfectionist ) guess what , second time out I split it in a simple 'off ' , now I have an alloy tank that I painted myself.

Fix it for penny's ride and enjoy.

7 hours ago, breagh said:

There's not many around so breaking it might not work also they all seem to have similar problems.

Thing is they're worth very little so any major repair has to be questioned.

My 14 sounds like it needs mains which wouldn't normally worry me but it's done nothing since the last re build .

At 56 I really am past fiddling with bikes, I've got a puncture on the boys Beta this morning and even that's a chore these days.

My advice sell it as a project and take the hit , life's too short to worry about these things.

I would loose far more selling it as a project than fixing it so that's not even close to an option

5 hours ago, collyolly said:

Not sure I understand your situation, you have fixed the shift shaft pin ? but then say it's going to cost $600 to fix up, is that the cost of the cosmetics or having the shift shaft pin re-worked as well.

If it runs and rides and it's just the cosmetics of the seat why not fix the seat, bit of fibre glass / plastic welding and your back in business. So it may not look perfect but it's a Trials bike and you may smash it up next time out anyway.

I spent around £250 on a lovely paint job on my pre65 fibreglass tank ( got talked into having it done by a mates mate who was a perfectionist ) guess what , second time out I split it in a simple 'off ' , now I have an alloy tank that I painted myself.

Fix it for penny's ride and enjoy.

Sorry I fixed it. Meant to say can be fixed easily. Doing a janky repair is also an option or having a custom carbon replacement made is as well

Have you ever parted-out a complete motorcycle? I have not, but have sold various parts of motorcycles.  The lower the price, the quicker they sell (if there's a market for them).  You will probably have to ship internationally.  My guess is that it could take years to sell 50% of an EFI OSSA.  There are some parts that may never sell.

7 hours ago, konrad said:

Have you ever parted-out a complete motorcycle? I have not, but have sold various parts of motorcycles.  The lower the price, the quicker they sell (if there's a market for them).  You will probably have to ship internationally.  My guess is that it could take years to sell 50% of an EFI OSSA.  There are some parts that may never sell.

I have but it starts with the motor. Most expensive part. I just sold a crf150r motor for 200 less than I had invested after full rebuild. The ossa is hard either way. Zero market for project bike, might get 1k. As parts might get 2k. Luckily most parts are universal for trials bikes beyond being branded. Could easily get 2500 quickly after being fixed. I wouldn't part if I couldn't get 1k quickly

Just talked to a carbon fiber guy. He's going to skin my seat and make a full carbon repo for 300. Is interested in getting a new seat for $200 while he has the mold?

18 hours ago, bfaucett said:

. Could easily get 2500 quickly after being fixed.

What would you reckon in the UK Breagh, sounds optimistic to me? If you could find anyone willing to take one on.

I paid less than that for mine when it wasn't much more than a year old,

Are we all talking the same currency?  Scotland is GBP.   Indiana is USD.

6 hours ago, konrad said:

Are we all talking the same currency?  Scotland is GBP.   Indiana is USD.

Don't worry, Breagh is a Fifer so an expert on value and will have spotted that.  In the Ossa context there is not that much difference using exchange rates, but "market value" depends on other, local, factors too.

Edited June 24, 20197 yr by 2stroke4stroke

Trialstribulations.net in the UK has a some Ossa parts in an online catalog, seems like they have a new shift shaft assembly in stock, you need to use paypal for payment, paypal handles exchange rate and take a few percent for their trouble.   They might have some plastic too I know they have decals.