Bike-E's are generally considered "starter" recumbents. As you said, the pictures do suggest they should clean up nicely. Bike-E's are a bit heavy and somewhat slow in comparison to other recumbents (due to weight and wheel size/gear inches) BUT they handle well at slow speeds, are low enough to the ground for people with short legs and are easy to ride (compared to high-racers with your feet above your hips!). Also, they are adjustable to a decent range of leg-lengths/X-seams.
eBay has a few
listed for various prices - from $150 (under-valued IMO) to $1200 (way over-valued IMHO) right now.
If you picked them up cheaply, congratulations.
You can probably find more people who have (had) them over on
bentrideronline.com.