Not sure where to start with this one, help with a small collection

Hello all, nice forum you all have here, quite a bit of information to sift though.

Unfortunately my father recently passed away, and he has left us with his UJM collection, which included multiple KZ1300s, both A1 and A2 versions, I think at least one Voyager with Vetter setup, and at least one NOS engine and frame.

I grew up wrenching on bikes with the old man, and he LOVED the KZs, they were by far his favorite, and I have very fond memories of riding on the back of it and him cracking the throttle, or holding the carb sticks for him, or helping him procure or reuse parts (IIRC I think we sourced some coils out of some '90s GM vehicle?).

However, I am now at a cross-roads. Do I sell the collection as is to someone? Do I keep the KZs, sell the other 10x UJM bikes, and restore them? I would have enough parts/complete bikes to really throw myself into a rebuild, however that also takes time, space, and money. KZ1300 parts were rare in the late 90s and early 2000s, and I can only imagine the rarity and problems finding parts has not gotten any better.

On the other hand, he left a few newer bikes, and I'm tempted to just ride one of the Triumph Rocket IIIs and just have a rider to not worry about maintaining or restoring, but it just doesn't have the same majesty or feel of riding that six cylinder motor.

Since you all seem to really enjoy photos, here are some I grabbed recently. I will go back and get more in-depth photos at some point but here is a start and at least one other storage shed to go through.

If I do decide to part with the KZ stuff, can anyone give an rough estimates of what I should be looking to ask for it? I seem to recall random stuff like the 160pmh speedos being like $500, and there are at least two of them here, which makes valuation difficult as parting it out is usually always more profitable however time consuming. And the fact that he also hoarded parts due to the increasing problems of finding stuff makes that even more difficult.

Also if anyone is in the NE area of the US and is interested at all, I would absolutely LOVE to see some of this stuff go to an enthusiast, as it would mean his gearheadedness would live on vicariously.

First, sorry for your loss, I can say for sure your dad love bikes!!
In theory, if you part out the bike you make more money
I Reality, it involves lot of time and effort, working, storage, keeping inventory, and you don’t know what you will sale and when. You will end up with some parts that you cannot sale or will take you years to sale.
In my opinion, sale them complete as project bikes, if you can do some work and make sure they start and in riding condition that will add lot of value.
I think you need to start with the bikes that complete.
• Make sure the engine crank
• If crank, do basic tune up, oil, filter, sparkplug, air in tires
• Try to start with external fuel supply
• If the bike start, you are good to go
• If not, now its depend how much time and money you want to spend
• Don’t forget, then you will need to check the brakes, maybe rebuild
• Gas tank maybe full of rust
• From what I see in the picture, most engines are corroded, it will be a project to bring them back to mint condition.
Bottom line, whatever direction you take is a project, if you can show they start and run it will be much easier to sale
If you clean them good and all parts are original in good condition it sometime worth more than a good engine, hard to fine them in good condition, engine you can rebuild
Hope this give you some direction

Nice to see a largely complete Vetter GranTouring , and a 1300b2.

Welcome to the Forum and on the same breath, sorry for your loss. It's nice that you had a chance to share his enthusiasm for motorcycles. I have a 30 year old son who has immersed himself in restoring a 1972 GMC pick up and even though he likes doing similar things to what I do, he never showed any interest in wrenching with me as a young man and I missed that dearly. Enjoy the memories.
If I were in your shoes, I might be inclined to either finish one of his projects and keep it for reminiscing the times I had with my Dad and probably sell the other treasures unless you're looking for future projects to spend your retirement time on. Personally, one resurrection will probably do it. Had I a chance to do it over again, I might be inclined to buy a new bike and cherish it for say the next 30 years. Restorations can be real hair pullers (just ask some of our members)

that's my 2 cents.

Kawboy wrote: Welcome to the Forum and on the same breath, sorry for your loss. It's nice that you had a chance to share his enthusiasm for motorcycles. I have a 30 year old son who has immersed himself in restoring a 1972 GMC pick up and even though he likes doing similar things to what I do, he never showed any interest in wrenching with me as a young man and I missed that dearly. Enjoy the memories.
If I were in your shoes, I might be inclined to either finish one of his projects and keep it for reminiscing the times I had with my Dad and probably sell the other treasures unless you're looking for future projects to spend your retirement time on. Personally, one resurrection will probably do it. Had I a chance to do it over again, I might be inclined to buy a new bike and cherish it for say the next 30 years. Restorations can be real hair pullers (just ask some of our members)

that's my 2 cents.

totally agree with you