I picked up my CA77 in the fall. It had a recently rebuilt strong running motor, but was cosmetically pretty messy. I figured it would be a good candidate for me to decided if I liked riding and working on it - wouldn't want to "mess up" a nice-looking specimen.
I probably overpaid for it, but it was the same amount I had just sold a vintage bike for, so it worked for me at the time.
When I test rode it, the lights worked after being jumped by the seller's car. I replaced the dead battery and found that the headlight was blown, and those things are made of Unobtanium. I just didn't find the time to work on it over the winter (I have two vintage Lambrettas that are awaiting re-assembly right now as well), and when I went to start it this spring I found the fuel line was cracked. It needs a few things, but they're all pretty minor in the grand scheme of things (that fuel line, clean the carbs, find a tool tray so I can get rid of the zipties that are holding the battery on, loosen up the clutch some so it works for my small hands).
I'm coming to the sad conclusion that I'm not going to find the time to work on it any time soon, and that maybe setting it free until my other projects are done and I'm less buys with Real Life would be a smart move. I'm stubborn, though, and I'm not thrilled about the prospect of losing too much on something I never had the pleasure to ride.
Does anyone have any advice or an angle I haven't considered? If I really did want to sell it (which I don't, but I will admit that if I could go back and not have bought it I would do so), how do I determine what a fair asking price is?
frustrated and experiencing buyer's remorseThe lights and battery tray are frequently available on auction sites... be patient and bid to win. I needed a headlight too, after losing a few auctions that went higher than I thought reasonable, I got one for around $35.00 that works fine; it took 2 or 3 weeks at most. Now I'm enjoying the heck out of riding it- kinda helps in dealing with Real Life stress, too.
You could repair your old HD light.Saw someone on here I believe was able to bust out the old bulb and glue in a H4 I believe.Also, i\I had pruchaed one of the HD light units on Ebay that uses a replaceable bulb and got a 30w replacement bulb from bike bandit and RTV"d it.Others have found sockets to work also on these.Good luck.
Susan, don't give up on it; you may regret such a decision, as many others gone before have! You have the rest of your life, so unless you need the cash, fix the broken bits, one at a time, and get to ride. It's a lovely, characterful & charismatic machine, so don't sell now only to regret later.
Think carefully..... Rgds, Steve Right now I'm preparing to ride one of my old Vespas 1000 miles in two days. So once again, the Dream is on the back burner.
But I'm trying not to give up. Perhaps after the race I'll have a good few weekends I can dedicate to making it happy. I guess part of the frustration is that I'm used to knowing where to get stuff. I forget that it took me years to become familiar with scooter parts and suppliers. I also don't necessarily feel confident that I'm looking at the right bit or bob when trying to source parts, again, something I'm used to being able to distinguish by sight. There is a good vintage Honda shop around here, but that would be cheating - the whole purpose of a beater was to see if I liked to work on it without spending too much. Besides, I hear they aren't taking on anything for a while. Back to the ebay for me I guess. Thanks for the pep talk.
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