Quote:
Originally Posted by josel_atr
sorry to keep jacking your thread op.
when shopping for a motorcycle, how significant is the year of the bike? and the kilometers?
would the older bikes (around 2000-2003) require more maintenance stuff compared to like a couple year old bike in general?
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Kilometers certainly can reflect on wear and tear of the internal parts, if you can even trust the odometer, my Beemer had the entire instrument cluster replaced once and I strip my Trials bikes for competition as soon as I buy them, so the only honest one I own is my Honda Ascot's odometer. In my opinion the vintage has less relevance on the bikes value unless buying it as new. If you keep em' in great shape long enough motorcycles can even turn you a profit over the original sticker price. I paid $1,450 for my 1982 FT500 and I think I could easy sell it for that now.
It is note worthy that distributors such as Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda etc. only stock or attempt to order parts for about 7 years, so this can make some repairs difficult, things like pistons, rings and suspension parts may become unavailable, so it's a regular thing for restorers to substitute components or make parts that are otherwise unavailable. Outside of parts ordering 2000-2003 is not really old for a motorcycle, exhaust systems might rust but otherwise bikes are nothing like cars
For regular maintenance items, carbs require far more service than fuel injection equipped bikes. You need to assess the rest of the bike at time of purchase, examining the suspension components for wear, the chains (primary, valve and final drive if it has all 3) Stock up on oil, fuel and air filters, internal front fork parts, cables and clutch plates while you can still buy them.
If the original rider was really large or frequently rode 2 up, that can significantly impact the bikes mechanical integrity. I'm a featherweight myself so original items like seat, suspension and drive train are still in exceptional condition after 24 years. ...hope this helps some