Honda VT500 Custom

[Spuds1234]

I was looking at this bike on Trademe, its a Honda VT500 Custom.

I was wondering if anyone has owned or does own one, and could share their experiences on them.

I reaslize that the bike for sale has done a few Km, but the guy claims the engine has been reconditioned, and from the picture, it seems like its in reasonable nic.

Are there any known problems with these bikes? Are they easy to work on? I like to get my hands dirty, and it would be a bonus if it was easy to take the tank off (unlike my GS250 which I have to take off the seat to take off the tank but to take the seat off I have to take off the sissy bar and then to put it all back on, kills a good hour lol).

If I decide to inspect it (I have already emailed the seller about seeing the bike) is there anything I should look out for? What signs of wear, strange (or not so strange) noises the engine might exhibit to indicate that is pretty much nackered, or will need some work in the near future?

And one more question, how noisy is the bike? I want a reasonably quiet bike. I took my GS out for a ride last night, and put 60miles on the clock, and when I got back I couldnt hear much at all due to the loud exhaust of my bike.

If you have managed to read all this, and are still feeling up to posting, I would appreciate your coments.

Chees

Spuds

[davereid]

Hi Spuds, I went to look at the auction and it had expired. But if you are looking to buy it...
Find comparisons.. to assess value
Start at the front.. tyre.. disk brakes (Check rotor for wear, look at pads to check for wear) look at forks, oil on sliders = bad, check stearing head for free movement, but no play, and just keep on going back. Engine - check oil - black = poor service record, noises, nothing harsh, no excessive tapping, check at high rpm too. Look for smoke. Bad valves may cause hard starting. Petrol smell too rich (hiding faulty valves?).. just go through bit by bit.. dont look for whats good, look for whats NOT good.
remember at auction you have no comeback.. even if its a complete dog.

[davereid]

p.s. I love cruisers and the japs build the best ones, just buy carefully..

[98tls]

i reckon Dave has pretty much covered it..........motor wise there damn strong..........if thats ok i would just be looking at fork seals and chain/sprockets etc..........good luck.

[Spuds1234]

Hi Spuds, I went to look at the auction and it had expired. But if you are looking to buy it...
Find comparisons.. to assess value
Start at the front.. tyre.. disk brakes (Check rotor for wear, look at pads to check for wear) look at forks, oil on sliders = bad, check stearing head for free movement, but no play, and just keep on going back. Engine - check oil - black = poor service record, noises, nothing harsh, no excessive tapping, check at high rpm too. Look for smoke. Bad valves may cause hard starting. Petrol smell too rich (hiding faulty valves?).. just go through bit by bit.. dont look for whats good, look for whats NOT good.
remember at auction you have no comeback.. even if its a complete dog.

Thanks for the information. I knew the auction was about to expire, but I thought you could still view them once they had finished. Ahh well shit happens.

If I get around to viewing the bike (the seller has yet to email me back), then I will keep that all in mind.

If there is oil on the sliders, how does that effect the bike? I ask because on my GS250 the sliders usually have a very thin film of oil over them, or is this normal. Its never done anything in the 4 years that I have had the bike.

[davereid]

It generally means the fork seals are leaking. It should result in a failed WOF. Sometimes simply changing the fork seals will fix it. But usually they fail due to rust on the sliders, and a proper fix is $$$

[Harry33]

You can still look at expired auctions, click click the more options button by the orange go button, click on the expired tab and enter a description of auction.

[MD]

I owned one and it was a blast to ride. Surprisingly peppy motor and at the time had some cool modern features e.g. water cooled, shaft drive
I tried to view the auction but it's closed. Can't remember anything mechanical to tell you- it's a Honda, didn't need servicing or repairs, say no more.

[Spuds1234]

Cheers for the info Guys.

Yea I must say I did like the look of the bike. I hope the guy emails me back. In hindsight (man I love hindsight), I could have avoided a wait like this by ringing him up, his phone number was displayed in the auction.

Ahh well such is life. Fuck I hope he emails me soon, I havnt even looked at the bike yet, and new bike anticipation syndrome is setting in.

[Spuds1234]

Heres a pic of the bike:



A 1987 (might be an '89 but I cant remember) VT500 Custom

Its done 45000km and its supposed to have been reconditioned.

How much do you think its worth?

I like the bike, but I dont want to pay out the arse for something now, when I can save a few more bob and get something better in a few months time.

Im taking the bike for a test drive tomorrow morning, so I kinda need to know before I get back from the test ride around 9.30am tomorrow.

[Bonez]

See if there's details, receipts etc, of any work done on the motor. 45,000kms is't that big amount of kms for a liquid cooled bike of that capacity. Having a shaft drive is a big advantage.

[Spuds1234]

I went and checked out the bike this morning, and to make a long story short, didnt buy it, and dont think I will.

There were to many little things that were wrong with it like the rear left indicator stick being held together with insulation tape and a "small stick" he said when I asked him about it.

Fuse box cover was held on with insulation tape.

Few scratches here and there, but otherwise it was ok.

Didnt take it for a test ride as the rego had lapsed about 5 months ago, and the impression that I got from the guy was that it wasnt on hold, and if I bought it I didnt really want to have to back pay the rego.

I might have offered him 2200 for it, but I didnt think he would take it, especially considering he had an offer for 2800 for it.

Just to many little things wrong with it that I didnt really want to deal with (my gs250 has many little problems, and its a pain dealing with them, I didnt really want to have to deal with these things on a new bike).

The engine sounded pretty sweet though.

If it was in slightly better condition, ie the little things were fixed (could probably have been done for under $100) I think that it would have been a great bike for the asking price.

Ahh well, I'll just have to get something else thats probably more expensive after I have saved a few more pennies.

[Bonez]

Sounds like you made the right choice. I don't think you have to pay the back rego owing btw. As it stays with the current address when you do the change of ownership. Well that's what I've been led to believe. I'm sure I'll be put straight on this.