Wow, the frame breaking sounds like an issue that if it does happen, thats the end of the bike altogether...I knew about the second gear problem but the frame breaking at the rear suspension has me really concerned especially with something of that age. Yeah I wondered too why get rid of it so fast too which I'm not too sure about. I ended up getting stuck with a dirtbike when I was much younger with a broken frame, the idiots knew the weld wouldnt hold and they grinded it down then put bondo around it then covered it up with flat paint and dirt.
As for the height, he said a doctor owned it before (and was able to name the hospital where he worked) the doc was short and had the bike lowered. I just found another 1984 with 22 thousand miles but it would be a long haul for me for 1,500...why are these bikes so damn cheap? they look like they would be MUCH MUCH more
http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwi/mcy/2524725468.html