Yes its another motorcycle question.

[Coupe Devil]

I have jsut recently gotten my motorcycles operators permit. I have ridden a few of my friends bikes before but never owned one of my own. I have always wanted a crotch rocket, (I really like the CBR's) I also love hte way hte cruiser ( Valkyrie, VTX and Kawasaki Meanstreak) look and sit. I do not plan on buying new. Alying one over is enevitible and I Hate to scrap a brand new bike. What do I look for on USED bikes to determine condition. How many miles are two many for each respective type of bike, cruiser and rocket? I am undecided on what I want between the two. Obviously one of each would be nice but I don't see it happenin. Daliy commute would consist of abotu 70 miles round trip but I wouldnt ride every day. Alot of pleasure riding on the weekends with friends that ride. Most of hte time we would ride all day, 3 to 4 hundred miles on a long day. What do you think would best be suited for my wants. I am looking for opinions here. Please no bashing of the other side. Just express your views of your type bike.


Thanks
Brad

[Coupe Devil]

I found this bike, Its a buddies of mine. Its a 97 CBR 600 F3

What do you think
[IMG][IMG]

Brad

[The Deuce]

I've ridden sport bikes and cruisers. Both bikes are fun for different reasons, but with the cruiser (Honda Magna) I always kinda felt like a wannabe HD guy, which I am in fact.(Love the fatboy)
In terms of what to look for buying a bike. I never buy ones that have been dropped, although drop doesn't always mean wreck. I also have not picked up a bike with more than 10k miles on it. Again, these are both just me, and if I found a sweet bike with more miles on it I would buy it.
Just don't ever get one with a Salvage title. I don't care what anyone says about it just being because of the plastic, that is BS. If the insurance scrapped it there is something not good about the bike, as would be the case with a car.
As for total miles, most bike mechanics out here consider 50,000 to be a LOT of miles on a bike. I figure that my be considerable to 100k on a car. Figure what you will accept in terms of somebodys weekend car and divide by 2. I would try and stay below 30k.
Good luck, and let us know what you find.

[929PhoenixSquid]

Honestly, there is NO way to tell a reliable engine. Obviously, if you can hear the lifters or see visable smoke, that's a sure-fire sign of porblems. But a beaten bike is difficult to acertain. Especially considering new plastics have become cheaper and cheaper to buy.

For body damage and whatnot, here;s what to look for:

1) Check the bolts holding the plastics on. If they are scratched, then he replaced plastics due to lowside crashes or drops.

2) Check mirrors and turn signals for scratches. They often stay entact during a lowside crash or a drop, but will bend back and retain a few scratches.

For engine conditions: RECEIPTS, RECEIPTS, RECEIPTS!!! Some people like to do their own maintenance. Fine......but they should have receipts for the oil filters, air filters, oil purchases, etc.... Make sure they used MOTORCYCLE oil only. Almost all bikes use a wet clutch, and synthetic oils break down some of the parts in the clutch. The bike will never shift the same after using car or synthetic oil.


Also, I would recommend a smaller sportbike before a cruiser to a newbie. Simply put, you are GOING to make mistakes. It's easier to make mistakes with a 400 lb bike instead of a 700-800 lb bike. Aggreed?

[Unit 5302]

A crusier is easier to handle in my opinion. On a cruiser, you're still riding the bike, you're not part of the bike like you are on a rocket.

30,000mi is a LOT of miles on a sportbike. That would equate to more like 100k on a car. If you're gonna put a lot of miles on something, make sure it's liquid cooled. The air cooled engines just don't last as long. My friend was rebuilding a ZX-11 with 55k on the original engine. EVERYTHING was shot. It was a few grand to rebuild. $1600 for the rockers alone.

You should look at the sprocket in the back, and if you can, in the front. Check them to see how rounded they are. Check the appearance of the tires. You can tell how hard he rides in a lot of cases by how far leaned over the bike has been. If there is no treadwear within an inch of the sides of the tire in the back, you know he's not exactly Evil Knievel, hehe. Check for scuffs, and for how straight the upper fairing support is. Handle bars should still have the weights too. Scuffs and bends on the levers is also another indicator or being down. He may have racer plastic on the bike, and it's usually not as smooth as factory stuff. Check the chain to see how much play there is in it, and see if the air filter is dirty. Watch out for extra switches and what not, in case you're buying a bike from a hack, hehe. Make sure the fluids are at the proper levels, the tires are inflated, and the color of the oil and what not. If he has receipts, consider it a bonus.

I disagree completely with the idea something major has to happen to total a bike. If you bust up some plastic, you're talking thousands for new stuff and paint on quite a few bikes. There doesn't have to be a whole lot more done. Couple little covers, maybe a bent rim and plastic will probably total a bike that's a few years old.

[929PhoenixSquid]

UnitL I gotta disagree on some stuff you said there. Plastics are cheap. You just can't buy them from a retail shop. The tank is the ONLY costly part. You can get an entire set for under $800 for almost EVERY sportbike and they COME painted. Even if you wanted a triple phase paint job, it would NOT run over $1,200 at most for the entire bike, including the tank.

Additionally, a sprocket swap takes about 45 minutes for front and rear. Sprockets are like $130 for the rear and maybe $30 for the front. No indication whatsoever of wear on the bike.

Cruisers are easy to handle? Okay, take a nice 700 lb bike out, turn the bars as hard as you can and gas it. When she slips, have fun pulling a damned hamstring attempting to keep her up.

Worn tires to the edge means he actually KNOWS how to ride. More than likely, a good thing, not bad. "Stunters" will ride thru the center because they are usually on one wheel. Long wheelies deprive the front cylinders of oil and ruin the front fork seals when coming down. Also, stunter love their stoppies or endos, which destroy swingarms. I'll take the ex canyon carver any day of the week over the poser stunter.

I do actually agree with you on the miles though. 30k is too much. You're right on the fluid levels, colors, and levers as well. Very observant.

[Mustangbelle306]

Both of you fruits are wrong BUY a STANDARD!!

[The Deuce]

I have to say that a 750 nighthawk or the gvs 650(?) would be good starter bikes. But they are really don't do either thing (cruising or sporting) well enough to make up for that. I rode a standard at first, and I don't think I ever will again, unless i have a monster or 919 to commute on.

Like I said, I never buy bikes with more than 10k on them. But someone has to because I will need to sell mine eventually.

Re-reading your post Pony, I would lean twoard the type of bike your friends have, it will make it easier to ride with them, all else being equal. Personally, I have some friends with cruisers, and it is boring as all hell to ride with them. Not to mention I get stiff way faster than they do.

I hope this helps, it promises to be entertaining anyway.

[Unit 5302]

If all the maintanence is performed, chances are the guy took care of the bike. I'm not saying worn sprockets means large repair bills, or that it means the bike has been abused. He's looking for things to look for. Bad shocks and struts aren't a major concern on a car either, but you still look for them because it's a sign of how well the car was taken car of, and it's still additional expenses. While a "stunter" may stay off the side of the tire, so do people who ride the bike easy. Having a tire scrubbed all the way over is a pretty good indiction the rider does know how to ride, and they show it every chance they get. That goes right along with riding the bike hard. Not everybody fits in the hard core canyon carver and stunter categories. Plenty fit into the squid and Sunday rider class too.

I would agree. If you're directly attempting to crash a bike, a cruiser isn't as tossable as a sportbike, but you're not going to save either from coming over trying to ride it like a dirt bike. For those who are just riding around, and not intentionally trying to kill themselves, they aren't as hard to "just ride" because the cruiser requires less effort to direct. Kinda like comparing a Ferrari to a Town Car. In some ways the Ferrari is going to be a lot more responsive, and easier to control. The Town Car is still going to take less effort to drive. It's also more comfortable than being cramped up on a little sportbike for a few hundred miles.

From an insurance point of view on a bike, if you drop it, the cost of repairing the bike with the real stuff isn't cheap. Take a bike that books at $3000. By the time the insurance company is through dicking around with you, it's worth $2000 according to them, and you only need $1400 in damage to total it. Lay it down and take out the upper, one side, and tail. Throw in a windshield, headlight, bent rim, tire, a couple covers, and a handlebar. Perhaps thousands is easy to misinterpret. The insurance company wants to total the bike because they know salvage titles don't hurt bike value as much as it would a car. They also know how cheap it truely is to fix them, and a lot of people will buy them high because of that. Basically all I was trying to point out is that nothing really major has to happen to a bike that's a few years old to get totalled. Getting the entire set of plastic can be a bargain compared to buying each individual piece seperate. The insurance company isn't shopping Ebay, or the junkyard. That means when all is said and done, and the body shop comes back with it's estimate, the company will total the bike. That's also partly because the body shop will tack on above the cost from the dealer they get the stuff from. That doesn't mean you can't get some racer plastic, buy some used parts and have your buddy at the body shop hook you up, but as far as the ins co is concerned, the bike will have a salvage title.

[Coupe Devil]

Ok, so after reading all the above posts. I will not buy a bike that I know or have suspect of being dropped. Not that its bad but its for my own personal satisfaction I guess. I am leaning more towads the cruiser. True they are heavier but im not a small guy, im not fat just big boned ya know......I dont not have alot of problems laying the Valkyrie my buddy has and picking it back up. Yes its heavy btu not that big of a problem. Yes its heavy but its low center of gravity helps, and its a factor I look at when I look at bikes. Honda is now making a 1300 VTX which I like alot, but that Kawasaki Meanstreak is just awesome. We'll see what ican come up with. Looks like Im gonna have to buy a house before I am able to get a bike. Oh well Guess I need to go buy a house CAUSE I AM GETTING A BIKE.

Brad

[929PhoenixSquid]

Well, Unit is right about one thing. You're not going to hughside a damned cruiser and wind up breaking your neck. LOL

I say go for the cruiser, simply for fun factor. You can ride a cruiser for 5, 6, 7 hours a day and not really have back or wrist problems (and you might still actually FEEL your *** ). It's more relaxing as well. Riding is about enjoyment, so do whatever you think you'lll love more.

Tell your wife you ned both, because you can't decide.

[Coupe Devil]

Originally posted by 929PhoenixSquid
Well, Unit is right about one thing. You're not going to hughside a damned cruiser and wind up breaking your neck. LOL

I say go for the cruiser, simply for fun factor. You can ride a cruiser for 5, 6, 7 hours a day and not really have back or wrist problems (and you might still actually FEEL your *** ). It's more relaxing as well. Riding is about enjoyment, so do whatever you think you'lll love more.

Tell your wife you ned both, because you can't decide.

Well first off im not married, I still live at home with the parents. Yeah it sucks but its cheap.

I am leaning more towards the cruiser more and more everyday, I just really dont want to give the 10 grand for the one I want. My Champagne taste and Beer Budget just dont see eye to eye on payments. But being as Ive never ridden a rocket I want to atleast give it a try. Possibly see if the Honda store will let me ride one to see if I like it ( I know a guy there so maybe).

Thanks for the help
Brad

[The Deuce]

Originally posted by 929PhoenixSquid
Well, Unit is right about one thing. You're not going to hughside a damned cruiser and wind up breaking your neck. LOL

Just thought I'd throw this out. It is possible to high side a cruiser, yeah I know from experience. It was pretty hard to do, but yeah, I'm that good.

Pony,
Magna's are fairly cheap (honda vf750) and they have the sweet v-4 that's in my interceptor. It rides like a bigger bike and I've even heard it referred to as a "Muscle bike." Just something to look into if you are trying to avoid payments.

[Coupe Devil]

I have riden the Magnas and like the way they ride and have plenty of power for a 750cc bike. This is I believe due to the 4 cly motor. I have also riden a 750cc Vulcan v-twin and it just didnt have hte power of the Magna. I have not ruled the Magna out as a good used bike could probably be had for around 4 grand here. I'l ljust keep looking till I just see "The One" kinda like we do with our stangs also ya know.

Brad

[1965GTO]

Try a KLR250. You can get 80mpg, run 80mph, and they are easy as can be to ride.