XxHaimBondxX

worth restoring to make $100 in the end?

himespau 

That is quite the rack extension.

TugaDude

Only you can decide what your time is worth. Have you looked at the "sticky" thread about bike flipping? There are tons of great posts in there that will help you to answer the question.

In my book, WRK101, a.k.a. Thrifty Bill is one of the best "rational" flippers active here. I say rational because he gives no-nonsense advice and looks at things from a very pragmatic perspective.

If you could get that bike for free what do you think it might sell for in your market? Now that you have that number add the cost you'd be willing to pay for the bike and for any consumables it might require. If you have to replace components themselves, it might be best to keep moving. But let's say the bike is solid, just needs cleaning, regreasing and perhaps new bar tape. Bar tape can be purchased for as little as $3.00 per roll. You can purchase grease reasonably cheaply and brake/shifter cables and housing can be purchased in bulk in order to get the price down to an affordable level for flipping.

But what about tires and tubes? If they aren't in rideable condition then you have to budget for them also. Kenda makes a cheap tan wall that looks nice on bikes like that.

If you figure all of the above and still can make $100.00 then it might be worth doing. If not, maybe choose a different bike. The potential to make good money on a flip often lies in nicer bicycles. Again, Thrifty Bill has written about that.

Good luck!

cb400bill

No

XxHaimBondxX

Welp I picked it up for only cost of a 25 minute scenic drive. Decent shape, however the rear fork does have some rust. Pretty light bike, wheels are updated alloys. I'm planning to utilize my parts bin, including tires and tubes. If it rides well I may just keep it.

XxHaimBondxX

wrk101

Years ago, I reluctantly accepted Miami Jim's sage advice, which was (I'll paraphrase):

1. Aim Higher.

2. Sell fewer bikes at higher margins.

3. Don't waste time and $$ on the mediocre stuff.

In my early days, I was flipping almost anything, making anything from $25 to $100 per bike (sometimes I lost $$, but not very often). I spent a lot of time repairing and marketing bikes to cheap customers. So the "profit" per hour was low.

Eventually the light bulb went on. I'd rather flip one bike and make $250 to $500 on it, than flip 5 or 10 to make the same amount. And of course, my return per hour spent skyrocketed. It's pretty obvious.

The proceeds from my early flip days allowed me to acquire the tools and the bike fund to move up.

And in the end its a HOBBY, not a J O B. But I prefer hobbies that are self funding!

XxHaimBondxX

Completely agree and have taken similar path during these COVID years. 2020 anything went with little effort, 2021 more expensive, but still Walmart quality. This year sold a few ebikes and hybrids, which are popular in our market. However, next year I just want to ride more and have slow burn projects like this Raleigh on rainy days without high profit in mind. I have to admit, my limitations are hunting down a good higher end flip to make these $250-500 profits. I have a feeling these bikes would just sit for months around here. Even during high gas prices and ebike boom, my ebikes sat for longer than I'd like taking up space.