As mentioned in an earlier post, my son Eddie was helping to part out a Triumph Daytona 955i that I'd bought. My intention was to part the bike out all along, but in verifying its running condition, I kinda fell in love with how the machine delivered power. I waffled on tearing the bike down for several months while I quietly thought about putting it back on the road as a full-blown street bike.
Eventually I came to my senses (that is, I needed the money) and proceeded with the part-out. Eddie did a huge majority of the tear down. The only thing I had to do myself was pull the engine and swingarm off the frame, and to break up some of the small-parts systems.
I gave Eddie a nice chunk of change - $100 - for his day in the garage and he was ecstatic. I've spent the last couple of weeks catalogging, eBaying and packing/shipping the various parts, including palleting and taking the engine to Forward Air for shipment to California. The buyer sent me an email a week or two ago thanking me again for the "great running engine!". He blew his up and is now back on the road.
I've explained my stance on parting out bikes in the past. I think I've got the process down and I think I have the basis for a decent little side business if I can continue to find good-enough deals on older and used bikes. If I can enlist my son and/or daughter to help with some of the work, I can offload some of the tedium and they can make some money. More win/win all around.
Anyway, Eddie's $100 went towards some things he's been pining away for and has been saving up for, so he saw some real and honest benefits to working hard for his rewards. If I can keep this up, he'll understand the real world a little earlier than some kids might.
And I won't have to break my knuckles on every bike I part out. :-)
Follow up on the part-out
