Break or sale.....?

[martyn mcg]

I'm struggling with a bit of a dilemma regarding my SV. It's 10 years old this year, MOT and tax time around the corner and other things need renewed as well but alas I think the time has come where the bike is on it's last legs. At least with me anyway.

It pains me to say it but the SV has to go and I really don't want to go down the road of breaking it and ebaying all the bits and pieces. My poor bike deserves better than that :(. So the other option is to sell but 10yrs old, needs new tryes, seen too many winters in my opinion... not worth much money either.

And so at last I am here. Appreciate that I've not been on the forum long and don't really know anybody on here personally but I figured that we're mostly all SV owners so I thought the best home my SV could go to would be on here. Maybe as a spare bike, a project to someone, cheap starter bike (if you had the resources to get her up and running again) or just strip it clean and use what you can from it.

Plus points:

2x Brand new front brake calipers (last September fitted) cost nearly £250
Newish Rear brake disc (<1yr old)
Brand New throttle cable (Jan 10)
Original toolkit(slightly rusty though ;))
New fuel tap
Very recent carb balance (Jan 10)
Black double bubble screen


Bad points:

Will need new rear tyre at least
Need new battery
Will need new chain soon
Exhaust may need welded at joint seam (mid point of down pipe)
Usual chips and nicks from 10 winters
MOT out on March 27th, Tax out on Feb 28th (SORN as from then on)



Posting this on Ecosse thread as I think it best if whoever wants it come see it first before deciding anything. And it's not really "For Sale" as such. I'm not looking for a lot of money for it, just an honest price for an honest bike and to go to a good home. :smt022

Any advice from the eternal wisdom of the org??

[ophic]

Bad points:

Will need new rear tyre at least
Need new battery
Will need new chain soon
Exhaust may need welded at joint seam (mid point of down pipe)
Usual chips and nicks from 10 winters
MOT out on March 27th, Tax out on Feb 28th (SORN as from then on)


That's all normal wear and tear. Battery/chain/tyres - even quite newish bikes need those! Is there anything worrying you about the bike at all?

The engines just keep going if looked after - some have been known to rack up 100,000 miles. How many miles on yours? Is it not worth part ex for a new one, at least?

[martyn mcg]

It's not the wear and tear mate. I've only had it 2 years this coming June and I've easily spent twice what I paid for it on trying to bring it back to some sense of clean and maintainable. 3 months after I bought it, it needed a new engine as the old one had been abused and not maintained. Lack of knowledge on my part cost me £900 for that mistake. Only paid £1100 for the bike.

Don't get me wrong, I love my bike. Love the SV but can't justify that sort of money to bring it back to being proper roadworthy knowing that I'll never get it back to full health. I just don't have the cash or the skill to do it anymore and the bike will just sit in my garden and rot. So I'd rather someone else got something good out the sh*te I bought back then. I've done my best for it mate, think it's just time for me to let it go. I'll get a new(er) bike when I can afford it. Probably another SV though ;)

[haggis]

Seems a shame to have to sell it.

How's about a 2nd opinion before you take the plunge Martyn? As Ophic said, it doesn't seem like it's major expensive parts req'd. Just a bit of TLC and you needn't do it all at once either, just as funds allow. For example : a curvy downpipe can be had for pittance on ebay or probably someone here has one lying around taking up shed space.

Maybe a fellow Ecosse member could cast an eye over it at your gaffe or even give you a hand spannering some weekend? If you were a bit nearer to me, I'd have been offering to come across to help.

:?

[aarond]

em...


Will need new rear tyre at least about £90 or could look on ebay for pre used track tyres
Need new battery about £40
Will need new chain soon about £80

the welding could get a mate to do it?

so all in £210 and a pack of biccies and pint for welder friend?

ok you need it tax and tested but thats likely to be needed on all bikes

6 monthes tax £36 mot £40

so all in less than £300??

i just spend close on a grand on a turbo on a bloody fiat!:laughat:

[martyn mcg]

Cheers for the advice fellas. I've just had some news that a better job might be coming my way shortly so I might have a bit more cash and spare time soon.

It's not just the money though. It's the continuing thought of buying more new parts for an old bike. Mainly because the old parts were previously abused. If I look at the bigger picture, the money I've spent on this bike I could have bought a new one. Just feel like I've had enough, know what I mean?

But I might persevere and hold on to see what the next few weeks bring. Take haggis' advice and just buy the parts as ans when funds allow. Not like the weather is going to clear up in a week is it :rolleyes:

[aarond]

aye can understand that... but if you buy a newer second hand bike then you could still have problems!

least if you replace them and then look after them you know will be good for another x miles easily

[Kilted Ginger]

as said before,

If its lack of time / mech experience, then i'm sure there a couple of locals who could oversee / assist / doo the necessary work, may be worth getting a second opinion before making the final decission.

If the engine is generally sound then the rest is pretty much consumables that you'll have to do on any bike. really comes down to how much you like it.

[dizzyblonde]

Whats wrong with keeping an old bike like new?
Al bikes have wear and tear parts as already said.
One of mine is ten yrs old this year also, I've hardly spent a penny on it, as it was in good nick when I bought it three years ago. Tyres, MOT, oil, and a couple of other bits and bobs is all has gone on it.
However the other is 9 yrs old, I bought it for 2.5k when it was three yrs old, and I spent a good 2.5k getting it to what it is now. I have not much mechanical knowledge and luckily a local Yorkie Chris with the patience to strip it and build it back for me.
Any bike whatever the age needs money spending on it to keep it looking and behaving well. Thats the way it is.

Bikes are an expensive hobby flower ;-)

If you were to get a new bike, servicing it per schedule can cost a fortune, so its just the same as the cost of upkeeping an old bike.

[Baz]

My curvy has been of the road for over a year now as I, like you, just didn't have the time or knowledge to fix her up.
May not have been the best idea but I actually sold my car at the time so I could buy a second bike so as to keep riding.
However a year later and a lot of time (spread out) my curvy is now getting it's MOT as we speak and soon I will hopefully be using her as my commuting bike.
The Org is a world of knowledge and many people on here are more than happy helping out with work.
If you think you can hold on to it for a bit longer and just start with a few of the easy and cheaper bits then see how you get on.

[martyn mcg]

I get what you all mean about keeping an older bike on the road and costs involved, Barclays know all too well how far my Visa goes to buy parts. It's more this particular bike I've given up on I think. If it's not 1 thing it always seems to be another. I have spent countless hours cleaning, tweaking, replacing and never really making any progress. I don't think I came across the right way in my first post, sounded more like I didn't know there were costs involved or maintenance but believe me I do.

At the end of the day the bike is sitting there doing nothing and will be for the near future so I thought someone else might have time to bring it back to life better than I can. Can you see my point? I can't justify the time or costs needed until my situation improves so it'd be a crime for the bike to rot just because of that

[dizzyblonde]

The most annoying thing about any bike is when you start spending time, money and effort on something that causes it problems, not just cleaning tweeking and replacing. For a whole six months on the nine year old bike, I had a problem with blowing fuses. The damn thing had been rebuilt, polished, tweeked, mothered, pampered, and thats how she repayed me. Sometimes I could do 200 miles and then a fuse would pop, sometimes I could get to the end of the drive and a fuse would pop, I had to ride around with a bag of main fuses, sometimes I'd go through two in five seconds :-(.....the whole wiring loom got a fine toothcomb over it by two people, several times, with every panel and sometimes subframe pulled off, to try and get the answer. Then one dry day after several hrs of frustration, and after I'd thrown my dummy out because of having to use breakdown...we found a common fault, and obvious.

I can understand when you feel like just throwing the towel in, stop spending money and just giving up, but sometimes theres a light, and you get a lovely beautiful bike again. It could happen to any bike. I had to make the decision between getting rid, or sticking with it.

Heres my thread with said bike a couple of years ago, its now the bike in my avatar that I am very proud of. I didn;t have a clue about nowt when I started it...luckily I have YC as a friend who was very patient and willing to help me out. The bike would have still been a pit if it wasn't for him. He learnt a fair bit too I don't doubt, although he was knowledgeable.

http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=103561&highlight=suzy+bares

I suppose at the end of the day you have to physically want to do a bike up, its a flipping long haul, and its not easy. Had I not had emotional ties to this bike, I doubt I'd have spent so much money time and effort on her..and its unlikely I'll ever sell her. I don;t think I'd do it again, it gives you headache :-)