RF900 Value

[Bend-it]

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Motorbikes/Motorbikes/Sports/auction-73598878.htm

I'm looking at this bike, so had the owner take it in to the Suzuki delaership in Dunedin for a check.

This is what they found:

Problem ..................... Cost to fix
-------------------------------------------
Leaking fork seal ........... $300
Loose rubber mount ...... $50
on handlebar
Rear brake pads worn ..... $60
Rear tyre down to 1mm ... $300

Mileage is 34,797miles or 55,000+ kms. He wants $5300 for it.

What do you reckon? I'm inclined to ask him to fix the "faulty" things, i.e. fork seal and handlebar mount, and I'll accept the "worn" bits as part of buying a used bike.

So what do you think about value vs mileage etc?

[Bend-it]

Also, cylinder compression 185 190 190 180

Is that ok?

[MSTRS]

Mileage is 34,797miles or 55,000+ kms. He wants $5300 for it.



Auction says 20,000k and $5600. Is there something dodgy going on?
Value probably high-4's to low-5's

[Drum]

I'm no expert on the RF900, but from what Ive seen on Trademe the last few months, I'd say less than $5k.

Didn't Colapop get one just recently?

[Cajun]

well if you say tire is down to 1mm he will have to replace it to get the new wof

no idea on prices on rfs few of the rf owners will pop along at some stage and let you know

[Bend-it]

Yeah... in the description, he did say 34+k miles, but the 20k kms in the description does confuse it, making me think he meant 20+ miles, and 34+ kms, which was not bad.

I rang and asked what he wanted, and he said $5,300

[Bend-it]

well if you say tire is down to 1mm he will have to replace it to get the new wof


True... hope he doesn't go "yeah, just the cheapest one will do."

[ManDownUnder]

It's a high price... higher than I'd expect anyway.

By comparison, at the time of purchase:
$6,300
30,000km
9 years old (is a '94, purchased in 2003)
Included high mounted hard luggage and none of the above problems.

It'd been dropped and resprayed but seems pretty good (although the drop and respray wasn't mentioned in the ad... 'twas pretty obvious once you looked)

[NinjaNanna]

$5300 seems a bit high, I would say to him "If your auction doesn't go as well as you hope I'm willing to pay $4500 give me a call after the auction" or what ever you think might be a very good buy from your point of view.

One thing to be careful of though, when I bought my bike I knew the fork seals needed doing and was willing to accept this cause I was quoted $200 to do them, when I had the job done they discovered that an area of chrome had worn away, so I'm just playing a waiting game to see how long this set of seals lasts? If they blow out quickly I'll either be up for re-chroming or finding another inner. Expensive!!! Still got a bargain though.

[Bend-it]

So the general consensus is either knock afew hundy off the price or wit for another one to pop up... Makes sense I guess...

[ManDownUnder]

So the general consensus is either knock afew hundy off the price or wit for another one to pop up... Makes sense I guess...

Yeah there's enough of them around.

FYI I have a spare set of forks up here if/when they're of use. One Staunchion's a bit roungh and chews out seals every 3 months or so, the other's fine, but has 70,000 kms on it

[crazybigal]

$300.00 to change fork seals! god im in the wrong job!!!
seals are like 30 bucks at the most, prob take you a sataday to do, its not that hard onece you figure out how to jack the bike up!, heavy bitch these rf's!
you have to take the side and bottom fairings off, but not the top just the inner plastics and you can get to the clamps.

put it this way, people are paying up to $7500(why i dont know) at a dealer for a good one so i think 5k is prob ok.
If you didnt know rf motors are rock solid! just watch out for worn alternator bushing, they crap out at 60k and can be costly to sort.
Some people have problems with 2nd gear so give the box a good work out before you buy it.

good luck!

[Bend-it]

yeah, just sent a txt to see if I could get the price knocked down some... Changing the fork seal was gonna cost more in labour than anything else... 3 hrs at the shop they reckoned... So, anyone on in Welly have tools I could borrow? I'm quite happy to have a go taking it apart...

Never felt like I properly owned a car till I took it apart and put it back, should be the same with a bike... :)

[crazybigal]

you could take the fork legs into the shop and have them fit the new seals, thats the shitty part of the job. save heaps on the labour bit of the job.
ive changed fork seals that have had the metal bands inside them go rusty and others i just couldnt get out without damaging the fork you just dont know what you will find untill you get at them.
the other thing you need to do is replace the fork oil, and you need to know how much and weight.

[Colapop]

Why yes, yes I did get one recently...

Mine is an RF900 1996 (first sold in '98) It had the fork sealls done prior to purchase, new oil, brake fluid and clutch fluid. Mine has a pack rack and a Scorpion exhaust.
I purchased it for $5k (down fron $6k) from a shop (so I had recourse if I had issues in the short term) and I got a good deal on a new helmet ($750 down to $450). The suspension needs to be upgraded/replaced and I'll need to replace the chain and spockets before too long. I've probably got about 5k left on the rear tyre.

Rear tyre - dunno haven't priced it yet, probably $200ish?
Suspension - between $900 and $1800 (may get it from Shaun and get it fitted adjusted at the same time)
Chain and sprockets - $300 for a chain, $20 front sprocket and $60 for a rear sprocket (excl. labour)

Good solid runner. Doesn't complain about my fat arse (like the missus does) and is not too greedy on gas... And I have a manual too.

[MSTRS]

,,, probably got about 5k left on the rear tyre....

...at least on most of the circumference eh?:Pokey:

[Bend-it]

Yeah, this one has exhaust done, pack rack, heated grips, new chain and sprockets. The deal on the table is now: Fix tyre, fork seal and brake pad, and I'll buy for $5k. We'll see how it goes... Like someone said before, there are afew around.

[Bussaman]

so give the box a good work out before you buy it.




Hehehe. Is that how it goes.:gob:

[Crazy Steve]

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Motorbikes/Motorbikes/Sports/auction-73598878.htm

I'm looking at this bike, so had the owner take it in to the Suzuki delaership in Dunedin for a check.

This is what they found:

Problem ..................... Cost to fix
-------------------------------------------
Leaking fork seal ........... $300
Loose rubber mount ...... $50
on handlebar
Rear brake pads worn ..... $60
Rear tyre down to 1mm ... $300

Mileage is 34,797miles or 55,000+ kms. He wants $5300 for it.

What do you reckon? I'm inclined to ask him to fix the "faulty" things, i.e. fork seal and handlebar mount, and I'll accept the "worn" bits as part of buying a used bike.

So what do you think about value vs mileage etc?

Sorry but all I can get offered on My GSXR1000K3 done 14kms..Is 10k..

This RF900 is $3500 MAX..Without the fork seal leaks!!!!

Crazy Steve..

[Mental Trousers]

One interesting thing to note is that it is virtually impossible to get hold of a 2nd hand alternator for an RF900. There's quite a few around at wreckers, but the alternators are all gone. Seems they don't like working when the k's get up a little.

[riffer]

Bitch of a job to fix too, I've heard.

My RF900 is a late 95 model RS, first registered in 96. At the time of purchase it had 47500 on the clocks (miles), had excellent tyres, and seemed in pretty good allround nick.

It's now sitting on 59500 miles, has had a new DID 530 X-ring chain and sprockets ($300 all up from Maidstone Yamaha), new brake pads front and rear, new Z6 Roadtech front ($230 - WMCC) and Z4 rear ($70 2nd hand off F5 Dave) which still has a good 5,000 miles on it.

Add 3 oil changes in 12000 miles and that's about it.

I've rebuilt the brake calipers, regreased the axles, changed the wheel bearings and regreased the steering head bearings in the last month as well.

In winter I Vaselined the coils and low-tension leads to prevent misfiring in the rain (RF's are hideous for this).

This weekend I'll change out the fork oil and readjust and lube the chain.

My bike cost me $4750 to buy and about $1000 in the last year to maintain.

A bargain for the performance if you ask me.

Oh - and if you're interested here's how to get ridiculous amounts of power out of the RF:

1. 1992 GSX-R 750 cams (don't forget to redo the shims)
2. CDI from above
3. 4 degree advance digital pickup plate.
4. take the jets up a few sizes to give more petrol and replace air filter with free flow filter.

Reputed to give up to 140BHP with these mods according to some on the RF900R mailing list. To put that in perspective, that's wheeliing off the throttle in first and second under acceleration, without backing off the throttle first... something that's not easy on an RF unless you're sitting at the very back of the pillion seat.

[Bend-it]

This alternator bearing thing... How available is a new one? How much is it? Just planning ahead since it seems to be failing on the RF900s.

[Chaosmage]

This alternator bearing thing... How available is a new one? How much is it? Just planning ahead since it seems to be failing on the RF900s.
I can answer this one :) I just had it done recently, the part cost $47 or so, no worries. I asked the mechanic where I bought the part what the easiest way to install it was. His reply "don't even fuckin try, just don't" "you need to know what you are doing ra ra, I'll do it for 3hrs labour $260ish". Hmmmm what if I strip it down and bring you the main bit to work on. "na mate don't even try it". Anyways my dad is like I'll be able to do it etc we got it down the last bit and it was looking tricky(need a special tool). Took that bit to a different bike mechanic and he charged $$$20, so it pays to shop around and it sounds like you would be comfortable stripping some of the bike down?
I will send you the pages from manual we used, and or can find a link to the whole service workshop manual.

I purchased my bike couple years back, 97' RF 900R. Guy was asking $5,500 to buy now. After auction closed I got it for $5,200, it had pretty new tires, chain etc. Two bro's exhaust & I got him to throw in the bag with the pack rack. 47,000 Miles on the clockits around 57ish now and going strong.

So which bandit do you own? While we had my bike in the garage my dad luckily lent me his Bandit 1200 97' and I can safely say I missed my rf900 and was glad to have it back on the road.
I certainly wouldn't let the alternator issue put me off rf's, there is the odd post around here which is how I found out what the problem would most likely be.

[Chaosmage]

Just in case anyone is interested, here's a link to an RF900 service manual.

http://users.pandora.be/botjes_place/bike/Suzuki%20RF900R%20Service%20Manual.pdf

[biggles74]

alternator bush went at 85000k at north cape of all places,absolutly bullet-proof motor otherwise , heavy pigs to push ,get the bush replaced soon as

[riffer]

Even heavier to pick up too if you drop it. Ask Frosty.

[MacD]

I think you'll find that the 94 "R" and 95 "S" models have a direct drive to the alternator so they don't suffer from the common failed rubber coupling problem. The coupling was added from the 96 "T" model as a precaution against shaft failure. Unfortunately the coupling didn't last much past 50K km. The replacement part is meant to be significantly more robust.

Here's a story of somebodies repair page (http://andreas.warby.org/photos/2003/0728.html)with photos.

[Mental Trousers]

Interesting thing #2. You're lucky if it's only the bearing that goes. Just ordered parts for one that fucked one of the pieces right beside the bearing. There is no longer a direct replacement available. To fix it you need to order a new generator drive shaft, bearing, c ring, circlip and collar. Don't ask how much that's going to cost. All of those bits (except the circlip) are currently on back order and will probably be another 2 weeks minimum.

[Mental Trousers]

Parts 39 & 40 (22736-46E00 & 22740-46E00) from this diagram (http://andreas.warby.org/E4Alternator.gif) have been discontinued by Suzuki so the only fix available to the coupling distroying itself is to revert back to the original configuration ..... a case of the fix was worse than the problem.

[MacD]

That's interesting MT. I've heard of many instances of the coupling failing but never a shaft breaking. So far so good on my 95 S model.

[Chaosmage]

Even heavier to pick up too if you drop it. Ask Frosty.

Yer I Was in a hurry and took off with a lock in the front wheel. I had to ask someone to help me pick it up :(

[MacD]

Ditto. When the lock hit the brake it stopped damned fast! I bought myself one of those curly cable reminders after that as I didn't want to pick it up again! (particularly in the work carpark ;))

[emaN]

Here's a story of somebodies repair page (http://andreas.warby.org/photos/2003/0728.html)with photos.

cheers dude!
fingers crossed i won't be needing it tho' (80k on the clock & all good!)

[Phils Motorcycles]

Wasn't the shaft that broke. However, as there's no replacement for the coupling (the rubber thingy) available now you have to replace more bits - including the shaft.


That's interesting MT. I've heard of many instances of the coupling failing but never a shaft breaking. So far so good on my 95 S model.