I have a 1981 PK Ripper

http://inanutshell.us/photos/gabriel/2007 PKRipper/

(the 2007 in the URL is for the photos not the bike XD )

I'm planning on selling the bike, but I'm curious whether you guys think I'd be better off paying someone to clean up the bike before selling it, and if so, what changes you think would give the most value.

There's some honor in keeping it in its original state... it's all vintage, all original, all of-era... well i changed the handlegrips, they stunk, but other than that, it's all oldschool. But... it's not in mint condition. There's little scuffs in the paint, the landing forks have some brown spots, the crank is missing a few of the custom bolts (in this photo you see the three original bolts and here you can see the two 'upgrades'), and in this photo you can see there's some bolts that're rusted, etc.

So anyway, I'm wanting to either put it up on ebay as-is or hand it over to a local bike shop or something to have them clean it up. Whichever ends up making the most profit for me, basically. (I'm trying to pay for my wedding!) But I figure if I hand it over to the bike shop guys, they're gonna charge me an arm and a leg to find these various parts ("These four bolts here are vintage! that'll be $30 each!") and whatever else a PK Ripper Lover would want fixed on this bike before he'd shell out $$ for it.

Not to mention powdercoating. Since the bike is still original state, it still has the factory stickers, and even a decal from the bike shop ("Al's Bike Shop", IIRC) it was purchased from all those years ago, so I don't know if powdercoating is the right thing to do.

The good news is, it's never been ridden hard. The Ripper apparently has some problem with cracks in the stem and such, and well, this guy's most perilous stunt was the curb to the sidewalk!

So yeah. Any suggestions?

leave ie alone. get some rags & clean it yourself. only original once, remember that.

It's a great scoot. Should be an easy sell on e-bay for sure or to a collector on this board or any other board.

good luck.

no pics in that link for me,just nutsheell homepage????????///

From the photos, that looks real clean...you should do well with that. Weird stuff happens so if you ebay it, I'd still set a reserve if it were my auction.

Looks like when I edited it the Editor borked the link

here it is again:

http://inanutshell.us/photos/gabriel/2007%20PKRipper/

Oh, I cleaned the tar out of it. It had this strange gray stuff in all the crevices. I didn't even realize it wasn't supposed to be there until it came off! You can still see it somewhat in this photo along the weld.

You mentioned collector boards, would you some? And is it appropriate to hock your wares in these boards?

fixed!

i don't think those are the OG tires. they look like Kenda k-rads.

you might want to part it out to get the maximum money out of it. you will have to take it apart to ship it anyways.
it would be easier to clean that way.

Stick around here, ask some questions, get to know some folks. You'll get the answers you need and of course, do your homework, cause there are some snakes in the grass that will try to get that bike for as little $$$ as they can.

Just do us all a favor, don't ask what it's worth. Read the pinned topics at the top of the page. You'll be fine.

pep

Just like PEP said.... leave it alone!!! That is a GORGEOUS bike, and should bring in some serious cash. I saw you keep it and have fun with it. I also have a Loop PK that is all original. I know that every scratch on the bike, i put it there. Anyone can restore a bike, they are original ONLY once!!!!

have fun with whatever you do with it. Its a nice looking survivor!!!!!!



Jon

Re: tires

I can't remember now what I was told the rims were... Z-something.. Z-Rims? Could they be Z-Rims? Would it be bad if they were K-Rads? How would I verify what they were? I don't remember seeing any visual brand indicator on the rims themselves.

And, incidentally, that's exactly the tip/info I hoped to get! Thank you! I'd hate to put up the auction and say something incorrect.

Re: Value

Heheh, I guess you guys run into that a lot, eh? ;-) I've scoured literally every PK Ripper auction on ebay for the last 11 months, so I have at least an idea of what the range is for the bike. I've seen them sell low, I've seen them sell high.

Figuring out how to compare them to my bike is a real pain, PK's have several different editions, looptail vs whatever the name is for not-looptail, restored vs rustacular, 30 Year Anniversary editions... then someone says "NOS!!" and another $500 appears...

Though that does remind me... What is "NOS" and how would I tell if my bike is or has NOS? I assumed it was a company, and they were saying in the auctions that it had NOS brand parts. But other auctions made it sound like "this bike was raced, so it's NOS"... The guy I bought the bike from (in like '89) said he did race the bike, but I don't remember who he was, so if "NOS" means "raced" I wouldn't be able to get info on exactly what measure of racing he did.

Is there anything else, photo or information wise, you'd expect to see / know? Am I showing everything?

I'd love to keep it, but it, along with my beloved comic book and card collections and whatever else I can dig up are finding their way to the exits.. Every buck I can find means a more memorable honeymoon. ;-)

NOS is an abbreviation for "New Old Stock", it means the product has never been sold to a private party. The term is used loosely on eBay. Nothing on that bike is NOS. You should part the bike out and sell the parts individually on eBay. When you do sell it be careful when you package the frame and fork. The frame can very easily be dammaged in shipping. Use lots of paper to prevent the frame from moving inside the box. Also remove the fork from the frame, wrap it and place it in the same box when shipping. Too many people leave the frame attached to the fork when shipping. Most shipping companies will lay the package on it's side and place other packages on top. The fork is not ment to take this kind of pressure and will bend.

Ah hah! Thanks for clearing that up! Definitely not applicable to my bike. ;-)

Is selling for parts really the best way to go? It'd be very sad I guess it seems like having it as all original in one piece is what gives it its unique flair. And wouldn't it get cherry picked then? Leaving me with unsellable stuff, say, a set of crummy brakes or worn out pedals? I mean... who'd buy used, scuffed, roughed up pedals? It seems like, as part of a package that might be something they'd buy then upgrade as desired. A la carte, it'd just rot.

You guys are the experts, and you're the second person to say to part it up, so obviously that's the right thing to do... but it would make me sad to see parts of it go to different homes.

I'd TRY to sell it in one piece first, for a decent price. If a good attempt there doesn't do it, then go the other route. The frame and fork will bring the most...used z-rims, cranks, stuff...eh.

DO NOT part that bike out. If you insist on selling it, sell it complete. Cleaning it up isn't gonna make it worth anymore at all. Any true collector that gets it will want to take it apart and do all that himself.

As far as selling EVERYTHING that means anything to you for some girl...... Just a sign of things to come for the rest of your life if you let it start now.

i was thinking the exact same thing. you can go on vacation anytime. you will never get your childhood back.

Definitely see your point. If I actually rode my bike regularly or did anything other than let it sit in the garage, or if I actually read any of the comics or pulled the cards out of their boxes ... well, that'd be one thing. But I don't. So I don't mind. And she hasn't asked me to sell this stuff. I'm just doing what I can.

Oh... And back to a previous tangent. I talked to a local bike shop guy about selling it to him. I figured he'd be able to clean it up, turn it into a real beauty. But at the very least, hoped he'd give me a number I could use as a baseline for selling it later, if I didn't sell it to him. He knew right off what it was, correcting me about info about the bike when I brought it in, but wouldn't give me a price offer, he wanted me to come up with a number. Which is understandable, but there's an old saying about negotiating: he who speaks first loses. lol. So ... I guess he'd heard the saying too as the only number I was able to get out of him was part of this statement:

"Well, for a bike like this you get one of two buyers. Some guy who wants something for his kid, and he won't wanna shell out more than $50 on an old bike. Alternately, you could luck into finding a collector who'd pay a good amount for it, but finding one of those isn't so easy, especially for an old bike like this."

Heh. So he ended up saying he'd pay $50 for it but he figured I had another number in my head. I did, and because neither of us would start the bidding process it was no sale. lol. Still. If I hadn't been aware of what kind of bike I had ... I could easily see a less prepared chap handing over the "old" bike for $50.

Sheesh.

That's how many of us picked up our scores...$25 from a thrift shop, in the dumpster, $20 yard sale...

Obviously clueless. Tell ya what man......pop it on ebay instead of dancing around the topic of what am I gonna get out of my bike. It's obvious now that you are digging & trying to maximize your profitibility.

get on with it bro...make your money. enough already.

Sand blast it, spray paint it yellow, slap on some art29 stickers and list it as a "mahaffy build". that'll get ya some dough.

diddnt think u supposed to blast alloy, coz of pitting, or i might of missed somthing here...
nice btw
cheers

you're two basic choices are to part it out, or sell it complete. You would PROBably get more parting it out. Only problem with that is dealing with multiple auctions, buyers, packaging, ebay/paypal fees, etc etc. If you are equipped to handle all that, no prob. People will pay plenty for 'scratched up pedals" and orphaned parts. It's not like it's a 'factory complete' where all the componenents BELONG to each other.

Selling it complete will fetch you a fair price and plenty of honeymoon dough. The buyer will
probably sell off some parts, which will help him and everyone wins. The best you can hope for
is a bidding war. That's what we all hope for when we sell. Regardless, you did the homework and
probably have a good idea what you'll get. Set a minimum bid, or reserve or whatever in that neighborhood, and you're protected.

(don't sweat the mismatched/missing bolts, etc. Won't be an issue)

Good luck, and congrats on the wedding.

eBay will tell me how much it's worth.

I hoped for information--like the comment about the tires not being original--and perhaps a bit of camaraderie about the ol' PK.

Anyway, thanks to the rest of you, I appreciate the input!

that's called sarcasm. He was joking.

Oh good, I was worried about that... I'm sure I could find the correct bolts eventually... but maybe it'd be a fun exercise for the new owner, eh? ;-)



Thanks!



I thought it was funny... ;;

well i guess.. im tired... thanks brian.... not bein sar car stic... look up the young ones...episode called sick...from the uk..
cheers bri
good luck with the wedding and all...

>NOS is an abbreviation for "New Old Stock", it means the product has never been sold to a private party.

NOS does indeed mean "New Old Stock" but it has nothing to do with "being sold to a private party". You can own a NOS set of Shimano DX pedals for example, and then sell them to another collector, and they are still NOS.

NOS means the components, be it a frameset, grips, a saddle etc etc are brand new (preferably in their original packaging), and have never been mounted or assembled.

Taking them out of the packaging and mounting them on a show bike, means that they are no longer NOS.