Seller's famous last words...

When I bought my Maxim, the PO said... "It's getting harder to find cheap old bikes anymore these days" "I even have an extra set of carbs!" "They don't make em like this anymore" "You could ride her home if you had a plate"


Some other famous last words....

"I rode it into this very shed last summer"... What? The summer of 1988?

"Just needs a tune up"

"All it needs is tires, and the carbs rebuilt"

"It ran when I parked it"

"Those 35 year old tires still have plenty of tread on them."



C'mon, I know you guys have heard them all.

 

I recall a similar post. My favourite is "Carbs need balancing".

MY PO said "It will be fine to ride 60 miles home". It broke down after 4!!!

 

Not exactly a PO quote, but his wife:

"This guy thinks he knows how to fix it, but it's been 3 years and it's worse than before! Good thing I put out that ad to sell it or it would be off to the dump."

Couldn't help to think it was pretty funny and ballsy of her to do without his consent. :lol:

 

I bought a bike off of Ebay one time sent the money got directions on where and when to pick up the following weekend next thing I know I get a refund and no explanation. A few days later I get an email apparently husband did not want to sell after all.
Another time I found a bike on craigslist for $75.00 I went to check it out it would turn over but wouldnt start and it had brand new tires on it the fellow told me he did not understand what was wrong with it but wife would not let him spend any money on it anymore so he just wanted it gone. Brand new tires are worth more than $75.00 so I bought it brought it home and checked the fire, had fire, sprayed start fluid in the airbox and bam fired up. Drained the fuel tank and it had water in it, a lot of water in it, way to much water in it. Carbs had pure water in them. Wife apparently did not like him riding . New plugs a carb sync color tune and sold it back to him for $75.00. Now I have a friend thats an EMT

 

Cool story Waldo...and you did the right thing but I don't imagine his wife is a fan of yours?


Since I began collecting and restoring, it's truly amazing what some people will tell you and fully expect that you will believe them! Vedalkin is right, there are a thousand lies and unfortunately, 998 believers.

Most of us believe because we WANT to believe them. Once we get into a more objective state of mind, things become much clearer and we can easily walk away from a BS story.

Since most of the bikes I own were built in the 70's, they need only to turn over and have compression for me to be comfortable. My all time favorite lie was when a guy tried to convince me a ragged out 75 RD was nearly new as the 1050mile title and odometer claimed it to be. I have no idea where the title or speedo came from but nearly all the factory paint was worn off the engine and instrument cluster and even the back side of the mirrors, the pegs ground to a nice triangle along with the crossover bar underneath, front tire worn to the cords, rear pads worn to nearly nothing but front pads new (typical of many riders unfortunately), the entire bike was ragged, clutch slipped and all....but it had new tins and the owner swore it had been parked in the garage since being ridden a 1000 miles back in 75. I passed....


I think that most popular excuse by far has to be the carburation excuse. Back in the 70's it was "just needs a tuneup" but since the advent of electronic ignitions, now it's "just needs the carbs rebuilt"


jeff

 

My fav by far is...

"I dunno what happened I put it away last fall and now it wont start."

Newb needs a lesson in winterizing.

 

"If you buy it now, it's $400 , if I blow out the carbs and add a battery, I'll want $800 or more."

"you just have to file for lost title, no big deal"

 

I heard : I don't know why it does not start... i don't know anything about motors and stuff.... while in his garage surrounded by an army of tools, oil pans and a car lift....

 

Oh, you'll love this one....

When buying my XS11, cyl 3 and 4 weren't firing. I put my hands on the exhaust pipes while the engine was running (running on #1 and 2, obviously) pointing this out to the seller. His reply: "you know, they've got that thing where they don't use the extra cylinders to save gas". 8O Gotta love that 1979 technology...

 

the best one i had was a younger feller couldn't figure out why it would only run part of the time.

i loaded it up. gassed it up and rode it for the summer. the guy couldn't figure out it was out of gas. ROFLMAO.

 

You'd be amazed how many I get in the shop that just need gasoline. One was a watercraft from the owner of an automobile shop. When I called him you could hear him banging his head on his desk as he said "We laugh at people for that!"

I also did an ATV that had a plug fall out of the head letting the valve train drain down the front of the engine (the equivalent of that half moon on some of the XJs). The "guys" at the transmission shop had tried to fix it for the owner while he was on vacation. Instead of a $4 plug he had to buy a $4 plug and an engine reassembly. They won't be getting my transmission business.

 

i've had a lot of cars towed into the shop becuase they were out of gas. for whatever reason there gas gauge became inaccurate.

i've also had a few cars towed into the shop after they've just filled the tank up. most just needed a couple bottles of HEET gas dryer. but some have been so fortunate enough as to have the fuel pump quit at that exact moment. nothing like pulling down a full tank of gas to change the pump out. not only for the weight factor but all that liquid sploshing around keeping the tank from being steady so it can be remounted.

 

'it won't start'....

I towed it home, put no 3 on no 3 plug and 4 back on 4 (they were swapped) put the vacuum back on the tank and had a $300 Maxim x....

 

How about this one.... "Look how clean it is Dad, There can't be much wrong with it".

 

Ooo, I have one: PO couldn't get it started after MANY tries: I think it just has a sticking valve. It'll clear up. Finally started and ran like crap. It actually had cracked rings on two cylinders and concrete gas deposits in the carbs.

 

This one is funny because the PO is a very old friend. The bike sat for a few years. After paying a shop to rebuild the carbs, new tires, a sync, and some other work it ran ok for about a week and started to act up and barely run. He got so fed up he went out and bought a another bike. He said I could have the XJ if I wanted to come get it. OK! Got it home pulled the tank off and tried to sync it, but it ran fine. Put the tank back on runs like crap! Back and forth a few time and I find a huge vacuum leak in the petcock. I pulled the vac line off and capped both ends. Now I have a manual petcock and a free bike. I offered it back to him, but he was so pissed he didn’t even want to look at it. Which he does when I ride it to work.

“we work at the same company” Ouch!

 

Awesome, I just bought the manual petcock too. Did you have to do any modifications on your new one?

 

I think he runs it on "PRI" and when he shuts it off , turns it to "ON".

No purchase nessessary. Void where prohibited.

 

TimeToRide is correct

PRi = on and on = off

try to steal in with the gas "ON" see how far you get !!

LOL

 

What about a PO being honest, and my father (helped me with my rebuild) being wrong?

With my old XS the PO (good buddy of mine) admitted a 1st gear problem. Pulled the engine apart, dad looked at the transmission, said it was "fine" and told me to put it back together. First ride once it's running, can't get it to stop slipping gears in 1st.