retired_brinker317

eee, that's nice :thup: - the one I tried was the Yellow design. It looked gorgeous, tbh.

Out of interest, how much did you get for it, if you don't mind me asking?

retired_tripaige

I paid £2,000 for it. arguably I paid a little over the top, but as you can see, it was a hell of a bike and it had only done 3,000kms. basically just done the 'run in' miles and nothing else. plus it was derestricted which adds to its value. I sold it in the summer for £1,350 with just over 10,000kms on the clock.

as you can see, they hold their price pretty well.

if you are looking at 2-strokes, check the service history. they are more prone to thrashing etc (as they're faster, sportier bikes) and can often require a top end rebuild after 20,000 or so. it all depends how they've been treated, whether they've been thrashed from cold, whether they've been warmed up before use, whether expensive oil has been used etc.

they are (generally) less reliable and more expensive to run than their 4-stroke counterparts, but then again, they're faster, generally a better ride and well, just more fun!

I'm trying to remember the things that went wrong with mine. the coolant cap's seal broke. new cap £3. the speedo cable seized with the dial. cost about £40 iirc. the front wheel bearing collapsed (which meant I had no front break at 60 mph!) - I can't remember exactly how much that cost. around £50-60 I think. I needed a new chain which cost £20 odd.

overal, I don't think it was too bad for 3 years' use.

and then there were general things like new brake pads (£25), new rear tyre (£100).

oh and btw, there's nothing wrong with opening them up a bit. being race bikes, they tend to thrive on it. just got to make sure the engine's a nice 60 degrees or so.

retired_dawn12302

Good man. :thup: </BLOCKQUOTE>

I had a scooter for 7 years, it was fine although I know it doesn't look as cool as a bike to ride in the city its exactly the same. </BLOCKQUOTE>

It feckin' IS NOT the same.

retired_dawn12302

£40/50 on oil ? Is that ALL ? In three years ? :eek:

Tell me, did you ever go anywhere on the thing ? (My RD250 used to drink the stuff).

retired_dawn12302

Just reread your post , Matt.

I still reckon that's light on the oil. My RD250 used to drink the stuff.
One of the reasons that my next bike was a 4 stroker.

retired_tripaige

£40/50 on oil ? Is that ALL ? In three years ? :eek:

Tell me, did you ever go anywhere on the thing ? (My RD250 used to drink the stuff). </BLOCKQUOTE>

£40-50 a year, yeah. maybe not even that much.

1 litre of the stuff costs £11 - probably bought one every other month.

actually, I had the oil mixture checked when it was serviced, because it wasn't using oil like I had been told. it was fine :cool:

retired_salemcobol

The guy I work with is a bike nut, he has a Yamaha YZF-R6 and spends nearly all his money on it, but hardly ever rides it. It looks nice, but it should do the amount of money he spends and the amount of polishing it gets

I had a shot on a scooter once and about killed myself, I`ll stick to 4 wheels

retired_bettyboo1121

Ah yes. My friend is like that. He has a 1999 YZF R7 that has never left his garage in 4 years. Mind you, it is one of only 500 homologated hand built machines, is mint and is worth a damn site more than the £20 grand it cost new.

My first road legal machine was also a Yamaha, the RD 125 of 1980. Before the LC version it had the advantage of not falling under the new rules and being de-restricted like my mates shiny new RD 125 LC's were.
From there I went on to have a Suzy 250TS. a Yam YZ400, then a Cagiva 400s, Then I lost touch with bikes a while but came back from living in Greece and immediately bought a Yamaha 600 Tenére, then a Cagiva 750 Elefant and a Husqvarna 500TX supermoto. Took another break ( these breaks coincided with wives ) and then in 2000 I bought an anniversary VRSCA V-rod Harley Davidson
http://img481.imageshack.us/img481/5162/vrscaic6.jpg
( which technically I still own but is not in my possession ) Then I bought a Ducati ST2 ( the touring version of the 916 sport bike ) which I still own
http://img399.imageshack.us/img399/4299/dsc00276ch2.jpg
and I am currently waiting on delivery of my birthday present from my wife and sister which is a Ducati 1100s Hypermotard in Black. It is 5 weeks since my birthday and very late. This is despite having a sister that works for Ducati Corse.

None of this helps the OP and all I can say is forget it. get a car. I would swap all of my current 2 wheeled idiocy for a chance to buy the new Nissan GT-r shown in Tokyo this week.

retired_salemcobol

Ah yes. My friend is like that. He has a 1999 YZF R7 that has never left his garage in 4 years. Mind you, it is one of only 500 homologated hand built machines, is mint and is worth a damn site more than the £20 grand it cost new.

</BLOCKQUOTE>

Yerah, sounds like my mate. HE has spent more on parts that the amount he bought the thing for. He has done 800 miles on an 02 plate. If he gets too much brake dust on the coloured nuts that hold the disk on, he buys more so that it always looks perfect

He is teaching me about bikes just now in the hope I`ll get into them, but I really can`t stand them. I`ll stick to off-road 4x4's

timdude12

Thats exactly the same as mine, a 51 reg. Bought it brand new, on finance got proper ripped off paid an absolute fortune for it, but thats whay ya do when young, stupid and really want summat. Loved my time with it, had it about 3 years used it everyday to get pretty much everywhere.
I de-restricted mine also (which was naughty as i was still only on a cbt) but you're right it made a big difference, hell it gained me a lot of points on my provisional licence.
Have ya seen the new ones they look even better.