Is this worth looking at?

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Foxviewnet

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Found a bike on CL and looks like a fixer upper. Asking $3400. Is it worth it if its all cosmetics? Speedo, turn signal, and cowl replacement. Owner says he dropped it and just wants to sell it. Prob just doesn't have the scratch to fix it and needs the money. Says its runs good. May go look at it this afternoon. Chime in with any thoughts please. http://nwga.craigslist.org/mcy/5588249836.html
 
Look it over for more damage. I'd expect the exhaust is scratched. Check the pegs. Crash bars. Clutch and water pump covers. Etc

Figure out what it would cost to make it right and decide if its worth that to you.

It seems $5K is a decent asking price fo a 05-07 in good shape.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I was looking at the pics pretty closely and it looks like some scrapes/ damage to the front brake master cylinder also the back edge of the right muffler. Seat also looks damaged on left side. I may have to low ball it after I see it. Gonna check out 2nd gear too.
 
Maybe its just the angle of the last picture, or my brain is paying tricks with me.. Does it look like the handle bars are slightly bent, when you compare it with the angle of the forks? IDK
 
Is it worth looking at....yes, but I would pick it apart a bit though. I dont know how a simple "drop" wouldve broken the speedo.:ummm:
 
Take a look at the fork stops on the triple tree & their corresponding frame lugs, you might find out something about how hard a hit he took.

If he's really in the mood to sell, and if it runs OK w/no issues, I think something in the $3K-3.5K range is a fair price. If it smokes or has issues in running cleanly, it could be anything from an oil-saturated air filter to an engine that sat on its side after the crash, throttle pinned, and now has serious internal oil starvation problems, which could mean an engine replacement. Caveat emptor-'let the buyer beware.' Don't buy it if you cannot take care financially of a 'worst-case scenario.'
 
Take a look at the fork stops on the triple tree & their corresponding frame lugs, you might find out something about how hard a hit he took.

If he's really in the mood to sell, and if it runs OK w/no issues, I think something in the $3K-3.5K range is a fair price. If it smokes or has issues in running cleanly, it could be anything from an oil-saturated air filter to an engine that sat on its side after the crash, throttle pinned, and now has serious internal oil starvation problems, which could mean an engine replacement. Caveat emptor-'let the buyer beware.' Don't buy it if you cannot take care financially of a 'worst-case scenario.'

Thanks FireMedic. I hadn't thought about the throttle getting pinned. I really appreciate the advice. I will roll some info out about it tonite or tomorrow and let you guys know how it went down! I appreciate all the wisdom.
 
Maybe its just the angle of the last picture, or my brain is paying tricks with me.. Does it look like the handle bars are slightly bent, when you compare it with the angle of the forks? IDK

I noticed that too but just cant tell. I guess the proof will be in the pudding when I see it.:biglaugh:
 
There's a method of aligning your wheels using an elastic string, or one w/a lot of stretch, like surveyor's string, the bright-colored nylon twine that is used to lay-out form work for concrete. You put the string about a foot off the ground & loop it between the front & rear wheels/tires, like a big rubber band, over the front of the front tire, and over the rear of the rear tire. Then you set your axle adjusters to have the twine just 'kiss' the rear rim edge at 4 places, and the same for the front tire/wheel. Of course the front wheel has to be perfectly straight-ahead, and cannot be cocked to one side or the other.

I'm not sure if this method can be used where you have wheel offset, which has been a popular topic here recently. I think you could still use this method if you used some-sort of spacers on the side not having the offset, and with the front wheel/tire touching the twine at four places, you would then measure the amount of spacer blocks to get the twine to be in alignment w/the front wheel/tire. http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/simple-motorcycle-wheel-alignment

Bent handlebars are in and of themselves not a big deal, they're fairly cheap, and you might want to change 'em for another set more to your liking anyway. It's the amount of force applied through them that caused them to bend, and what damage might have been caused in that instance. Hence my remark about the fork stops on the triple tree. Castings are not particularly strong in resisting loads for which they were not designed. That's why you need to take a very close look at the upper/lower clamps for the handlebars, and guess what they're part-of?

The engine case guards don't appear to be seriously tweaked, probably a good sign, assuming they're the ones in the accident.

A 1st gear bike slip on greasy, oily pavement when turning can easily put a raspberry onto the outside edge of the exhaust trumpets, they almost act like frame sliders.

For me, the #1 thing would be to closely inspect the entire top/bottom triple tree, the steering head, and to have someone sit on the rear of the bike w/it on its centerstand, and to try the 'bounce test' to see if there's any notchiness or play when you have the front wheel off the ground, and you grab the bottom of the fork sliders by the front axle, and try to move the fork forward & back. You shouldn't have any play, if you do, at the least, it could be mis-adjusted steering head bearings, or being worn-or possible damage to the steering head area of the frame. Generally-speaking, the bikes (frames) are steel, and can take a pretty-good whallop, without breaking something in the frame steering head. I've seen forks ben-back into the engine that still had an intact steering head.

Still, you owe it to yourself to check. Another thing, very important! If the guy had it insured, and it was a total write-off, you may not be able to get a legal title to it, because it's now considered 'non-rebuildable.' The process to legally return to the road a bike w/a rebuildable title may end up costing you more $$$ than simply buying one in non-accident shape. I'd say this is 'the most-important thing.' Also, a 'rebuilt' titled bike is worth probably <50% of its non-crashed 'blue book' value.
 
Okay Folks, here is the scoop. First of all, thanks for all the great advice, wisdom, and suggestions. I think they all came into play in my mind when I looked over the bike.
The guy is diabetic and had a hypoglycemic attack while on the bike in a parking lot. He was next to a brick building in neutral when he went down. The wall was the bike's culprit. He is a pretty big guy and he and the bike were dead weight against the wall.:bang head: His wife finally talked him into selling it.
Bike has quite a bit of cosmetic damage. Turn signal cracked, master cylinder grind, Cowl Grind, Tank Cover Dented by Handlebar. Rear Grab Bar Grind, Muffler Trumpet Grind.
Immediate repair issues I assessed...Needs new Speedo and housing, Right Handlebar bent, Throttle Cable broken at Grip. Rear Tire pretty Thin, Fork Seals Leaking. (Forks Felt Spongee and Obvious Fluid Traces)
Bike would start and idled fine for about 2 minutes then died. Turns out that there is trash in the tank and I could see rust buildup at the upper inside of the gas fill tube...just below the gas cap. He said that he just had the carbs cleaned and that he had Lucas fuel treatment in the tank. He also said it had been sitting up for over a year. At this point I tapped out!:wave bye:

I just felt that this would be more involved than I wanted as a fixer-upper at the price he was asking and he was definitely firm on $3400. So I graciously bowed out. The things that I could see made me wonder about the things that were not yet obvious. This all may be boring news but I wanted to follow up on the post for those that are interested. Hey I enjoyed the experience and was originally hoping for the best. I pulled an empty trailer behind my truck for 4 hours today, lol! It was a good lesson in doing the homework before you jump in feet first. Thanks again for all the postings my friends! I have attached a quick pic of my assessments to reference.

On a lighter note, I actually had my 2006 Max on a dyno early this morning. I would be glad to share the results if anyone is interested.
 

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Well, good for you to walk-away, if you weren't sure it was what you could fix, cheaply and easily. The bike stop like someone switched off the key, or did it sputter and run on < 4cyl's before stopping? The prior could be a bad crank ignition sensor coil while the latter could be, yes, crud in the tank, and plugged pilot jets.
 
She sputtered and died. He said a mechanic tried to clean as much out of the tank as possible but short of removing the tank gave up and opted for fuel treatment.
 
Are you thinking about adding Tboost?
Tboost is on board. I just didn't see any hp increase at the lower 3000 rpm engagement. It was actually a tad less HP and Torque up to about 6500rpm. I thought it would show an early lead over the first pull with the Tboost set for 6000 rpm. It is posted on the dyno page.
 
Tboost is on board. I just didn't see any hp increase at the lower 3000 rpm engagement. It was actually a tad less HP and Torque up to about 6500rpm. I thought it would show an early lead over the first pull with the Tboost set for 6000 rpm. It is posted on the dyno page.

Yep, I say the dyno thread, and edited my post. I also posted the answer there.
 
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