Is this a good buy?

[dizzyblonde]

Hun i would keep going with the SV..you've not had it long and you need to give yourself time to get used to it. There was a time when i used to get im Indoors to move it everywhere, I found it exceptionally hard to get off the sidestand, and with a dodgy back and duff shoulders everywhere just hurt after riding it. BUT, now I'm like Olive Oil with popeye muscles because I never gave up, I ride it with a full load on the back and I can still lift it...just don't ask me to pick it off the floor with a full tank

The bike on ebay is OLD and everyones giving you useful info about it, I don't know about them so i can't comment..not all bikes that are old are naff, but they come with a multitude of sins do old bikes, stick with what your getting used to and before long you'll wonder why you wanted to replace it

And I thoroughly agree with what Lozzo says about the bandit too,

Originally Posted by MrTom

Me?

lol

Damn! Beat me to it

Phil getting a bit lardy, weathered and expensive?




















#Runs!#

Originally Posted by Lozzo

Firstly I wouldn't touch it, but not for the reasons you're stating.

It's an NC24, not the most desireable of the VFR400s, It has odd wheel sizes (16"F and 18" rear) which limit the choice of tyres, parts are difficult to get hold of because they weren't a long lived model in Japan let alone here where they were never officially imported.

It does have too many miles on it for the money. I recently bought one for a friend for 400 quid in si,miliar condition, and I've seen the far better NC30s going for anything from 600 quid upwards.

The fact it has been repainted means nothing at all. There are thousands of bikes out there that have been crashed and rebuilt, I'm riiding one myself, I just chose to buy new panels rather than have mine repainted. Buying new panels was actually cheaper than getting a race replica paintjob done on the damaged ones, so that's the 'cheap bodge job' argument right out of the window.

Having aftermarket paint doesn't mean it has been previously written off beyond all safe repair and I wish some clueless twonks would stop spouting their paranoid ill-informed mouths off about this sort of thing. I know of loads of prefectly good bikes that got race replica paint jobs just because the owner fancied one. One of my mates had his NC30 painted in Rothmans colours only a couple of years ago, his bike was previously immaculate but he just fancied a change. Having aftermarket paint doesn't ever add value to the bike, and in some cases it will devalue it as most people want a standard one.

The NC24 is one of the most user-friendly bikes you can ever hope to find. the seat height is stupidly low for shorter people, it has a torquey little engine that will pull like a train from tickover right up to the high red line. The brakes are excellent even by modern standards, the suspension and handling are sublime. I don't know where JumJum got his information from, I just hope he didn't pay money for it because it's useless.

You have to bear in mind that this is a 20 year old bike with stratospheric mileage. In that time things like the ignition switch will possibly have worn out, hence it has been changed for a new one. it will almost certainly have been dropped, hence it has fresh paintwork, and it will almost certainly have been in the hands of at least one or two owners who don't have a clue how to look after it, siimply because that's the type of owner these things attract. They need religiously regular maintenance, and I'll bet this one hasn't had an oil/filter change every 3000 miles.

I sound like I'm defending it, but I'm not. It's an old bike, with too many miles and parts are hard to find. Over the years I've bought and sold more bikes than most people have had hot dinners, it's more than a hobby it's a small business to me and I watch what's going on closely. Like I said, I wouldn't buy it for those reasons, not the ones stated in the quoted text above.

My last word... AVOID.

Thats a very long post just to say "AVOID". The long and short of this Lozzo my old mate is you agree with me and this bike is no good!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers Loz for your useful and informative post.

She will be sticking with the 125 till spring, then the SV from there. If she REALLY can't get to grips with it then I get my track bike back and she can have something a bit smaller!