Mike Stenseth
XS650 Enthusiast
Nice looking 75'. Good luck on a possible purchase. Enjoy!
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Buying '75 XS650 /w odd blinker problem
- Thread starter Djosh
- Start date
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- Tags
- restoration
Djosh
XS650 Member
I fear that I'm not going to be able to 'seat of my pants' through the rego process for the '77 like you did unfortunately Louis.
I saw the clause for pre '76 vehicles not needing a compliance plate when I did the research for registering it but I'm just outside that window.
The whole purpose of me getting an old bike instead of a new bike is that I learn how to turn the wrenches and end up learning the bike and it's quirks, so I don't mind having a bike that needs some work at all. It's for riding as much as it is to give me a constructive distraction from uni and work.
I saw the clause for pre '76 vehicles not needing a compliance plate when I did the research for registering it but I'm just outside that window.
The whole purpose of me getting an old bike instead of a new bike is that I learn how to turn the wrenches and end up learning the bike and it's quirks, so I don't mind having a bike that needs some work at all. It's for riding as much as it is to give me a constructive distraction from uni and work.
As a brand new rider, do you want to wrench or ride? If the latter, find a nice used Honda 250 or something so you can go out with your pals and have some money for beer.
I am impressed that you like what I like, and fully support these old bikes, but as a new rider you should get something you can ride and get motorcycling experience on that will not have you second guessing all the time about whether you will need a lift home rather than riding for the sheer joy. Plus, as you gain ability you will drop your bike more than once, hopefully never too hard; parts are a lot cheaper for a current machine.
I am impressed that you like what I like, and fully support these old bikes, but as a new rider you should get something you can ride and get motorcycling experience on that will not have you second guessing all the time about whether you will need a lift home rather than riding for the sheer joy. Plus, as you gain ability you will drop your bike more than once, hopefully never too hard; parts are a lot cheaper for a current machine.
Djosh
XS650 Member
I appreciate the thought, lakeview.
I've done plenty of thinking and while I'd love to have a bike I can climb on and not stress over, I plan on wrenching and riding in equal parts due to some pretty big responsibilities that I've taken on for the next two years.
It's not just the riding that excites me, the wrenching excites me just as much and I think I'll need the bit by bit trouble shooting and wrench turning to de-stress.
It'll be a rolling project/daily rider once it's road-worthy.
I've done plenty of thinking and while I'd love to have a bike I can climb on and not stress over, I plan on wrenching and riding in equal parts due to some pretty big responsibilities that I've taken on for the next two years.
It's not just the riding that excites me, the wrenching excites me just as much and I think I'll need the bit by bit trouble shooting and wrench turning to de-stress.
It'll be a rolling project/daily rider once it's road-worthy.
Hi Skull,
well, we are both guessing about the bike's true condition, eh?
That'll take an actual walkaround.
And the ad did imply the seller was "open to offers"
Obviously it'd have to be a near offer but I've found that showing up with cash in hand and a trailer to haul the thing away is a good way to make a deal.
Hi 5T,
I'd suppose that it's like buying a house.
Once you've paid the ante to get into the game it ain't so much the price as the difference between what you paid for the new and what you got for the old.
My son bought a 650 twin Kawi in Australia, working out the exchange rate he paid easily twice the Canadian price for the same bike but when he came home he sold it for that price too. Along with the stock muffler for the new owner to temporarily put back on to get the bike inspected.
Djosh,
The 75, (90% sure its a 76), has not long run out of rego. You could ask to have it blue slipped and be willing to pay for it. This will tell you what needs to be done and if it is up to scratch get him to re-register it and pay him for the rego on top of an agreed price.
If you find it needs a lot of work keep the blue slip, (you have payed for it), and walk away........... or not. For a small outlay, a big saving, or a decent buy, and your on the road.
Still worth a look at the 77D even if it is just for a learning experience. The 77 had some changes mid production run. The gearbox got a different main-shaft and the gears wont interchange from the early one to the later ones. A good question to test the owner on.
The 75, (90% sure its a 76), has not long run out of rego. You could ask to have it blue slipped and be willing to pay for it. This will tell you what needs to be done and if it is up to scratch get him to re-register it and pay him for the rego on top of an agreed price.
If you find it needs a lot of work keep the blue slip, (you have payed for it), and walk away........... or not. For a small outlay, a big saving, or a decent buy, and your on the road.
Still worth a look at the 77D even if it is just for a learning experience. The 77 had some changes mid production run. The gearbox got a different main-shaft and the gears wont interchange from the early one to the later ones. A good question to test the owner on.
Deduction Fed, deduction from a visual of the pics, what he says and what he wont show pics of. Caution to be acknowledged.
louis
XS650 Addict
Everything costs more, not just XS's. What's becoming increasingly common is groups of guys pitching in for 1/2 shipping containers filled with bikes from the states. You can get the price down to about 1000 landed that way I think. Buy a nice Ironhead for 4K landed that would have cost literally 25K here.
It's a really expensive country but you'd be an absolute fool to complain for one second if you lived here. It's a really great place, take the bad (expensive) with the good (everything else).
You have the right attitude on becoming an owner of one of these classics. I found having a few of them allows more wrenching and/or riding opportunities! lol......
No Fred, Deduction of the visual and verbal statements and lack of pics............. leads me to suspect..........Without the deduction there would be no reason to suspect...........its all spidery sense anyways
Djosh
XS650 Member
Had a thorough look at both bikes today. Made sure to tell both owners that I wanted to see the bike cold start.
The 75B's VIN was numbers matching with the engine and was a '75 bike, it just had a '76C front end, gauges and tank cap. The previous owner was a mechanic apparently and made the changes. I didn't like the look of the front end, it was pitted and grimy where it should have been smooth and clean.
The inside of the tank was milky too, which means it's been re-sealed?
There was an issue with one of the carbs, he started it (started first kick) and it died within seconds so he started it again and as soon as any torque was applied the carb spluttered and died. I haggled to see how far he'd go and got him to 4,250 from 5,000.
I have a feeling he had little clue what he was doing and didn't treat the bike very well in the 2 years he had it.
The 77D was more promising, didn't look like it had been dropped like Skull (fairly) thought. The owner wasn't present as his mother had died and he was out of town but a mate of his was there. It didn't start easily and the guy winded himself starting the thing twice over, all the while saying that it normally starts first time. I did flick the kill switch to the other position and is did start first kick that time. Electric starter failed. It looked a lot better taken care of, but for the same sort of money I can get a cleaner bike that doesn't have as much cosmetic damage from the states.
Inside of the tank had some spotty rusting too.
He wouldn't budge on price from the 6.
A question though. The inside of the tank cap was rusted on both bikes and by rubbing my finger on it I could get rust to flake off. Is this a standard thing with the bikes or is it just an old bike thing in general.
The 75B's VIN was numbers matching with the engine and was a '75 bike, it just had a '76C front end, gauges and tank cap. The previous owner was a mechanic apparently and made the changes. I didn't like the look of the front end, it was pitted and grimy where it should have been smooth and clean.
The inside of the tank was milky too, which means it's been re-sealed?
There was an issue with one of the carbs, he started it (started first kick) and it died within seconds so he started it again and as soon as any torque was applied the carb spluttered and died. I haggled to see how far he'd go and got him to 4,250 from 5,000.
I have a feeling he had little clue what he was doing and didn't treat the bike very well in the 2 years he had it.
The 77D was more promising, didn't look like it had been dropped like Skull (fairly) thought. The owner wasn't present as his mother had died and he was out of town but a mate of his was there. It didn't start easily and the guy winded himself starting the thing twice over, all the while saying that it normally starts first time. I did flick the kill switch to the other position and is did start first kick that time. Electric starter failed. It looked a lot better taken care of, but for the same sort of money I can get a cleaner bike that doesn't have as much cosmetic damage from the states.
Inside of the tank had some spotty rusting too.
He wouldn't budge on price from the 6.
A question though. The inside of the tank cap was rusted on both bikes and by rubbing my finger on it I could get rust to flake off. Is this a standard thing with the bikes or is it just an old bike thing in general.
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Hi josh,
pitted fork tubes will damage the fork seals so they gotta go.
It costs more to fix them than to buy good used ones and good used fork tubes ain't cheap.
The milky tank may or may not be a problem, depending how well the sealing job was done.
And yes, steel fuel tanks will rust inside, the damper the climate, the worse the problem.
Worse case with a sealed tank, wash the failed sealer out with an acetone/MEK solution (Don't breathe the vapors)
XS650 carbs do need regular cleaning, so no problem there.
And if I was a stand-in seller I wouldn't accept a low offer neither unless the seller OK'd it.
Good luck with your search.
pitted fork tubes will damage the fork seals so they gotta go.
It costs more to fix them than to buy good used ones and good used fork tubes ain't cheap.
The milky tank may or may not be a problem, depending how well the sealing job was done.
And yes, steel fuel tanks will rust inside, the damper the climate, the worse the problem.
Worse case with a sealed tank, wash the failed sealer out with an acetone/MEK solution (Don't breathe the vapors)
XS650 carbs do need regular cleaning, so no problem there.
And if I was a stand-in seller I wouldn't accept a low offer neither unless the seller OK'd it.
Good luck with your search.
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