Quote:
Originally Posted by josel_atr
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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Quote:
Originally Posted by Titanium1.8
Hi, sorry to hi-jack the thread. How much do I need to pay one of you mechanically inclined guys to 'inspect' a used bike before I buy?
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Guys, it is far less complicated than it looks. Trust me, I was in the same paranoid position last year, not wanting a lemon.
If you buy a popular model of bike, which most beginner bikes are, then the age doesn't really matter. Why? Cause the platform is sold for several years, and most of the parts interchangeable. For instance the model year range of my SV is 2003-2009, and even some parts on the previous Gen and next Gen are swappable.
Kms matter if your bike may need a major service soon. For instance my SV needs the valves checked every ~30K kms, and this costs a few hundred dollars. Thus when I bought a bike with 24K kms on it, I knew I was in for a big maintenance bill soon. Instead I could have bought a bike with 12K kms and not need this maintenance for years.
When I bought I based the purchase more on the seller than the bike. I contacted lots of buyers who were very anal, not friendly, ... then found an older gentleman who had documented every maintenance item on his bike, and even gave me a picture of it from the top of Mount Baker! Easy to tell he loved the bike and cared for it - so I bought it that day.
As long as the engine runs nice, the shocks don't leak, and the gears are pointy not worn, I'd say you're good to go. Bikes are pretty simple machines.