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Z3n posted:I prefer the first gens, easier to mod for more power. And they don't snap cranks like the second gens do when you boost engine power over 80hp. On the other hand, first gens are carbureted, which is a bigger maintenance and tuning hassle.
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May 11, 2010 19:46
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timb posted:On the other hand, first gens are carbureted, which is a bigger maintenance and tuning hassle. SVs come with some of the best carbs I've ever had on a bike. You can start them and ride it with half choke no problem and I'm not aware of anyone having problems with them. Of course if you don't store the bike properly you'll run into problems.
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May 11, 2010 20:20
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timb posted:On the other hand, first gens are carbureted, which is a bigger maintenance and tuning hassle. I had a first gen that had been stored for 3 years with no prep, it didn't even need to have the carbs cleaned, just a fresh battery, fresh gas, and off it went. It was amazing. Not sure how it was even possible. And tuning on them is stupid easy and can be done without the assistance of a dyno, thanks to the fact that there are thousands of them out there and the setup is pretty much dialed. I have never had problems with the stock carbs on any of the SVs I've owned. The flatslides require a bit more of an experienced hand to dial in right.
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May 11, 2010 20:29
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What do you guys think about this 80 Honca CB750F? http://fresno.craigslist.org/mcy/1735740872.html I was previously looking at an 84 Nighthawk 700SC which is a thinner frame with more power and less weight. The 84 doesn't run, comes with a parts bike, and I'll owe 2-3 years of dmv fees to get it registered. Should I go with the running bike that's in better cosmetic shape, but will be a little slower and heavier? They're basically the same price, and I've only got 2 months experience so far.
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May 11, 2010 22:11
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Rontalvos posted:What do you guys think about this 80 Honca CB750F? http://fresno.craigslist.org/mcy/1735740872.html What a gorgeous bike. I'd be all over that.
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May 11, 2010 22:16
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Rontalvos posted:What do you guys think about this 80 Honca CB750F? http://fresno.craigslist.org/mcy/1735740872.html Yes, you should, if you want to ride motorcycles rather than work on them.
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May 11, 2010 22:29
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Both my father and I emailed the guy. Please call me, guy. I have cash. 
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May 11, 2010 22:57
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n8r posted:SVs come with some of the best carbs I've ever had on a bike. You can start them and ride it with half choke no problem and I'm not aware of anyone having problems with them. Of course if you don't store the bike properly you'll run into problems. Oh yea, I'm not saying they're not good, because they are. I just think that given the choice between a carbureted or EFI SV650, the average person who just wants to ride is better off with the EFI. Z3n posted:I had a first gen that had been stored for 3 years with no prep, it didn't even need to have the carbs cleaned, just a fresh battery, fresh gas, and off it went. It was amazing. Not sure how it was even possible. See, I had the opposite experience. My bike was stored for a year with no fuel stabilizer and the carbs were corroded to hell and back. Then again, the bike was stored (covered) outside in a very humid environment.
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May 12, 2010 04:46
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timb posted:Oh yea, I'm not saying they're not good, because they are. I just think that given the choice between a carbureted or EFI SV650, the average person who just wants to ride is better off with the EFI. If I could have found one in good shape with EFI for ~$2k, I would have. I'm cheap so I bought one with carbs though, and the only real downside I can see is fuel economy. I wouldn't call the backfiring on deceleration a downside.
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May 12, 2010 04:53
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timb posted:
My co-worker just bought himself a 92 Honda Shadow for 100$, it had been sitting around for 2-3 years unridden and non-running, I believe he just rewired the ignition, and put in a battery and it fired right up with the old gas in there and all. I asked if he needed to clean the carbs or drain the tank but he just said "nope, runs beautifully" He just got it registered and is riding it to work now.
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May 12, 2010 04:58
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Just curious what you guys thought of this. I've been watching the dual sport market on Craigslist for a month or so, and this is one of the cheaper ones in San Francisco (he's asking $1700, but I'd bet he's willing to come down a bit): http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/mcy/1734769001.html The goal has been to get a not-so-huge dual sport to learn both using a standard transmission bike (currently rocking an Elite 80) as well as to eventually learn to ride off road, with the ultimate goal of doing a long ride across Southeast Asia in a year or so.
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May 12, 2010 05:06
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Thinking of adding a 2002 VFR with ABS to the stable. For the most part it looks like the only downsides to this bike are a few electrical gremlins, soft rear shock and the need for a good tune around the vtec point to kill the lean spot. I'm looking at this bike for something that could take me to some place far away from nebraska, like to california and what not. Any reason to stay away?
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May 12, 2010 05:37
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Expensive valve adjustments thanks to v4 config and vtec.
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May 12, 2010 05:57
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Z3n posted:Expensive valve adjustments thanks to v4 config and vtec. Aside from that? They seem to be good long distance bikes with Helibars and a sargeant seat.
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May 12, 2010 06:01
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CSi-NA-EJ7 posted:Aside from that? They seem to be good long distance bikes with Helibars and a sargeant seat. I rode a friends, loved it. Kinda strange to have a nice flat torque curve ruined by Vtec, but that's life. Great all arounders, definitely the gentleman's sportbike. If that appeals to you, then go for it. It didn't quite tickle my fancy. Sounded great though.
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May 12, 2010 16:49
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What do you guys think about this as a first bike? http://memphis.craigslist.org/mcy/1723641447.html 81 Honda GL 500 for 1750.
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May 12, 2010 19:40
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Paytizzle posted:What do you guys think about this as a first bike? Seems a little on the high side (but TN bike sellers all seem to be on crack anyway), but that would be a great first bike. About 45 hp, and very comfortable.
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May 12, 2010 19:50
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Doctor Zero posted:Seems a little on the high side (but TN bike sellers all seem to be on crack anyway), but that would be a great first bike. About 45 hp, and very comfortable. quote:Maybe should be called a Hoosie  But yeah, great bikes. I loved mine, dead reliable, basically unkillable. Slap a turbo on it when you need to move up to a bigger bike for more fun. 
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May 12, 2010 20:52
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Another important point is '81s and later have the stator redesign and so they don't cook as a matter of course. DO NOT get one '80 or before unless you really love pulling engines out of bikes to put in a $45 part. 
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May 12, 2010 21:03
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AncientTV posted:It's a ninja 500, same generation as mine. I was just going to take all of the pretty parts off of it and then flip it for super cheap. Bought this. It's a little more rough around the edges than I expected, so I only paid $250 for it 
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May 13, 2010 00:42
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AncientTV posted:Bought this. It's a little more rough around the edges than I expected, so I only paid $250 for it Did you figure out what's wrong with it?
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May 13, 2010 00:43
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I haven't looked it over much apart from the initial inspection, but I think it's a wiring issue somewhere. I threw my working battery in it when I went to go check it out, and the dash didn't even light up. It's obviously been dropped, after which he let it sit for a year. The wiring in it looks like a terrible hack job, so I'm going to strip it down tomorrow, when I have light, and see if I can't make sense of the rat's nest.
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May 13, 2010 00:49
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Z3n posted:Expensive valve adjustments thanks to v4 config and vtec. Asked a dealer, they siad they'd do it for $250 is that expensive or incorrect?? I must jsut be used to Ducati pricing
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May 13, 2010 04:33
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CSi-NA-EJ7 posted:Asked a dealer, they siad they'd do it for $250 is that expensive or incorrect?? I must jsut be used to Ducati pricing That's incorrect. It's billed at 5-8 hours of shop time, depending on the shop, and they probably didn't realize that it's vtec and a pain in the rear end. Shop time is usually 80-120$, so you can do the math from there. Either that or the shop rate for them is 40$, which would be...uncommon. ~250$ is pretty much a standard rate for a valve adjustment, and usually they're listed at 1-2 hours of shop time. Seems like the general consensus on the VFR boards is to just ignore it and ride them until the pop and then swap in a new engine, because engines are cheaper than valve adjustments at the shop. It's one of the things that's steered me away from a VFR 800 with Vtec, the other being that while it's a very good bike, it just didn't set off the spark in me.
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May 13, 2010 05:33
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Agrias120 posted:http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/mcy/1734572705.html Bought this. I took it on a spin around the neighborhood last night and fell in love  . Getting it registered today! The only thing that bothers me about it is the tach doesn't work--but it's not a big deal. It felt pretty intuitive with engine feel/sound for telling me when I needed to shift.
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May 13, 2010 12:48
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Agrias120 posted:Bought this. I took it on a spin around the neighborhood last night and fell in love Congrats! I think the tachs are cable driven on those bikes, so if you want to fix it, I'd check the cable first, it's probably broken.
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May 13, 2010 16:44
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 '88 Kawasaki EL250. They're asking $1495 for it. I talked to a sales guy a bit ago, who told me they pulled it off their running line because "It wasn't running right." I pressed him a bit on the problem, and he mentioned the carbs might need cleaning. Any of you have any experience with this model? I don't mind spending a couple hundred bucks and a weekend getting it to run right, but I'm not too interested in dropping what I pay for the thing in parts.
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May 13, 2010 19:06
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Where are you located? I'd say it's worth 500$ if it's not running but clean otherwise. Just because they're a dealership doesn't mean poo poo.
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May 13, 2010 19:50
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Yeah, that's a lot of money for a 22 year old 250 with some kind of  carb problems.
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May 13, 2010 19:52
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Z3n posted:Where are you located? I'd say it's worth 500$ if it's not running but clean otherwise. Just because they're a dealership doesn't mean poo poo. About an hour east of Houston. And you're right.. I trust this guy about as far as I can throw him, but if all that's wrong with this bike is a carb cleaning, I might be looking at a hell of a deal, especially for a first bike. I'll probably go have a look at it tomorrow. If it runs well enough, I'll work him lower.
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May 13, 2010 20:00
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harm0nic posted:About an hour east of Houston. That's a really dumb assumption and they make all of their money off of poo poo like that. If you need tires, a chain, sprockets, brake fluid, oil, and all of the other consumables they probably haven't addressed, and a carb cleaning, you're looking at 2-3 weekends of work and over 600$ just in parts. Maybe more. And then your nice, 1500$ motorcycle cost you 2100$, plus 2 weekends that you could have spent riding, if you're already mechanically inclined. If you're not, count on spending 2-4 times that. They'll probably come back with an offer of around 1000$. Make drat sure that's out the door pricing, too. And that's if it just need a carb cleaning. What if it's in an intermittant electrical cutout? Parts? Need to rebuild the carbs? If it doesn't start from cold, idle, and run, walk. If it does, offer 800 and then walk, leaving them your number, the bike's not worth that much and they will call you back, the economy is poo poo right now. I paid 1800$, 5 years ago, for a 2001 Ninja 250 that started, ran, and was in showroom shape with under 10k on it. That's a pretty good deal on a bike. This is not. There's the potential for it to be a good deal, but as it sits, it's a horrible deal. A non-running 250 for 1500$ + I'm sure they're going to try and tack on other fees on top of that. I bet they paid no more than 200-400$ for it on trade in. Z3n fucked around with this message at 20:13 on May 13, 2010 |
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May 13, 2010 20:11
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Thanks for the advice. I'll let you know how it plays out.
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May 13, 2010 20:23
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harm0nic posted:Thanks for the advice. I'll let you know how it plays out. Good luck! Sorry if my post came off as kinda harsh, didn't mean it that way. You can just ask ancientTV about what it's like to get a bike that's "Pretty running" and seeing how far it goes. I think we spent 6 months trying to get his bike running right, he missed an entire season, and it was a situation that started basically exactly like this, except he paid way less for the bike.
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May 13, 2010 20:29
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Z3n posted:Good luck! Don't sweat it. I know tough love when I see it. 
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May 13, 2010 20:42
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It was joked about earlier but we really should replace the "The good, the wrecked, and the rusted" part of the thread title with "low ball the poo poo out of them". It's the best advice in most situations.
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May 13, 2010 21:14
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I'm taking the MSF this weekend, and I've been looking on craigslist for a good beginner bike. I'm looking for a Ninja 250 or something similar, but there haven't been many of those posted lately. How does this one look for a starter bike? http://austin.craigslist.org/mcy/1740750526.html
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May 14, 2010 20:20
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I don't know the specifics of that bike, but it looks decent and the seller seems honest. The price seems reasonable too if it's in good shape, try lowballing him at first, but I don't think that paying $1500 for that would be unreasonable. I'd say give it a sit, check over the normal stuff, and go for it.
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May 14, 2010 21:53
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The Zephyr is on my short list of bikes to own as I really like naked standard bikes. If that one is in as good shape as they say, it's probably just as good if not better to own than a late 70's or early 80's UJM, and about the same price. I'd be all over that if it were near me.
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May 14, 2010 22:44
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Z3n posted:Good luck! Hey, 6 months of staring at my first bike in pieces wasn't that bad  ninja edit: and now I've gone and bought another one. WHAT AM I DOING TO MYSELF 
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May 15, 2010 00:34
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Found a 98 Ninja ex250 http://austin.craigslist.org/mcy/1740678718.html The seller lives close to the high school where I'm taking the MSF, and he's going to bring it by after the riding portion. The seller's looking for $1000, but considering it has 124k miles on it and the body's in pretty crappy shape, I was going to offer $750. Is it even worth that much? Should the number of miles on it be a concern?
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May 15, 2010 11:40
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