I’m looking to get my first bike and I’m leaning heavily towards the Savage. I was supposed to be taking the BRC with my wife right now but the instructor delayed it (for the second time, but at least he told us before we got there this time) because Arkansans are weak and scared of the cold.

Anyway, I’ve been shopping what’s available online within a reasonable distance for a while, and have seen a range from the $450 bike in pieces but “I swear it runs, you just have to put it back together.” To the $5000 “I don’t understand that new bikes depreciate significantly as soon as they leave the lot”. I’m fairly mechanically inclined (do most of my own automotive work, have torn apart and reassembled chainsaws, gas-powered jackhammers, sheet metal machinery, am a welder by trade with some fab skills, currently working in Zoo maintenance).

I’m willing to go up to 3k-ish for the right bike (and am paying attention to LANCER’s bike in the marketplace as it’s on the way to the in-law’s House, well upgraded and likely well maintained), but I’d like to keep it lower. It’ is my first bike after all, and I don’t want to cry if I drop it. At the same time, I do want to actually ride it and not be stuck in a never-ending troubleshoot. I’m wondering what I’ll be regretting if I go cheapo on a fixer-upper, what I should look for/ be concerned about vs what I can probably fix without too much expense/difficulty. I know the exact answer is a personal balance and each bike is different, but any feedback would be appreciated!

My guess is you want to ride, not wrench. You should be able to find a low mileage bike in great shape for $2,000 to $2,500. Especially this time of year. Spend the remaining $500 of your budget on a helmet, jacket, over ankle boots and gloves.

Justin is right, Lancer's bike is a good get if you can make the drive. Bonus, you get to meet Lancer.

I would just get Lancers bike , screw the budget. His bike is a no brainier , get on it and ride. Honest guy ,great bike with the goodies,ain't much to think about.

Yeah, y'all are probably right. I'm just prone to hesitation with big purchases. I also kind of romanticize wrenching something back to life/fixing it up myself. In practice, one larger purchase for higher quality makes more sense. It also will only involve bickering with the wife about one purchase as opposed to every time I want to upgrade something. Now to find out if LANCER's bike is even still available...

I don't know about the market in the Little Rock area - or how far you are willing to travel to look.

When I was shopping around, I found a lot of bikes in the $1,500 - $2.000 range in the Cincinnati area.  Unfortunately a lot of these bikes sat outside, in carports, or right next to the garage door.  The bikes had more corrosion than I though I could live with (spokes, chrome around footpegs, clearcoat over aluminum, rust on backside of tool cover and lower side panels).

I  ended up traveling to NJ to buy a 5 year old model (2007 bought in 2012) for $2,400.  The bike was stored in a heated basement and only had 262 miles on it - the owner was dating a biker and stopped riding after they broke up.  It was a 3 day/2 night adventure to go pick it up, and obviously that added somewhat to the overall cost - but I got a great bike that was like new.

If you like clean......you should shop around until you find one that is in good shape, as it is very difficult and expensive to correct corrosion.  If you are going to store the bike outside and not worry too much about how clean and shiny it is - then find one that is mechanically sound.

I'm located in Henryetta Oklahoma, so if you are heading to Norman you go right through Henryetta when traveling I-40.  We are just 8 miles SE of town.
Yes, I still have the bike.
Send me a PM and we can talk about it.

ArkansasBrian wrote on 01/15/18 at 07:33:31:



I sent you a PM

I'm not sure if be it's an automatic trigger or if the moderators actually review things to prevent posting for the sake of pm access.