1985 Kawasaki eliminator zl900 troubleshoot help needed

I’ve recently bought a 85 eliminator 900
And when I push start the starter turns but doesn’t seem like the gears are catching enough to get it to turn over, it’s catches enough to crank twice then you just hear the starter spinning. What could this be, how much labor, is it worth it or should I sell/part out? Gave $300 so I’d like to fix it up but also feel parts are hard to come by. Just looking for some mechanical as well as investment advice thanks in advance for any info you can bestow unto me.

Sounds like your starter clutch is failing. Basically a one-way clutch that connects the big starter gear to the crankshaft, consists of rollers, pins and springs. The parts would not be exclusive to the Eliminator, it's basically a Ninja motor in a cruiser frame. I think Eliminators have a following, they were a little bit ahead of their time, kind of like the Z1R. You're in it pretty cheap, if you like it I would think it would be worth fixing, but starting with $300 you can probably make money parting it out if you're not in a hurry. There aren't a lot of them around,FWIW, I personally think it would be a bit of a shame not to save it.

Mike