|
SuzukiSavage.com
/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> In need of some advice! /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1202928489 Message started by westward bound on 02/13/08 at 10:48:09 |
|
Title: In need of some advice! Post by westward bound on 02/13/08 at 10:48:09 Im looking at buying a 97 Savage with about 4,000 miles on it. If the bike runs and looks solid is it worth $1,600? And how can i be sure it'll be good enough to make it across the country and back by may...about 6,000 miles in four weeks. Thanks guys. |
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by skrapiron on 02/13/08 at 11:11:15 The price is right and the mileage is low for the year. Find out if the routine maintenance was done as scheduled (including trimming the valve clearance). If in doubt, have it done again. (It's better to be safe than sorry). In general, do a complete inspection (or have a mechanic do one for you.) This includes the brakes, brake cables tires, drive belt etc. It may cost alot up front, but that investment also buys peace of mind. Once you are confident that it is tip top shape, the road is calling.. I suggest you answer it...... |
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by verslagen1 on 02/13/08 at 11:43:48 Even if you buy a new bike you don't get a garranty, you get a warranty. For that kind of mileage on an untried bike with or without hidden issues... you're best to follow skrappies advice. But at minimum, new tires, new battery, look at cam chain tensioner. Why the tensioner? certainly not because it's time too. But, so far this has been the most telling evidence of how the PO treated the bike. And you can look inside to see anything out of the ordinary, check the clutch, etc. It's really not hard to do and will only cost you a gasket and an oil change. ;D |
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by westward bound on 02/13/08 at 12:18:18 Thanks for the post. Now i have another question rgarding an 05 Ls 650 with a little more than 7,000 miles on it for $2,200. This bike has only had one owner and was dealer serviced. Is the 05 a safer bet? I forgot to mention that i plan to sell the bike when i get back from my trip. Will it be easier to sell an 05 with 13,000 mi or an 97 with 10,000 mi? Thanks again! |
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by skrapiron on 02/13/08 at 12:50:22 I'm lost. You want to buy a bike for a trip, then sell it when you get back? Is that correct? Pardon me for asking, but have you considered renting a motorcycle? Some mega-dealers will rent them for about $50.00 per day... That would be cheaper in the long run.. I just don't understand the reasoning behind buying a bike for one trip then selling it.... |
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by westward bound on 02/13/08 at 13:20:38 I havn't considered renting. but $50 a day for 20 days adds up to $1,000. If i buy a bike below market price and put a few thousand miles on it, i should be able to sell it at the end of my trip for close to what i paid. Right? |
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by skrapiron on 02/13/08 at 13:40:12 No. You won't. You will never even get close to what you paid for the bike when you go to sell it. By the time you buy the bike, pay taxes, registration and insure it, you're going to be closer to $3000.00 than $2000.00. Add onto that a complete inspection and any necessary repairs. You're going to have to budget at least another $1000.00 on top of that. Not to mention that you will probably have to change at least the drive tire once during the trip (they get between 2000 and 4000 miles of wear), you'll have to do at least one, possibly two oil changes as well as other routine maintenance. You're going to need to budget another $500.00 for maintenance DURING the trip. Honestly, when you put the bike on the market, you're likely to get offers of between $500 and $1000.00. You're going to have to eat the rest. So unless you're planning to keep the bike (longer than just this trip) you're better off renting a bike from a dealer, or maybe you should consider Greyhound for the trip.... |
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by Trippah on 02/13/08 at 16:04:59 and while, dare I say it, the Savage/S-40 is a great bike, you are riding about 100 miles, stopping for gas and butt bandage,er stretch. So anything over 500 miles a day will be impressive. So if youre thinking of highway 4-8 laners, there are more appropriate rides out there. Harley's have already tanked price wise so your plan seems what I would think about with a "glide" ride. Renting does seem like a reaasonable choice..please get back to us with your decision, we do live vicariously up here in the frozen North. ;) |
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by forrest on 02/13/08 at 17:25:48 I gotta agree that renting would be the way to go. You can get a bigger and more comfortable "distance" bike that an S40 for a long interstate ride. Plus a larger bike may have more options for cargo storage. |
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by Max_Morley on 02/13/08 at 17:31:14 Don't let the skeptics talk you out of it. There are enough Savages that have done the cross country trip that if I could pull it off I'd do it in a minute. Check over the bike, do the pre-trip maintenance, plan on a rear tire along the way, it will be a hoot. Max |
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by Paladin. on 02/13/08 at 17:39:56 6E73717D72782D2E2F1C0 wrote:
Quote:
Quote:
|
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by Onederer on 02/13/08 at 18:13:45 As some have said, you'd be out $$ if you bought it,got it ready for a trip, put miles on it, fixed what might break or wear out. I think renting is a good option, and less work for you. If you bought a good bike for 1'600?, why not keep it, petrol is'nt getting any less expensive, and by the time you get back from the trip, you'll have memories invested on that machine, (hopfully good), and just looking at it might bring back a fun summer.Thats better than just looking at a photo, is'nt it. I let a 68'CB450 and a 78'DT400 go, and if I bought either of the bikes back in as good of shape of those, I'd have to pay at least 4X what I sold M24. You never mentioned where the trip was planned for, ridding a Savage where fuel stops are few and far between, requires carrying x-tra fuel or shoes. If you decide to buy for keeps, tooling thru here will have you trip ready. |
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by sluggo on 02/13/08 at 19:21:05 i'm with max on this one, buy it, ride it, plan to sell it, then KEEP IT...you've gotten the value you wanted out of it on the ride. the rest of the miles are now free...... |
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by Rockin_John on 02/13/08 at 22:39:12 One issue not addressed yet is the relationship between mileage and resale value with the Savage/S40. Since many of them bought new are bought as the "first bike" there is an abundance of them for sale several years old with very low mileage. This affects the resale value of both the older ones and the nearly new model years. Personally, if periodic maintenance was done properly, I'd as soon have a garage kept 96 with 5k and new tires; than a 05 with 10k and new tires. Therefore, there isn't as much difference in the value of the bikes as the model years would suggest. |
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by mornhm on 02/14/08 at 05:17:06 It's not a guarantee that everyone loses out buying and selling MC's. I purchased my 2004 with 17 miles on the odometer, commuted with it for a year, kept it for a while longer and then sold it for almost what I had paid for it. When I figured what I saved in operating costs I came out ahead. So if you don't pay too much to start, do you own maintenance and repairs and chose a Savage in good condition it's doable. But this seems like a really interesting/ambitious plan. I think a better question would be "Do you have the experience (are you "good enough") to make a cross country ride on a used thumper in 4 weeks. Keep us informed of you progress, especially if you make your trip on a Savage. There are benefits to this kind of trip that can't be measured in dollars and cents. |
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by Ed L. on 02/14/08 at 06:29:03 If you are set on doing the ride on the savage I would really suggest a seat lift mod and a rejet. The seat lift is for comfort, something you will really need for a long distance trip and a carb rejet will make the bike perform a lot better and run a bit cooler. Just my .02 cents. That's not a bad price for what you are getting but as been said earlier a lot depends on the previous owner. Luck with it either way |
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by westward bound on 02/14/08 at 10:25:26 I guess i should have provided a little background info before asking my question, seeing as how it actually pertains to why im looking to sell the thing when im done with the trip. So im in college, though im 26 years old…not completly wet behind the ears. Iv ridden bikes since i was 12 and i've taken a 300 mile trip before so i know the love hate thing you feel when doing such. But anyway, Uncle sam hit me back this year with 2 grand and while i had my mind loosely set on making a trip to california, hitchhiking and camping along the way, just scraping by, with the end goal of meeting up with a few friends, i didn't want to blow the whole 2 grand doing it all. I've got rent to pay when i get back. So i first thought that i would buy a one-way plane ticket to cali. foraround $100 (no joke, they're that cheap), and then find a bike out there for around $1500 and ride it back east (Lake george NY) where i would sell it (right before Americade ;)) for what it was worth, and find an apartment for the summer with whatever cash i got back. Maybe i'de hookup with a foreign exchange worker somewhere in between. But then i realized that now was probably the best time, if not a few weeks before christmas, to buy a bike from someone who's hard up for cash and willing to let a good bike go for less than what its worth. So thats when i started looking. i grew up on hondas (why are honda rebels holding their value so well? are they just THAT reliable? Maybe i should buy a honda rebel. Che Guevara rode all over South America before I was born on something way crappier than a honda rebel. And then he went on to kill a bunch of people in the name of what he believed. “Cool”....not really, but I just want to ride across the country and change my out look on things!) So right, back on point, i noticed that the savage sells used for a lot less than the rebel, and that a 650 cc engine sounds way more bad ass than a sissy 250. But the price difference makes me grow suspicious and i start to draw imaginary correlations in my head between the price of a savage and its reliability. Well, i found this site with all sorts of people who know tons and are nice enough to spread their wisdom. So I really don’t care if i putter across the country, so long as I just do it. But I don’t want to waste my time on the side of the road with a broken down bike. That’s not cool. So, should i just buy a rebel? :) Or just rent? PS: while im going to insure the thing, im taking my chances and not registering the it so I don’t have to pay that tax on the sale. Sorry guys, Im just a reckless soul. Or maybe just a fool. Thanks again! All of your comments have helped! |
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by mornhm on 02/14/08 at 11:12:51 My .02 If my choice was between a rebel, a savage and renting something, I'd probably find a Savage. Remember that in a 6,000 mile trip there is going to be some needed maintenance even if there are no repairs. The Savage is an easy MC to work on probably easier than the rebel. If you rent, you may need to make sure that the maintenance is part of the price and what the requirements are to fulfill your end of the contract (ie where the maintenance has to be done). Might want to throw a ninja 250 into the mix. |
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by Rockin_John on 02/14/08 at 12:19:15 Yeah, all that detail does make it easier to give you more detailed advice... Where to start?? OK... Regardless of what brand, model, size or year of used bike bought for a long road trip, a through examination of condition before liftoff is highly advisable. Myself, if the tires weren't already like new, I'd put new ones on before heading into the desert or mountains etc... Along with all common maintenance of filters, fluids and so on... Savage specific: I'd find out when (what year model) the head's "cap-plug" problem was resolved, and if the bike were earlier than that date, and hadn't been fixed, I'd plan on sealing that too; before hitting the road. I don't think the leak gets so bad as to cause a low oil condition between gas fills, but why have to worry about it all the time? Also I'd want to check my cam chain parts wear/tension. There are only a few bikes that are so low maintenance as to not require similar checkups before riding into the sunrise(set). As for the "Rebel" ya they have a solid reputation; but there's no way I'd take off cross country on the 250cc version with my big self and a bunch of gear on board. Personally, I'd seek out one of the early (87-89?) 450cc models as a bare minimum. I've entertained the idea of getting one of those anyways; as I've read and heard that they scoot along really good for their size/displacement. Overall though, I like your "ride it and sell it" plan, and I've done the same thing with my money many, many times on motorcycles and other things. I look at it as getting to spend the same money multiple times before it's finally gone. I'll buy three guitars, and sell two for enough to get all or most of my money back. In the meantime I got to play a bit on all three nice guitars; then get to keep one for next to nothing. Or in your case: Put a few thousand miles on a bike; then get most or all of your money back. Thrifty planning, and it can work. Especially with a bit of "sweat equity." Good luck with it! |
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by forrest on 02/14/08 at 12:48:05 I'm not an expert by any means but Che tooled around on back roads.......not on an interstate with semis rolling past doing 90 mph. Not sure if a 250 would be a good idea. |
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by bill67 on 02/14/08 at 13:00:10 westward john thinks you could even break even on the bike, I wonder what he's been smoking ;) |
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by verslagen1 on 02/14/08 at 13:34:07 Yeah you could break even, I wouldn't bet on it though. Specially if you want to sell the bike immediately upon return. You're at a good time for buying durring the winter and selling durring the summer. Just don't count on it. And you'd best have a bike lined up if you're flying then buying to ride back. And California bikes are different. And I've heard not to buy out of state bikes for import to Cal. |
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by T Mack 1 on 02/14/08 at 14:17:12 Since you haven't bought it yet. First look at the NADA website and get the value of it. http://www.nadaguides.com/SectionHome.aspx?LI=1-28-0-5000-502-565-50214&l=1&w=23&p=0&f=5600 Go to your local Craigslist and look to see what's there. Or, look on eBay and look for bikes within 100 miles. If you are going to drive cross country, then sell it, there may be better bikes to buy. For long highspeed (70+ MPH) driving, I've been told water cooled bikes are better. Others tell me water cooled is just more parts to go bad. To get what you bought it for, you need to maintain it, and make it cleaner than how you bought it. |
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by Trippah on 02/14/08 at 17:09:44 I don't think you can insure a motrocycle without it being registered, The 7% New York sales tax would be @$112. on the $1600. If the police stop you on an ungregistered bike (it would have to have an illegal plate on it) I think you fines and inconvenience would make the $112. seem like a deal. and the insurance co will not pay on a bike being used illegally. I do suggest you revisit this part of the plan ;) |
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by Paladin. on 02/14/08 at 18:34:38 Buy a used bike and it comes with a plate. If you get stopped show the bill of sale and say you are moving to ______ and will be registering it there. When I rode the five weeks in England and Scotland (and 5 miles into Wales) I didn't bother with insurance. Here in California insurance is mandatory, yet un-insured coverage costs a bundle since such a large percentage of drivers are not insured. Twice I've hopped on the bike about 9pm Friday and rode a 350 mile round trip to enjoy the Fool, er, Full Moon over the Mojave getting back home 6 or 7 am -- no problem whatsoever. 1340 miles to Oklahoma city in two and a half days on the interstate, 48 hour layover, five days on the return trip via 2-lanes. Got home and did not even LOOK at the bike for two days. 300 miles is nothing. 200-300 miles day after day after day is grinding. Odds of doing will go up considerable on a more suitable motorcycle. |
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by Ed L. on 02/14/08 at 20:00:13 If you are riding a unregistered bike with a questionable plate on it and get pulled over by the locals the bike will probably get impounded. I've been there with a cage years ago. The impound yard charges at least $25.00 a day for storage, a tow fee and charges per mile to tow the bike. Maybe you won't get pulled over but if you do it will really cost an arm and a leg to get the bike back if you can get it back at all. Even with the title in the old owner's name the locals won't have to release the bike to you cause you aren't the legal owner till the title is in your name. On top of that when you get around to sell the bike the buyer will want a clear title on the bike. I'm not trying to rain on your parade but you will have enough to worry about on the trip, make the bike legal, most states will give you temporary tags for out of state drivers. Beats sitting in some one light town dealing with a local cop for a week trying to get the bike legal and out of the impound yard. Just my thoughts on it, do what you want ;) |
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by justin_o_guy2 on 02/15/08 at 01:56:36 I bought a car/truck/van, heck, cant remember now, but I had to work on it before I could drive it. so I just waited to transfer the title & all that mess. When I DID do it, they said I owed some kind of penal;ty, cost me like $40.00 or so, a long time ago. Would surely be $100.00 now. This is Texas, tho, I dont know about where you are. I recommend doing the papers all legal, that way there wont be any "misunderstandings". Sometimes people Understand, but act like they dont, so it can be harder on you. |
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by Dj12midnit on 02/16/08 at 18:41:37 If he buys it with current tags, he could get insurance with out transferring ownership. So as long as he carries the bill of sale I do not see a problem. |
|
Title: Re: In need of some advice! Post by skrapiron on 02/17/08 at 09:55:59 That depends on what state he buys it in and what state he lives in. In Pa, you get new plates when you buy a vehicle. The only way you can keep your plates is if you trade something in (which you owned previously) and they can transfer them to you. Being from out of state, you will have a few problems. The motorcycle is a titled vehicle. You cannot insure the bike without a title being issued in your name. You will have to pay for the title transfer in whatever state you buy it in, then you will have to pay to have it re-titled in whatever state you return to and attempt to sell it. Those fees can add up to several hundered dollars. As for the plate? It's your neck on the line. Since you are not a resident of California, I don't know the laws about you using the existing plate for 'transport' back to your home state. You may ahve to apply for an 'in-transit' plate from your home state that will give you temporary registration and allow you to ride it back accross the country. On paper, it sounds like a crazy once in a lifetime adventure. But in the real world, it's alot more complicated than it may be worth. You're going to be out alot of money buying the bike. Then you're going to have to make sure that it can make the journey back. Thats even more money. Then theres the legality of what you're planning. You may be able to get away with it. Then again, you may get caught. Riding an unregistered out of state motorcycle? Not a good idea, since the police will likely treat it as a stolen vehicle (at least until you can produce a bill of sale, but even then...). Then you have the responsibility for insurance and registration. Again, don't have that, they impound the bike and you're walking home. Not to mention the fines, penalties and fees.. Then there's the question.. Do you even have a Motorcycle operators endorsement? Not a temporary permit.. That won't cut it. Nice idea, but you're going to need a alot more cash than you're planning on to pull it off (legally of course). Might I suggest you hop a SouthWest one way flight, bum around in SanDiego and the like for a while, then when cash gets tight either SouthWest back home or Greyhound? |
|
SuzukiSavage.com » Powered by YaBB 2.2! YaBB © 2000-2007. All Rights Reserved. |