Helping friend look at bikes...

Saw this one:

http://austin.craigslist.org/mcy/2979155551.html

Only thing that throws me off is the crank rebuild. Is that a warning signal? Why would someone need to do that?

Other than that, assuming the guy goes down to $750ish (locally, that's as cheap as running motorcycles not needing any major work go for), does this look good?

Obviously needs some carb work if it only runs with choke, but it runs. Friend doesn't mind disengaging starter motor and just kick starting, does the same with her 2 stroke scooter right now.

 

Find out if you can still get parts for it.

I think she can do better for the money.

 

Actually thats not a bad price for a 74 GT550. They have been in demand by collectors, I don't know if they still are. I know a 73 GT750 can go for as much as $7000 if restored to show room condition!

 

The "Crank Rebuild" and Aux Oil Supply should be in FLASHING RED TYPE.

That's worse than hearing: "She's got a great personality and is a terrific dancer."

All the fun has been used-up on that Bike.

When the Season rolls around you MUST be patient.
You'll find a Bike that is a Just-Turn-Key Runner worth buying.

At the beginning of the season, .... buy a Bike to RIDE.
A runner.

At the end of the season, ... buy something to wrench on.

The MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR is what I tell everybody to regard as
Rule Number One.

"Rule Number One"

Don't spend your hard-earned money to buy somebody else's troubles!!!

 

That's worth repeating.

For another few hundred she should be able to find one some other sucker already put the sweat and $$ into. She'll be riding sooner and part with less money too.

 

Yeah, that was what I told her: looks pretty good, but super suspicious about the "why the rebuild there? Sounds like something bad broke and maybe trying to get it off his hands and recoup losses..."

Serendipity:

Today she posts on my wall telling me she found a bike she likes a lot, a little expensive, but she'll probably just out and buy it:

http://austin.craigslist.org/mcy/2979586857.html

It's my bike! Down to the year, model, and even the MILEAGE! (Mine also just hit 27k). Weird. She didn't realize, she hasn't seen my bike yet, since I've only had mine for 3 or 4 weeks now.

Definitely a steep price. But the bike does seem to be in pretty pristine condition. Would be nice if she would wait him out a while and let him realize his bike doesn't go for that. In the same market, I bought a good running but cosmetically iffy identical bike, slightly less miles, a month ago, for $1050 less. Of course, I've spent almost $400 so far, and many hours of work and research on mine, so a mechanic's value probably would be close to that $1000 difference if you just paid a shop (and could trust them to do it right...).

He's selling it on personal value, his work he's put into it, I guess. Tuning the carbs to sell is a nice touch. Guy must know what he's doing if he does that to sell it, not just for himself.

 

Just one thing, I'm not big on cosmetic stuff generally BUT if I had the carbs apart to clean,wouldn't you clean the rust off the chrome hats while you had them apart?

 

Nice bike--- for around $600~$800.

It's still going to need a like amount sunk into it.

 

Top Retail for that Bike in 5-Star Condition is: $950.00

That's for a Bike that does not need anything.

Before you fork-over "Double-the-money."

• It should START -- Immediately.
Like a Race Horse comes flying out of the Starting Gates.
• PRE-Sale Compression Test Values -- ALL Good to Excellent
+128 psi - All 4
* Road Test "A-OK"
Runs great. No strange noises. Excellent performance. Brakes. Steering.
Suspension. ::: Clutch ::: -- ::: Transmission ::: Leak Check :::

 

All motorcycles are just priced above the national average in Austin, from looking at this forum. It is IMPOSSIBLE to find a running (even poorly) motorcycle for $600. If that's true, and the cheapest RUNNING motorcycle I've ever heard of being sold was my XJ at $800 (a steal in my market here), then how much would a pristine, good running, well maintained model go for?

Probably $1400 would be a cool price. That'd be about as low as you could go, though.

I'm going to advise her to offer quite a bit less, but the guy's ad doesn't sound like he wants to budge. So you'd either have to lowball him or wait it out. I'm wondering if I can just reason with him, if I can offer her advice out loud saying it's good, but it's just too expensive, this bike just doesn't go for that much money. Might still be too soon, though, he just posted.

Gah, I dunno. I think she's already getting attached to it, which is a serious problem when you're buying, not being able to walk away. She's getting impatient, she's been looking for weeks, scouring craigslist every day. Most of what shows up is overpriced and will still take tons of maintenance and resto, or cheap junk that isn't worth it.

 

But hold on. Fitz, assuming that actually the $600-$800 isn't necessary in her case, that this is the genuine article, that the brakes are all good and recently replaced, the tires are only one season old and have plenty of tread, the carbs really are pristine, the compression is 140 on every cylinder, the guy seems incredibly trustworthy, honesty, and brilliant as far as mechanics go, clutch and transmission are smooth as melting butter, starts right up, no leaks (what is the "leak test"?), etc.

In this market, that'd be like buying it for $1000-$1200, and then having someone else do all the work for you at the price of parts, considering what normal people have to put into their bike. And then it's not so bad, right?

If ANYTHING is wrong, I'll tell the guy, look, for the price you want, it needs to be perfect. I'm going to have to take off for this, because it's money and work I'm about to have to put into it. Go over everything with a fine tooth comb.

 

If it needs nothing, absolutely nothing, and I'm even talking a full tank of gas, then it would be a decent deal. Still high, but decent.

I have a sister in Dallas and They went back home to Iowa to buy thier Harleys just because the price of bikes is higher when you can ride them 12 months out of the year.

 

Leak Test:

Run the Bike at Highway Speed and warm the Oil up good.
Return to base.
Spread Newspaper under Bike
Wait 45min.
Look for drips on paper.

Leak Investigation:

Look on the floor where the Bike is usually parked.

 

Well, I went over with her to look at the bike, and besides the second-rate homemade-paint job the po before the po did (not terrible, but definitely lacking... Frame and tank, and he didn't realize it but guy before him had painted the engine silver, too...), there was not one thing to complain about on this bike. Carbs were obviously doing great. Started right up, idled well, went right up to fifth, smooth shifting, spark plugs looked fair (old, decent color, I'm no pro at diagnosing spark plugs, though, but that's less than $10; these were browner than mine for the most part, whereas mine are quite white with just a bit of brown), the speedo and tach looked great, all the rubber on the pegs was intact and decent, the grips were rubber, unlike my styrofoam grips, the tires were basically brand new shinkos, the fork seals look brand new (had been done not too long ago), shaft oil had been changed a month ago, the kickstand moves effortlessly, the petcock looks shiny enough to make me think it was either replaced or rebuilt at some point, the headers were clean, the fusebox had been custom replaced (to still use glass fuses, but they had mounted a plate with fuse holders that looked quality), and the mechanic he had check it had said compression was good (didn't get exact numbers, but the test drive told me it had to be fine), rear brake shoes had been replaced, front pads are in the mail and he'll give them to us when they arrive, though they felt great as-is... I couldn't even find a single crack on a single boot.

Guy was selling it because it was uncomfortable for him--not just height wise, he was like a 35o to 400 lb man, don't doubt he had back problems. He only had it for a month, had bought it off ebay from a guy in Kileen, TX who was at the base there, selling it because he was being deployed and didn't want it sitting.

This guy was charging so much, because he had put so much into it. He had bought a factory manual, and an original owners manual (both of which I hadn't seen in person, so that was cool), had put stock exhaust back on (guy before him had loud straight pipes), and had put a stock seat back on (it had had a '76 XS650 seat, I think, strapped down when he got it). He had also probably paid a lot to have the carbs completely detailed and tuned. On top of the price he paid for the bike, I think he lots $400 in the end, even at that price. I know, he would have probably been forced to go down over time, but... She was in love with it, and she had the money to spend, so she just bought it outright. I would have told her to use the crappy paint job as a bargaining point, as he knew it was bad, but she actually liked it and had made it clear (red's her favorite color a thousand times over), so... Too late for that.

It didn't have a full tank of gas, though, unfortunately. It died on us on the way home, a 30 mile ride. Almost stopped to get some with her, don't know why I didn't.

I had to walk her through what to do--DON'T just keep pressing the start button hoping it will magically start working again while you kill the battery, switch it to prime, let it sit for a second, switch to reserve, start her up. DON'T pull back the throttle, if you must and it's not warm (or suspect carb problems), you might use choke--you'll flood it otherwise. (She's used to a two-stroke scooter with a kick start she has, has been riding for years, start procedure is a bit different.)

Checked the air filter when we got to her place, and it's filthy. Also, the guy said oil looked fine so he hadn't changed it; I told her that she should just replace spark plugs, air filter, and do an oil+oil filter change while I'm here so she can learn that process (again, she's used to a two stroke), and it's cheap insurance.

She almost dropped it when she got home, right after I told her to be careful to engage the kick stand correctly. (Right after getting mine I almost dropped it because I thought the kickstand was down when it wasn't at a gas station. Luckily I've got a strong back... 436 lbs is a lot to catch and lift, let me tell you.) If I hadn't been there to catch it, it was going down. Classic.

She's stoked though!

Oh, and I got free highway pegs out of the whole ordeal. He had taken them off in his attempt to bring it back to stock, and mentioned that they were there as an afterthought. Ka-ching!

 

Can't see it, deleted by author.

 

well im glad she's happy. she sure paid for the happiness, but eh, if she had the money to burn, then what the hell, lol.

just make sure the brake lines are not dated, as well as the tires. just because they look in good shape, does not mean that they're new..

happy riding and have her create an account on here!!

 

Yup. Ah well. I'll tell her to join! Also, tires are good.