My bikes don't break down, they teach me lessons.
How Old is Too Old for a Used Bike?
- Thread starter matricz007
- Start date
EaZ8
Well-known member
ide love to have that bike!
for a first bike yes, stick to something that just works, if you have a bike thats always broken down or being tinkered with you wont enjoy owning a bike.... but after that buy what you like if you are up for a project.
Riceburner
Well-known member
How old is a moving target. What do you want to do with the bike? Ride out on cottage roads and see the sights or book a X country tour? thats different. Are you handy with maintenence and can you actually afford the bike you bought. You can buy a 80's Ducati for a few grand, then have valves and belts at 5-8k klm for several hundred bucks and pay silly parts prices. A used K series BMW tourer can be had at a decent price, but BMW are not known for value priced parts or service.
High mileage by a guy that loves his garage time and can afford to replace parts before they are broken, at proper service intervals may be a better buy than a young hooligans bike that cant afford sprockets and cam tensioners for the "rocket" he bought, but put less mileage on it. Can you verify any service history? Even if its never seen a dealer, does the guys garage look like the garage of a guy that has a tool box or a tackle box?
One mans view of high mileage is an others break in period, I'd argue its a bike by bike process
High mileage by a guy that loves his garage time and can afford to replace parts before they are broken, at proper service intervals may be a better buy than a young hooligans bike that cant afford sprockets and cam tensioners for the "rocket" he bought, but put less mileage on it. Can you verify any service history? Even if its never seen a dealer, does the guys garage look like the garage of a guy that has a tool box or a tackle box?
One mans view of high mileage is an others break in period, I'd argue its a bike by bike process
Dresden
Well-known member
Thanks a lot Inreb.
I found a 2007 BMW F800S which was much cheaper on insurance (which I expect to be offset by maintenance costs), but I'm going to stick to my guns and get the newest Japanese 600 I can afford on my budget.
I'm not going to try educating you on starting on a smaller bike (partially because I started on a 600cc SS myself). However, check the insurance quotes as they are quite different based on the individual bikes.
As a general rule of life, if it's older it will require more maintenance. I have found this to be true with an old bike I bought.
Old bike = longer wait for parts
More importantly, old bike = old technology.
If you just want to hop on your bike and ride and not worry, stick to a newer model.. preferably one that has been tried, tested and true - Gsxr, cbr600 etc. If you pay a bit more of a premium for the brand, you will recover that on re-sale.
Or do something really insane.....buy a long production run model....immediately springing to mind is GS500, EX500, KLR650, DR650, DRZ400 I'm sure there are more. There are lots of online resources dedicated to these models, buy in is plentiful and cheap, used parts abundant and you wouldn't be labelled a poseur.
catzo
Well-known member
If you don't think youre going to do your own maintenance i'd go newer. If you can than it doesnt matter as much but itll still be harder to find parts. And ya, for a first bike you don't want to be dealing with mechanical issues, you just want to focus on riding.
I think the first thing you need to decide is what kind of a bike you want, a sport tourer or a naked sport or a SS. Then go from there.
Personally i'm going to jump in with those recommending the fz's. Nothing wrong with the bmw tourers and the like but the fz's are reliable and cheap and easy to find parts for and work on yourself. And insurance is going to be alot better than an SS
I think the first thing you need to decide is what kind of a bike you want, a sport tourer or a naked sport or a SS. Then go from there.
Personally i'm going to jump in with those recommending the fz's. Nothing wrong with the bmw tourers and the like but the fz's are reliable and cheap and easy to find parts for and work on yourself. And insurance is going to be alot better than an SS
matricz007
Member
Thanks guys, I've been busy with but just caught up to all the posts.
Anything less than 600 didn't offer enough power/speed. I plan to use on the highway. I burrowed my friends Ninja and I felt like I was going to get pushed into another lane when I was near an 18 wheeler.
As for the F800, I went to the dealer and was able to haggle down the price....and got to look at the history etc. Also I contacted insurance and it was much cheaper.
As for 600cc, I felt it was the right entry level for me at the time. I have since considered other types of bikes. Especially since this will be my primary mode of transport.
I have been checking these out, I've been partial to the GS500 and DR650. At least I see a lot of them on Autotrader.
I definitely want a newer bike, so I'm going to heed your advice. I might push my age threshold from 2008 to like 2011 or 2012.
Well my friend is suggesting I go to a DIY garage to learn the in and outs. I'm pretty handy so he thinks I should start on an older bike and just learn to repair it. I'm going to stick with the new models but it doesn't hurt to know how to fix it yourself.
I've found several good looking ones on Autotrader/Kiijii. I am moving away from SS and the Fazer looks like a great compromise between a sport and a naked. After checking out that review on youtube, I am leaning towards it. I also checked out the kawasaki en6r 650 and the Suzuki Gladius.
I think I have safely gotten off that SS perch and I am definitely interested in other types of bikes. I'm getting my bike within a month, thanks a lot guys.
Anything less than 600 didn't offer enough power/speed. I plan to use on the highway. I burrowed my friends Ninja and I felt like I was going to get pushed into another lane when I was near an 18 wheeler.
As for the F800, I went to the dealer and was able to haggle down the price....and got to look at the history etc. Also I contacted insurance and it was much cheaper.
As for 600cc, I felt it was the right entry level for me at the time. I have since considered other types of bikes. Especially since this will be my primary mode of transport.
I have been checking these out, I've been partial to the GS500 and DR650. At least I see a lot of them on Autotrader.
I definitely want a newer bike, so I'm going to heed your advice. I might push my age threshold from 2008 to like 2011 or 2012.
Well my friend is suggesting I go to a DIY garage to learn the in and outs. I'm pretty handy so he thinks I should start on an older bike and just learn to repair it. I'm going to stick with the new models but it doesn't hurt to know how to fix it yourself.
I've found several good looking ones on Autotrader/Kiijii. I am moving away from SS and the Fazer looks like a great compromise between a sport and a naked. After checking out that review on youtube, I am leaning towards it. I also checked out the kawasaki en6r 650 and the Suzuki Gladius.
I think I have safely gotten off that SS perch and I am definitely interested in other types of bikes. I'm getting my bike within a month, thanks a lot guys.
