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I saw the bike today, its as nice in person as it looks in the pictures. Starts good, rides great, sounds good. I asked what the bottom line was he said $1500 including the gear, or $1200 for just the motorcycle
I make my living off digesting these kinds of ads (I buy, fix and resell "needs work" bikes, have read and seen a LOT of motorcycles in the last decade). Just want you to understand where my opinion comes from:
The only red flag/warning I see there is the "hard to start when cold" thing. That could be carbs in need of cleaning ($200), adjustment ($80~160), a failing battery ($60), valves in need of adjustment ($300-ish) or a combination of them. Other than that, it sounds like your standard used bike. Most of the time, those cost me $300 in parts and about 10 hours of my time to get cleaned up, working well, fixing the things that prior owners either ignored or rigged up incorrectly.
I'd like to caution you about trusting your life to a used helmet. It's very difficult to know the kind of care (or abuse) a used helmet has endured ~ just not something I'd trust my head to. It's a $0 item. You'd probably spend $300 on the "extras" he has listed, but get Exactly what you want/like and/or something better quality (like a Noco or Ctek battery charger instead of the old type and limited Battery Tender brand ~ those are only $20 anyway). If you really like what he has for sale, start lower ($1350 ought to be fair) and cite that you looked into gear prices and know you can get something better than what he's offering for the same money or less.
If you're new to motorcycles and unfamiliar with basic mechanics, you may want to cover your 6 by hiring a mechanic to do a PPI/Pre-purchase Inspection on the bike. They'll go through and tell you what's wrong with the bike, what it needs today to be safe, what it needs soon to keep safe and what you should do down the road. It's normally about $80, which seems like a lot for a $1200 bike, but it could save you a Lot of headache if there are issues like a worn out timing chain, broken rocker arm or really low compression (all things I have personally seen). You may be able to slightly skirt this by finding the last mechanic to have worked on the bike and slip them $20 for telling you their honest opinion of the bike.
Good luck, if it really is in the condition it's represent that's a good buy.
Gave me a lot to digest. Actually he mentioned the carbs needing cleaning and that he doesn't know when they were cleaned last. However, he gave me the phone number to the mechanic at the local Suzuki dealer where he gets the bike serviced. I called him and the mechanic told me the motorcycle is in sound condition mechanically, but admitted he hasn't done a carb inspection.
The helmet he says was purchased about 3 months ago, and has only worn it about 6 times.
I like the look of this bike Im going back today to make an offer. Thanks!
I wouldn't buy a used helmet. Too much at risk there since they're only designed to take one impact. Even if the outer shell looks fine, the foam and padding inside may be compromised.
$1000 - 1200 seems to be a fair price for the bike though.
Brian_M is the man to listen to, and this post is no exception. The initial price listed in your title seemed high to me.
Another thing echoing others on the helmet issue... Used helmets thrown into "deals" are to me, a non-factor, even though they represent some sort of supposed "value" to the seller. Used helmets (even though better than nothing), even if almost new, rarely hold any value to a new owner if for no other reason than fit. Besides the fact that it will rarely be the lid you would have chosen, it's highly unlikely that someone else's helmet will fit you as helmets should in order to provide the protection they're designed for. Always get a new lid that fits you perfectly. That, more than any other piece of equipment, will help keep you safe (and comfortable) while enjoying riding. Good luck to you, and keep the rubber side down.
How big are you? The 650 is a fairly small-framed bike. So if you're a big guy, and everything in this package deal is too small for you, it's not a good deal.
On the other hand, that's the price range where these olders, smaller, Asian bikes seem to hover.
Take the bike to the old mechanic and have the carbs cleaned and plugs changed anyway. Note that some of the bikes of that era had blocked off and frequently closed low speed jets that made starting and low speed operation diffficult.
Then religiously use STABEL gas treatment. Alcohol is for addicts. Gasoline is for carburators. Don't mix them.
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