Potential VMAX purchase

[tugla]

guess you'vd ask the audience your all ready 50/50 so phone a friend is your last chance hahaha good luck. if not this bike lots out there dont settle if you dont like it. im sure we can help you find one....... seans got a few hehe

 

[one2dmax]

Good luck on it. $3500 is still a good price and leaves a lot of room to upgrade it. We can always chrome the pitted parts!

Sean

 

[Geek_Law]

Thanks again all.

I will update the post with the conclusion ... whether its that I bought the bike or did not.

If it is mechanically sound, I am inclined to pick it up for what looks to be a good price. We will see.

 

[gamorg02]

for 3500 a lot of the cosmetic stuff can be fixed. cheaply i might add. esp thru sean and it will look like new. esp with his exchange program

if its technically and mechanically sound, esp with 2nd gear and leaks/etc. i'd do it.

 

[Geek_Law]

Well ... I'm back from Washington ... sans vmax.

I looked at it for 30 seconds and told the guy, "I'll pass."

It was in rough shape. I'm also 99% sure that he is lying through is teeth about the thing being kept the the garage. Bull shit. Your switches do not suffer from massive sun rot in the garage.

The thing has been sitting outside for what looks like 3-4 years. The brake fluid reservior was all corroded down to metal on top and flaking on the sides, the electrical switches looked so brittle from sun rot I was afraid to touch them and all the metal parts had major build up of calcium.

What a jerk. He could have just said that it was left outside.

Arrrrgggg!!!!!

 

[tugla]

sorry to hear you had to go to thru all that to find a lemon, oh well hope something better comes your way soon...dont let it wreck you on finding another one

 

[zippo6]

Screw it, just buy from Sean, you won't be disappointed and you won't need to test pilot it either!!

 

[one2dmax]

There are bikes all over the country but sometimes hard to find. If he is patient one will pop up close to him. Of course I would happily sell him one of mine but that's a long way to send one. The 05 is the best overall deal at $6000 but the 03 is an excellent buy at $4500. Neither are "perfect" but they aren't bad either.

We can always build one but that jumps the cost way up.

Sean

 

[Geek_Law]

Thanks guys. It will work out. This reminds me of the movies where the young high school kid is trying to "find the right one" so that he/she can finally lose their virginity

Patience grasshopper. Patience. Good things come to those that wait.

There are a couple of others listed locally. One is an '07 for $9600. He's asking too much for it. He also says that it has "custom painted red ghost flames." Strange thing is, they look identical to the OEM paint job for the '07's. Hmmmm.

Another is a '92 for $4500 with about 25K miles on the clock. It looks pretty clean, but the guy told me its been sitting for two years, only ridden maybe 10 miles total this summer and last summer and only ridden about 2000 miles in the 4+ years that he has had it. I'm gonna check that one out on Sunday.

Then there is an '85 max with about 20K miles on it. I hadn't been considering anything that old, but the guy says he has upgraded and balanced the engine recently. I have not pressed on what that means yet. I'm not sure if he's got a larger bore kit or re-jetted carbs or just a tune up and carb sync. I'm gonna check that one out this morning.

So we'll see.

 

[4gasem]

What a bitch! The paint missing from the reservoirs is VERY common because people (read "dealers") are to lazy to clean the brake fluid off of the lip of the reservoir. I make sure I take a paper towel sprayed with non-chlorinated brake clean and wipe it down VERY well, as well as spray off the lid and rubber gasket before reinstalling.

Knock on wood, mine is perfect still.

Anyway... You'll find one.

Just remember every ones idea of pristine is different. But mine IS pristine... lol

Chris

 

[yukonerdave]

Bah - a POX on everyone who misrepresents their bike in a classified ad. Sorry to hear that one didn't work out.

 

[Geek_Law]

Just remember every ones idea of pristine is different. But mine IS pristine... lol

Chris

Yep. About a year ago I sold a bike that was a 1998, (1100cc Shadow Aero), same year as the potential max. The seller couldn't believe the shape that it was in. It looked like it rolled off the showroom floor.

Now I REALLY DO keep my bikes in the garage. I REALLY DO take care of the maintenance. And my bikes REALLY ARE pristine, just like yours. So an older bike can certainly be in near mint condition.

I tend to think that a bike that looks like crap on the outside very likely has hidden damage on the inside.

Anyway, my wife and I looked at another max yesterday. Here are pics:

The bike has been sitting for a couple of years. It's an '85, but the owner claims to have had the engine rebuilt for $3800 just before parking it. It took us about 30 minutes to get it running, and the two-year old gas was past its prime. Major mis-firing. The faux paint on the side of the engine block started smoking and peeling off once it got hot. And oil started leaking from the bottom of the case after I had the owner take it out and really romp on it.

I followed him on my rocket and we gave it a solid thumping. It really put out, but I discovered much of the above when we got back.

He also had no paperwork for the rebuild and acted rather dodgy when I asked him for some sort of proof. He said it was professionally done, but apparently failed to keep any sort of record. That seems odd to me.

Ugh... another novel I see.

Anyway, my wife and I decided that we are going to nix looking for an older model and go back to looking at the very very late model years (03-07) with low miles and pristine condition.

The search continues.

 

[zippo6]

Yep. About a year ago I sold a bike that was a 1998, (1100cc Shadow Aero), same year as the potential max. The seller couldn't believe the shape that it was in. It looked like it rolled off the showroom floor.

Now I REALLY DO keep my bikes in the garage. I REALLY DO take care of the maintenance. And my bikes REALLY ARE pristine, just like yours. So an older bike can certainly be in near mint condition.

I tend to think that a bike that looks like crap on the outside very likely has hidden damage on the inside.

Anyway, my wife and I looked at another max yesterday. Here are pics:

The bike has been sitting for a couple of years. It's an '85, but the owner claims to have had the engine rebuilt for $3800 just before parking it. It took us about 30 minutes to get it running, and the two-year old gas was past its prime. Major mis-firing. The faux paint on the side of the engine block started smoking and peeling off once it got hot. And oil started leaking from the bottom of the case after I had the owner take it out and really romp on it.

I followed him on my rocket and we gave it a solid thumping. It really put out, but I discovered much of the above when we got back.

He also had no paperwork for the rebuild and acted rather dodgy when I asked him for some sort of proof. He said it was professionally done, but apparently failed to keep any sort of record. That seems odd to me.

Ugh... another novel I see.

Anyway, my wife and I decided that we are going to nix looking for an older model and go back to looking at the very very late model years (03-07) with low miles and pristine condition.

The search continues.

Good, because that one, IMHO, looks FUGLY!

 

[Geek_Law]

Ha! I don't know what he's got going on with the front there ... but that fairing needs to come off ASAP. My wife and I discussed openly the need to repaint the bike right away.

 

[kaboom]

How can anyone hate a Vmax enough to do that?????uke::barf:uke:

 

[gamorg02]

i actually dont mind the colour but thatfront fairing looks like a nightmare.

u may want to start considering one of seans bikes. the $500 in shipping or roughly u may make up by having sean customize it before u get it... just a thought man.

 

[4gasem]

Uhm... Yeah... Wow! Bright? DAMN! Stay with as new as you can afford. Newer is commonly (not always) better.

Chris

 

[Geek_Law]

i actually dont mind the colour but thatfront fairing looks like a nightmare.

u may want to start considering one of seans bikes. the $500 in shipping or roughly u may make up by having sean customize it before u get it... just a thought man.

That may be the way to go. But as I said, the quest continues.