Motorcycles

My friends. Yesterday I had a rare day off and although it was only a balmy 2degrees outside the roads were dry so I headed out with my mate and had a superb day out just zooming about, going to bike shops, drinking coffees and eating burgers.

A welcome refresh just before I dive into the crazy feb holidays.

Bikes really do cleanse the soul.
 
SkiPro said:
I own a super tenere which is a 750 parallel twin. Started production in 89. Gratuitous pic for you

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What she bought is the 600 single. Probably will be fine for carrying all her her truman show camera gear.
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That's lovely. I owned it's younger, bigger brother: a TDM 900. It was an exceptional motorbike, with very few problems and rock solid reliability. It didn't quite get the following in the UK as it did in Europe, where it sold very well. It had plenty of power, would murmur along at 80 mph all day and was smooth as butter for a parallel twin. I did many continental tour on it and never once did even hint at having a problem.
 
KomnenAl said:
I just bought a 2005 BMW F650GS for $1700.
How is this for a first bike?

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I small update:

The seller turned out to be an experienced scammer and a pathological liar. What I naively thought was a bargain, turned out to be a dud and a money pit. The bike was probably sitting idle for years. I have spent $800 so far in repairs and problems are still cropping up every month. I hope the big ones have been addressed. What remains: a rear suspension adjustment/replacement, oil leak fix, side stand, electrical gremlins, aesthetic upgrade, new tyres. I will probably need to spend another $700 in order to really trust this bike in longer trips.

Newest problem: the steering wheel is locked and can't be unlocked. The key is stuck on P, which means the headlights couldn't be turned off
and as a result the battery was drained overnight (any ideas on this one?).

On the positive side, I love driving it and I got accustomed to it very quickly.

But overall, a great disappointment. I don't know if I should give it away for the price I bought it or keep it and slowly fix things as they appear.
 
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KomnenAl said:
I small update:

The seller turned out to be an experienced scammer and a pathological liar. What I naively thought was a bargain, turned out to be a dud and a money pit. The bike was probably sitting idle for years. I have spent $800 so far in repairs and problems are still cropping up every month. I hope the the big ones have been addressed. What remains: a rear suspension adjustment/replacement, oil leak fix, side stand, electrical gremlins, aesthetic upgrade, new tyres. I will probably need to spend another $700 in order to really trust this bike in longer trips.

Newest problem: the steering wheel is locked and can't be unlocked. The key is stuck on P, which means the headlights couldn't be turned off
and as a result the battery was drained overnight (any ideas on this one?).

On the positive side, I love driving it and I got accustomed to it very quickly.

But overall, a great disappointment. I don't know if I should give it away for the price I bought it or keep it and slowly fix things as they appear.
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Oh no.. The one time I bought a 2-wheeler second hand also ended up a bit like that.

My tyres were 12 years old and hard rubber, gearbox did not shift properly, battery was weak.

Oh, I knew there was something else - the trip meter zeroing button (on mechanical odometer) had broken off.

Also, the small bulb which lights up the analogue instruments was gone so you did not get that reassuring glow in the dark.

All in all, I made a vow after that to never buy a 2-wheeler used again. Have never bought a new car in my life, and many used ones, so I don't apply that rule to 4 wheels. Still, my car needed all sorts of things replaced but I don't hold it against the car or the person who sold it to me.

Even with the bike I didn't hold it against the person who sold it to me. Well, maybe a bit. Oh, paperwork, such as manual and service book was absent. Did you at least get that? A book of instructions, and another book with stamps of oil changes etc?

If I was in your position I would either sell it again and buy a brand new one or keep it and iron out the remaining flaws. It is part and parcel of used vehicles that there is a bit of a list of surprises to be attended to after you first buy it. So if you sell it just to buy another second-hand one you may invite even more misery on yourself.

My last bike really made me miserable, especially when I almost had accidents and fell over once due to the gears refusing to change. That "key" problem with locked handlebars sounds miserable as does battery draining. You have to wiggle both the handle bars and the key but that is obvious, if that does not work I would not know.

I could never say "I love driving it" about that one I used to have, just the choke to start it, fuel valve and reserve seemed like a quaint idea when I got it but were too stressful for a beginner. Then those little things like the trip meter not zeroing and the instrument light not working further ruined the "love" factor. I did not like the riding position either after a while but does not sound like you have that issue. Maybe if you really feel bad about the individual who sold it to you it may be a sign though.
 
stadtaffe said:
Oh no.. The one time I bought a 2-wheeler second hand also ended up a bit like that.

My tyres were 12 years old and hard rubber, gearbox did not shift properly, battery was weak.

Oh, I knew there was something else - the trip meter zeroing button (on mechanical odometer) had broken off.

Also, the small bulb which lights up the analogue instruments was gone so you did not get that reassuring glow in the dark.

All in all, I made a vow after that to never buy a 2-wheeler used again. Have never bought a new car in my life, and many used ones, so I don't apply that rule to 4 wheels. Still, my car needed all sorts of things replaced but I don't hold it against the car or the person who sold it to me.

Even with the bike I didn't hold it against the person who sold it to me. Well, maybe a bit. Oh, paperwork, such as manual and service book was absent. Did you at least get that? A book of instructions, and another book with stamps of oil changes etc?

If I was in your position I would either sell it again and buy a brand new one or keep it and iron out the remaining flaws. It is part and parcel of used vehicles that there is a bit of a list of surprises to be attended to after you first buy it. So if you sell it just to buy another second-hand one you may invite even more misery on yourself.

My last bike really made me miserable, especially when I almost had accidents and fell over once due to the gears refusing to change. That "key" problem with locked handlebars sounds miserable as does battery draining. You have to wiggle both the handle bars and the key but that is obvious, if that does not work I would not know.

I could never say "I love driving it" about that one I used to have, just the choke to start it, fuel valve and reserve seemed like a quaint idea when I got it but were too stressful for a beginner. Then those little things like the trip meter not zeroing and the instrument light not working further ruined the "love" factor. I did not like the riding position either after a while but does not sound like you have that issue. Maybe if you really feel bad about the individual who sold it to you it may be a sign though.
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Oh boy, your experience is almost identical to mine.

I rushed into the purchase. I got played by an expert. I found out later that he has a bad reputation, he does this to some of his customers but not all.

I think you're right that the best option is to sell it and accept losing all the money I put in repairs. This bike has brought me 95% misery and 5% joy. But I have to unlock the steering wheel first and then fix the oil leak because nobody is going to buy a motorbike with an obvious oil leak.
 
KomnenAl said:
I think you're right that the best option is to sell it and accept losing all the money I put in repairs. This bike has brought me 95% misery and 5% joy. But I have to unlock the steering wheel first and then fix the oil leak because nobody is going to buy a motorbike with an obvious oil leak.
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At least mine didn't have an oil leak..

I remember once shopping with someone for a helmet, and they were debating whether to buy a cheap one and someone said:

It's your f......g head!

Motorcycling is latently one of the most dangerous activities you can do, so unless you are a very experienced rider and maintainer of bikes, it's probable better to not be too upset about economic loss.

I don't rule out getting back onto 2 wheels myself one day again despite the risks, either a motorcycle, bicycle or both. I still rent or borrow those from time to time, but where I am living at the moment, I just deem the road conditions too dangerous for both. I really would have gotten one or both of those by now if I was living somewhere else.

You are safer with your vehicle when you love it. What year is this bike you purchased? That puts it in some perspective.. Just that there are certain things which appeared in certain years, and then the question of whether one wants to be a purist with a carburetor and a choke or if actually some of the modern features, maybe even LED headlights and ABS brakes are not so bad. However keyless start on a motorcycle, that is madness, I find it sick that they have gone and created that. My car does not have LED headlights and I like it that way, but that bike I had bought new did, and in the interests of safety, it's not such a bad thing. Also, the modern fuel-injected engine computer bike will spring to life in Winter too, whereas the engine of the older one I had was temperamental in cold weather. I also feared this carburetor cleaning thing which I would have eventually had to pay someone to do.
 
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