my friend has a 1988 LT500 I am looking at buying......it has .+10 swingarm..3 hours on upper end...hot coated Paul Turner pipe...not sure on the carb or reeds.....Chromed calipers....milled head, ported and polished cylinder ports....3 sets of tires...nurf bars.......ALL aluminum custom fenders...and a custom paint job.......by this info, can you guys give me your opinion on what a going price would be??? I think his asking price is a good deal, but If it is too dang fast for me, I dont want to have to eat cash to get rid of it.. Thanks!

 

What's his asking price? It all depends where you live; on the west coast, I'd say $3500-4000 is a good average price for a 500 that's been recently rebuilt with some head work and has a pipe/silencer and good sand tires.

I don't know where you plan to ride, but I would personally ditch the +10 swingarm, aluminum fenders w/custom paint. Keep them for souvenirs and put some stock plastics on, because if/when you crash, that aluminum is going to dig into you and get all bent and nasty looking. So I would factor in the cost of new plastics and swingarm on top of the purchase price.

 

hes selling it to me for 3K. Forgot to mention that he is still looking around the shop for the original plastic.

Are there any weak points to a 1988 ?? Anything I need to look close at that is a common LT500 problem????

 

Sounds like a good price.

Things to look out for:
1) Main bearing inserts... if they haven't been done then you'll need them done, as the main bearings expand at a different rate and will start to wobble over time, destroying the motor. It's been awhile since I've been in the 500 world (sold my 500) but Trinity Racing, Duncan, etc. should be able to do it. Do a search on these forums for bearing inserts.

2) The '88-90s have one more stud on the head, so you won't be as prone to blowing head gaskets as the '87s. However, the 87's have the more powerful intake though, although I'd say the difference won't be noticed that much. I've had both an '87 and a '90. They say the '90 was the best year, but I'm not sure what all of the changes were.

3) Swingarm cracks are common on factory swingarms near the rear shock mount, so keep an eye out for that.