No. I'm NOT trying to "sneak" my way into buying a sportbike as my first bike. :biggrin: I was just making a point that sometimes things that are pricey and valuable CAN surprisingly be a good thing for some people. Because at least the owner will tend to pay extra careful into taking care of the product versus owning a cheaper product and just doing whatevers with it, etc. But yes, I totally do understand and see your point on my particular case.
Scooter Questions? How much mileage would say a used 150cc scooter (59mph top speed) have that's worth purchasing? Say a Vespa or Yamaha? What are some tell tale signs to look out for in terms of the scooter brakes, engine, tires, that indicates its not a good purchase?
I'm just asking because I ALMOST bought a salvaged 1991 honda civic 4 door coupe before. I was ready to buy it till I saw the "salvaged" paper from DMV hidden deep inside the glove compartment of the vehicle. Walked away from that and haven't looked back ever since....
You haven't spent much time around guys who ride motorcycles have you? I've seen more thrashed 600cc supersports than probably any other type of motorcycle... and Harley guys seem to wear the "I never clean my bike because I'm too busy riding it" to the extreme. I've watched guys take a nice stock literbike and start customizing it and making it completely worthless in the process (at least he is riding it... or was, now it needs major service and he is too broke to do it so he just keeps riding it).
When it comes to looking at a bike I can tell if it was used as a stunt bike or for track days within seconds. Honestly, a bike that is completely unmodified is what you want to look for. One with honest mileage and ownership history, and complete service history. Do your homework and run the vin through one of those vin check services to see if the owner's story checks out with the vin history.
See, bikes are cheap and maintenance is expensive relative to the cost of the bike. If you know how to work on them they can be a bargain but most riders don't and they balk at the frequent and expensive maintenance so they just ignore it and/or sell it before it becomes a problem. Oil changes on a car are $19.99. On a motorcycle they are $100. Valve checks are non-existent on cars these days (Ferraris excluded) but they are mandatory on a motorcycle and they come every 15,000 miles or in half that on the Italian bikes and those services can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
The 15k service on my bike would cost nearly a grand at the dealership and my bike is worth maybe $8k and it is not even 3 years old yet. Imagine spending 1/8th the value of your vehicle on maintenance every couple years? Or more if you actually ride it regularly.
How about tires? You'd be the fucking man if you could get 10k miles out of one. I can't get half that out of a rear tire on my Ducati. I'm on my third set of tires (F/R) and I'm just short of the 15,000 mile service on my bike, which is comprehensive and I'm going to tackle myself (with the help of a friend who has done this on two Ducatis he owns).
A front tire on my bike (same tires you'd find on any 600cc supersport) is $130. Rear tire is $150-180, plus mounting and balancing. You might as well add another $100 to the cost of the tire unless you plan on removing the wheels and taking them in to have them mounted and balanced in which case you can expect to be charged $40 per wheel. You might find better deals if you are involved with the local motorcycling community and/or buy the tires from a local chain and bring the wheels in off the bike yourself.
Of course, you should really take the MSF course first... in case we haven't beat you over the head with that recommendation enough yet. :whiste: