I wish I had a hard and fast formula for this, here’s my attempt:
Bricks require periodic care and feeding. An owner disinterested in doing seasonal maintenance shall we call it, might best invest in a newer ride. As, for me, the cost of professional maintenance is out of the question.
Some K bike bits are fine nearly forever. Some will bite you if ignored, so if this is what I’m going to ride I’ll do well to eliminate potential surprises.
Splines lubes are the obvious example. Others, like this silly $100 rubber fuel pump damper -hidden inside the tank, and in my case in what looks like a pristine tank at first glance is the stuff not obvious but essential from time to time. That is -If I want to jump on this when the time is right and driver til I reach a large body of water, I want bits like this to be a non-factor in my planning.
Another thought: what other bike can be acquired for 2-3k usd$ with fuel injection etc and do what these do? I’m fine with carrying a clutch cable and a fuel pump with me in my kit- this is a classic machine and that’s part of the experience.
I happened to view a video on Facebook this am about the rescue of a junkyard dog. my new Motobrick pal Szabo clearly has a acquired such a pitiable k bike animal... Blind, coated in oil, cancer etc.. I’m really not into such animal stuff ( though our pooch lives very well...), anyway they pulled the dog out from neglect and started showing it some love despite the dire prognosis.
Everyone benefitted. I certainly grin the more i dig into these bikes as time permits. Cooling system and muffler post mortem later today actually!!
The pooch healed and starting paying back the love. A lot of weird stuff makes me think about my brick lately. Enjoy your day.