Advice - Would you buy this RSVR Factory?

[600+]

Seen an RSVR Factory for sale privately.

It's a 2004 bike with only 5500miles on the clock and looks immaculate. Have emailed the owner for further details and this is what he said;

4 owners - no service history but well maintained. last service 4 weeks ago when he bought it. he is selling because of baby due

These bikes are getting rare and this is a steal of a price BUT I can't help thinking there is something dodgy!!

Am I being paranoid?

Thanks

[thulfi]

Not told us the price ;-)

[600+]

Good point - it's at £4300!!

[thulfi]

lol, hth. Will leave the rest to orgers who actually know a thing or two!

[SuzukiNess]

Seen an RSVR Factory for sale privately.

It's a 2004 bike with only 5500miles on the clock

4 owners

Thanks


4 owners and such low mileage?? did all of them park it in garage and just sit and look at it?

i'd be paranoid too :)

[MrMessy]

Why did he buy it if he knew a baby was due?

[Shonky]

No service history, price a bit low, 4 owners and next to no mileage - alarm bells are ringing

[SoulKiss]

4 owners and such low mileage?? did all of them park it in garage and just sit and look at it?

i'd be paranoid too :)

Its a "special" edition - so possibly....

[Swin]

Is it being sold with a log book?

I'd also reckon an HPI check would be essential.

Other than that, Caveat Emptor :)

[600+]

Thanks for the responses chaps! glad to see I'm not going paranoid :) I'll speak to the guy as well and see how he sounds to me

[G]

No service history, price a bit low, 4 owners and next to no mileage - alarm bells are ringing


Yep... I would probably move on and find another one.

You could HPI it but even those are not foolproof, although it will have had some electric MOT's done to verify the mileage to a certain extent.

[Captain Nemo]

thats way too low for a factory..........

it might be a stadard mille thats been bolted up

[600+]

I had a look and found an 06 with 10k on the clock for £4999 which is legit from what I could tell.

Just need to make up my mind if I want to spend the cash or not......

[454697819]

I had a look and found an 06 with 10k on the clock for £4999 which is legit from what I could tell.

Just need to make up my mind if I want to spend the cash or not......

If you dont, fire it over here ill spend it for you :-)

and btw yes you do.

[600+]

LOL I'm good at spending money :) not a problem with that

I am also thinking of a Road trip in the States so need to decide where the money is going to go to ;)

[dizzyblonde]

Maybe he found out how much petrol it eats!
Another member came home from scotchland a couple of weeks ago after a week of touring....it had eaten 400 quids worth!!! Only something like 32 miles per gallon. And yes its a very special edition type RSV too.

[600+]

I'm clear on the consumption :) But to be honest I don't mind :) If I buy it it will be cause it's a superb piece of eng, a twin with loads of power. things I miss from my fazer thou (power) and sv650 (low grant torque)

[dizzyblonde]

Yeah I don't mind having a thirsty bike either, think all big twins are as bad as each other!

Watch out for it boiling the rear brake fluid in the cylinder, its nice when it does that. :-)

[Razor]

my k3 had 4 owners and less than 6k miles when i bought it, cheap too
i took a chance and the mileage is genuine, but it's been dropped, rad twisted and scuffs on rad end, fork bottom and mirror... newbies buy bikes get a fright and leave them in the garage like a cupboard monster

i say go check it out

[andrewsmith]

I'd say see both, HPI both
There will be obvious signs that its not right

Give the the bike the once over and take the engine no and vins. With it being a specialist 'collectors' bike (and true italian bike, not like the current crop!) give it a test ride

You want to be careful with the rsvr's from then ecu's looms and immobilisers are prone to f*cking up and Aprillia parts service is a joke most of the time.

Where is the bike located?

[600+]

The bike is lanarcshire so about 2+hrs from me. I've had a negative experience with a previously bought car hence why I am so paranoid about it. also the NO Service history means god knows what could come out if it wasn't serviced properly.

The other bike is from Raceways and has FSH, 1 owner and 10k miles and a chipped carbonfibre fairing which again has got me asking how it happened.

I'm not yet sure I want to spend the money but might go see the one in Raceways.

[andrewsmith]

I would say the main dealer 600 but ask how the damage has happened. May be something or nothing

[600+]

Did ask and he didn't know. There is no other damage so will have to go see it to assess it myself.

Being carbonfibre it would not be cheap to repair or replace!!! And I like my bikes to be prestine!! :)

[andrewsmith]

That is true and getting them new from aprillia is a laugh.

Even if it is minor i could live with it while the new 1 is on order. I would spend cash on a tracking card for it £300 for the card and £80 a year would be peace of mind.

It took a guy a used to work with a year to get new fairings after a (non fault) lowside in traffic. The mechanic did not want to see another aprillia after it

[gettin2dizzy]

I smell a lemon.

[andrewsmith]

the private ad or dealer bike?

[Biker Biggles]

You can only check them both out thoroughly,including the one from the dealer.A bike with several owners and no history has an indeterminate mileage,so you need to ignore what is on the clock and price it accordingly.If its straight,runs well and HPI is good then offer what it is worth to you,not some nominal book based price.If you get it you are happy,and if not look elsewhere.

[Sid Squid]

No. Aprilia twins are just so disappointing, should be fantastic, look good and on paper seem great but just aren't, I suspect this is a big part of why they commonly have so many owners for so little mileage.

Try one you may like it - but you'll know soon enough.

[Lozzo]

Have to admit I wasn't overly impressed with the ones I rode either, make a great noise and handle reasonably well but performance wasn't what I was expecting - overall Japanese bikes are far better built and most have more character (even Hondas). You might find fancy Ohlins on them, and Showa forks, Brembo etc, but the wiring is still a bowl of spaghetti and the instruments and switchgear look lke a child cobbled them out of a cheap Chinese copy of Lego.

Try getting parts for an Aprilia of any variety and you're in for a nasty surprise. The UK importer is the most useless and disorganised shower of **** I've ever dealt with (the England World Cup squad look good next to them, that's how bad) and the Italian factory are no better.

Only worth buying if you plan to store it for 50 weeks of the year and have money to throw away

[600+]

Well I really want a twin again but also want the power that the SV650 is lacking.

Indeed I very much liked the ohlins, brembo etc but if they are going to be a moneypit then I don't have either the time or the money to throw away just for the occasional day of riding one :(

Any other suggestions for a nice twin with a bit of power and not made from cheese?

[plowsie]

Well I really want a twin again but also want the power that the SV650 is lacking.

Indeed I very much liked the ohlins, brembo etc but if they are going to be a moneypit then I don't have either the time or the money to throw away just for the occasional day of riding one :(

Any other suggestions for a nice twin with a bit of power and not made from cheese?
SV1000?
TL?
SP1 or 2?

[yorkie_chris]

TL's are good but knocking on a bit now, what about SV1000, or if you want blingy one then an SP1/2

edit: beaten to it!

[plowsie]

TL's are good but knocking on a bit now, what about SV1000, or if you want blingy one then an SP1/2

edit: beaten to it!
Great minds and all that...weird how we actually picked the same three :shock: lol.

[yorkie_chris]

TBH from sounds of it I would not recommend he buy a TL though, since you need to spend lots of dosh on them* to get them anywhere near the standard of being worth owning. And being 10 years old they're likely a bit rough around the edges compared to the other ones which were more likely bought as pampered and never ridden bikes.

TBH I wouldn't buy an SPx or RSV either, they just seem a bit down on power compared to a four while drinking twice as much fuel. I'd buy a GSXR750.

*About £600 on the damper, £200 or more at the front, maybe stainless downpipes etc.

[600+]

The SP2s are on the expensive side of things and yes the TL though I've seen a couple they do need "smoothing" plus dealing with any of the "age" issues that would appear sooner than later.

Should I buy daveprestons SV1000? :)

[yorkie_chris]

SV1000 would be good I reckon, since last I checked you actually use your bikes I don't think a fully racy one would be good.

[600+]

:) I wouldn't say I use them to the same extent you do!!!

But I do like a bike that I will just decide to turn the key, it will run and I can go for a ride.

Hmmm decisions decisions!!!

[plowsie]

But I do like a bike that I will just decide to turn the key, it will run and I can go for a ride.
Like the SV was able to do?

Honestly I've heard nothing but good things about the thou's and that the 650 and 1000 although similar looking to the untrained eye, they are two completely different bikes.

[454697819]

Hold the phone..

yes aprilias can be difficult to get parts for, yes they are Italian but the they are IMHO well built reliable bikes, remember that it likes to be cared for, and looked after and yes if ... IF you bin it fantastically then you can wait a while on parts, 8 weeks for all the bits when I lobbed my tuono but it would have been back on the road within 1 week and cosmetically taken the other 7.

My experience of owning my Tuono was nothing but positive memories, if you like jap bikes buy jap, if you want an RSV buy one, the do loose out on performance stakes next to a gsxr 1000 but so what. Test ride one.. look at it stroke it...then stroke the bike...

My tuono handled fantastically and showed me up for the rider I was, I dont ride enough bikes to say you would be better off with x, y or z but all i do know is of all the bikes I have ridden ( a good handful) it was ace.

Both my ducati and Aprilia always started.. first time everytime..no need for a charger even with an alarm, snow, ice rain... the lot.. never a problem, I only put the aprilia away in dec 14 because I was moving house 5 days later..

It will have quirks but so will an 6 yr old jap bike.

don't rule it out because of scaremongering, buy what you want to see in your garage, I do every time and I will always.


ffs.. now I sound like the greek.. except I dont own a falco..

[AndyBrad]

buy the RSV!!!! ;)

[andrewsmith]

its your choice, but superduke?

[AndyBrad]

ahh another good call, speed tripple?

[yorkie_chris]

I'd definitely be looking at the likes of superdukes, speed triples and even KTM adventures (:o) if I did not care about fuel economy.

But that's getting very far away from the original idea of thirsty, pointless sportsbikes isn't it :-P

[andrewsmith]

buell? Haha not a good idea

[andrewsmith]

Yc more powerslide and thirsty

[gettin2dizzy]

Speed triple uses no more fuel than an SV. The old minimum of 10 miles per litre rule still applies :thumbsup:

[600+]

I want a supersport bike not an adventure type. Must have fairing as I like to be covered from wind blast on motorways......and yes I know some of you like holding on the bike for dear life without a fairing:) That;s not me

[Lozzo]

Horses for courses, but I very much doubt I'll ever own another sports bike for the road again.