First bike... advice please

[Ragingrob]

Andrew would you be keen on Sat arvo to get the bike?

[motorbyclist]

yep

10char

[Ragingrob]

Mint will confirm with ya tonight...

[Hanne]

I didn't have to say anything and I think Madison is in pieces again...

No! Not today. We had fun times in the hail.

[klyong82]

No! Not today. We had fun times in the hail.

Yeah the hail was fun I was test driving a car from team mcmillan then....could hear all the hail attacking the demo car and could not see anything on the road haha....sales person even let me test the traction control while the car was in steptronic mode....

[ehab2weelr]

bro i think the bandit or the vtr r the bikes you should look at....

[motorbyclist]

due to mechanical work taking place at squiggle's place, strata closing early, and *insert infallible excuse here*, this week's chiller is at squiggle's place

[motorbyclist]

edit takes too long

replace squiggle's with squiggles'

[Zim_Invader]

Thats alright matey, I would never race you and if you did overtake me I don't think I would be that heartbroken. I'm not a speed demon haha. Doesn't matter though, the "when" is probably years off .

haha. so very possible. but in terms of progress, it's progress none-the-less. anyway, i've brought it down to these final 3 bikes. say what some of u may about the gpx, it's s sexy candidate in my eyes. then the vtr and the yellow bandit. so ya. andrew. it's down to these 3 bikes. the vtr and the gpx's are open for viewing on friday. will see when i can get the yellow bandit viewed!

na, dushi, i'm no crazed speed hungry buffoon. i liked your advice, and will sure as hell stick to it (as soon as i get my ass off the "armchair" and onto a bike). but hey. without me, u'd not look half as good as you do, now that u got your wheels back and running! haha.

meet u friday andrew. wil have gear by then, so it'll make commuting a lot easier!

[motorbyclist]

wait, when on friday? chiller? i'll be doing banzai's GN friday but yeah i can take a break to visit that vtr now we know where it is

[Zim_Invader]

haha, yeah, friday. we'll make a bit of a round trip. see the vtr and the gpx. for now, i can legally PILLION!!!! i'm a fully geared armchair rider!!!!
meet u at the chiller tomorrow... haha, i may be late, as i finish work at 6. (anyone passing through town at that time, out of pure coincidence???) if so, give me a shout - but not if u're riding. my gear's with 2wheeljunkie... haha, i have now got it, but that doesn't mean i'm allowed to have it.... so it's taking refuge at his place for a while (could be months, could be years... who knows??)

haha, sweet, see u tomorrow!

[Zim_Invader]

hey all!!!!

so have seen teh gpx. am gonna arrange to view the vtr on tuesay afternoon. mayb about 4-ish? for those of you who saw, share your thoughts.. i liked it!! (lets face it... it's got 2 wheels, an engine that works, and moved!! i'd like anything that does that!!! - eg squig's gn!!!)

i'm pretty sure the vtr will be in better nick, as it costs nearly twice as much... but we're lookin for value for money, so keep that in mind. dushi, u reckon u can make the trip on tuesday? hehe, we ended up seeing the gpx at about half 9!!1 hahah, was bloody funny... a good trip, so thanks kyle jaffa andrew and ross for the time and company!! (and the inspection)... it was really impresive. we get there. and u just see 3 people pounce onto the bike and start yanking at bits and literally stripping it down, like you would a pretty young thaing from k' rd!! haha - isn't that right jaffa good time!

[PirateJafa]

GPX is in pretty good nick - it has been dropped at some point, but not majorly and it has been patched up pretty well. Good condition for it's age ('88) and miles (34k by the odometer). Sounded pretty good, started nicely - although the chap had warmed her up a hour earlier so it was hardly a cold start.

Tyres had plenty of tread (I think? It was the only thing I don't recall looking at too closely), discs and pads okay, chain and sprockets (well, the rear sprocket at least) were rideable, although the rear sprocket was getting a little hooked. Lights and indicators worked, though the forks were a little spongy - but you are not Rossi. No real signs of rust, and the seat release was tidily done.

IMO it's a nice bike, and for 2.5 (might talk him down) it's not bad.

Oh and negative to the K'Rd - I have these awful things called "standards" Zim [insert Honda joke here], and a powerful desire to not see more doctors soon than I have to!

[motorbyclist]

sprockets and fork oil are easy and cheap to fix

it's reasonably straight

what i don't like was how it was already quite warm for a bike that had sat there for two hours - maybe it doesn't cold start well?

from the bottom end, among the "normal" noises from a kawasaki gearbox, it made a ticking noise at idle / a dull clicking noise under load, rate dependant on revs not speed

i want to ride another GPX like rie's to see if it's "normal" or not


personally, i think the VTR is a better bike, a better buy, AND a better investment - but will have to view it first

remember we're looking at what needs to be fixed and whether or not it's worth the money to do so. wheel bearings, chains, sprockets, brakes etc are easily and cheaply fixed - badly bent chassis/forks and mechanical issues can be both time consuming and costly (just ask dushi) - so don't take a seller's word on anything unless they're telling you what's wrong, don't be put off by easily fixed issues as those are what often makes a bike bargain, don't buy a bike that has an unknown fault or bent chassis, and don't get a bike if you don't think it looks cool

[Zim_Invader]

the amount of k's done by the gpx is kinda confused. starts lo, and suddenly shoots up to 250 000 k's, from 15 000. then mileage is reduced by 225 000, (to ~25000). now it sits at 35000. don't know what to make of that. here's the link:

http://www.carfax.co.nz/car/?plate=89ttu&search=Check

but ya, tuesday afternoon to view the vtr, if it's still up for grabs. will update tomorrow to confirm a time frame in which we can go view it.