New member with a question. 1981 KZ650 CSR

Hello all. I picked up a nice 81' kz650 csr with the hopes of fixing it up and putting it all back to stock. The only thing wrong when I bought it was that the key was lost and it seemed that some of the front end was taken apart, I think in an attempt to get it running without the key (no cut wires). Needless to say the parts must have been misplaced and the person I bought it from could not find them all. I took it home, cleaned out the tank, replaced the fuel filter and jumped it from my atv battery and have it running pretty well.

From what I can tell it needs at minimum the following: Front fork emblem, a new battery, speedo cable, a new speedo (the old is there but it seems to be missing some stuff), pilot cover back, a reflector, tail light lens and some other miscellaneous stuff. I figure at least another 200 in parts at minimum.

My question is regarding whether its worth investing more money into or should I just sell it to someone who wants to chop it up and needs a solid foundation or a really nice parts bike. Can anyone tell me about what it would be worth as it sits - running but needing about $200 of misc stuff? I live in Southern CT, the bike is pretty clean and the odometer shows about 9k which I would think is correct from the condition. Thanks!

Fix it up and ride it. Don't sell it out to another "Bobber" type owner.
They are great bikes, fun to ride. Get lots of looks, and are reliable. Keep it, and enjoy.

They are pretty darn fast too! Welcome to KZR, good site.

Welcome, and I agree, keep the bike. You will enjoy everything that comes along with owning a classic Z, especially with your intentions on keeping it original.

never mind no info

No offense intended, but I guess if you are not prepared to spend $200 on it you may as well sell it. Putting a bike back into service and properly maintaining it will cost you every bit of $200 (probably needs tires as well as other stuff you haven't factored in such as filters, brake fluid and fork foil changes, etc.). The part I don't understand is that if the bike runs, has only 9k miles (barely broken in), and is in good condition other than a few missing bits why do you believe it would end up as a parts bike or chopped up?

BTW, KZ650's that haven't been butchered and are in running condition generally sell for between $1000 - $3000 depending upon condition. Here are 2 examples of bikes sold on eBay:

cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Kawasaki-Other-1...&hash=item2a2249450d

cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Kawasaki-Other-K...&hash=item19d4be579b

650ed wrote: No offense intended, but I guess if you are not prepared to spend $200 on it you may as well sell it. Putting a bike back into service and properly maintaining it will cost you every bit of $200 (probably needs tires as well as other stuff you haven't factored in such as filters, brake fluid and fork foil changes, etc.). The part I don't understand is that if the bike runs, has only 9k miles (barely broken in), and is in good condition other than a few missing bits why do you believe it would end up as a parts bike or chopped up?

BTW, KZ650's that haven't been butchered and are in running condition generally sell for between $1000 - $3000 depending upon condition. Here are 2 examples of bikes sold on eBay:

cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Kawasaki-Other-1...&hash=item2a2249450d

cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Kawasaki-Other-K...&hash=item19d4be579b

No offense taken at all. Its certainly not about 200 dollars its about not investing more in a bike of this age then its worth. You are correct in saying it will need other items as well but I guess I figured things like tires are expected to need replacing but something like broken glass on a speedometer might be beyond normal wear . I just happened upon this bike but admittedly do not know that much about them (value wise). I know how finicky the market can be on old bikes from model to model (and even year to year) so when I made the comment about a parts bike it was based on that. Often times an older bike is worth way more as parts (even when running) than as a whole. Thanks for the info I certainly appreciate it.