Finding my standard...

Willis,
There’s no harm in passing on it , if you had too much doubt. There are others out there.
As for me, just a couple of months after I bought mine, a fully restored bike, the same year as mine showed up locally on Craigslist
For the same money I spent on my project bike. And currently there are two very clean, low mile specials for sale locally. Timing is everything. The fastest way for a really nice bike to show up close to you is to spend your money on something else!
 
Willis,
I think you approached that bike in a thoughtful manner.
I probably would have walked away, too.
Especially cuz the guy changed his story about an item on the bike.
Who knows what else there might be........
There will be other XS's, maybe even sooner than 5 years.
Two years after buying the '77 I got the '75 which is in the calendar.
 
willis said:
Yamadude, at $1500 i would have grabbed that one in a heartbeat too !!!! That is far better shape than the one I just looked at.
Click to expand...
Actually that photo I posted was after I cleaned up a lot of corrosion, rehab'd the fork tubes, and recovered the seat.
 
Yep, that one's pretty rusty for $1200. I'd be more comfortable giving $400 or $500 for it, but those days may be gone. I've noticed the prices going up and availability going down over the last few years, at least in my area. But you never know, deals still pop up. Like the $200 Heritage Special my buddy just scored. We should be picking that up in a week or two, and I'll be sure to post some pics. Turns out, all he really wanted was a parts bike or spare motor, so I may end up talking him out of this one. I have an extra motor I've offered to trade him.
 
YamadudeXS650C said:
Willis,
I think you approached that bike in a thoughtful manner.
I probably would have walked away, too.
Especially cuz the guy changed his story about an item on the bike.
Who knows what else there might be........
There will be other XS's, maybe even sooner than 5 years.
Two years after buying the '77 I got the '75 which is in the calendar.
Click to expand...

That is what I started thinking too. I know this guy is a bike flipper, and I do not want take anything away from him. He has around a dozen or more other bikes he is selling too. He presented it as a rider, which it is. I'm sure he did the bare minimum to get it running. He did put new tires and good rust free forks on it though. It's just more work than I am realistically ready to handle at this time in my life.
 
Gon Grats on be'n " adult "... I hate be'n " adult ". I think as we grow wiser in our knowledge the pitfalls of buyer's regret outweighs a impulse purchase. If the owner had work'd with you it had found a new home.
Based on your report.. I'd be very concerned about a top end rebuild... not normally a deal breaker but combined with the other issues, the owners lack of candor (honesty ?) it made sense to be adult. I had a similar dilemma recently... really really wanted the item.. (old car)... but.. I had to be adult and walk away.
 
Please don't get me wrong. I am not saying he was lieing. I truly felt he was a genuine individual, but certain things just were not quite adding up and stuck out with me. Perhaps he just mis-spoke when we were on the phone, I would give him the benefit of the doubt. The fouled plug was a big flag for me though after supposedly only 30 miles.
 
He sounds like a wheeler-dealer, full of B.S. to make the sale. Obviously he does this routinely so I would rate him on the level of a used car salesman. Scum of the earth, those guys, lol. I rate them barely one step above insurance salesmen and real criminals (robbers, murderers).
 
Shoot sorry to hear it didn't work out.

And yes around my parts 650s are gold.................. I found a few runners for 2K plus and any parts bikes disappear quickly.........A 82 Heritage popped up for 500 and emailed but no reply.......someday I may find one.
 
Last year I drove up to Cleveland and bought a 79' with 4K miles for $600. That guy was on here looking for a titled frame. It was beautiful! The catch.... no title. Here in Ohio it cost roughly $350 for a title to be made. Might get some back depending on court cost. Anyway, I sold it to me neighbor. Also on CL a few years ago, found an old flat track guy that had 10 XS for $3500. One was all there and pretty nice. I sold it for $700. Think it had around 10k on it. (Don't recall the year. Had VM 34 carbs) I gave one to my cousin. Think she put $4-5 hundo in it for a ride around. ( 77') I know a guy here in Ohio that has dozens of XS and claims to have hundreds of old Goldwings. Says he can't give those away. Ha! I've seen his main shop and he does have a lot of bikes. Sorry for being so windy but what I'm getting at, there's still a lot of bikes out there. Just gotta keep the eyes open. Price? Me personally I like to pass my savings onto others. The XS is a marriage to me. If I spend a lot getting one on the road, that bitch is mine. I refuse to sell and lose my arse. Ha! I think about all the money I've drank....Coulda had more bikes.
 
Reviving this thread... as it seems my patience has paid off from walking away from a deal that didn't feel right back in February. A couple days ago I was making my daily stroll through the CL ads for bikes when I was stopped dead in my tracks. Listed was a 1975 xs650b, which is the model I was really wanting most anyway. The pictures looked great, and description listed as a partial restoration attempt had already begun. Said he was moving and needed to sell. Best of all it was just outside my home town, a 30 minute drive away. The price seemed pretty low compared to the description and pictures. The add had not been up for long so i immediately called. I talked to the gentleman on my drive home. He had spent a lot of money at Mike's replacing parts and I knew he was taking a hit at his listed price. I told him I needed to think it over and would call him back shortly. As I was tending my grill for dinner, all I could think was that I knew this was a sweet deal and my window of opportunity would be narrow. I immediately called back and asked if I could come look at it after dinner. Gobbled down my yard bird and grabbed my petty cash and flew out the door.

As I pulled in his driveway, he was out in the barn and had it running already. This is usually a flag for me as I normally want to see it started from cold. I could tell the carburation was off a little and he agreed. He said that he was trying to dial the right carb in a little more for when I arrived. The bike looked great though and sounded pretty decent too. He had told me up front there was an issue with the clutch. The lever was very hard and as soon as it was put in gear the bike would stall. Not too worried about that though. He had told me he had several callers after me but was holding it since I was local. After a thorough inspection i made my offer and a deal was struck. I could not take the bike with me on Tuesday, so I made arrangements to come back today and pick it up. I paid him on the spot and went home on Tuesday with the title, bill of sale, 1 service and 1 factory repair manual, and 2 boxes of miscellaneous parts. Today I finally picked it up and could not be happier.

1975.jpg
 
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Wow, that looks to be in great shape. Finding one of these in cosmetically good shape isn't easy. You can fix the mechanical stuff but it's only original cosmetically once.
 
He had already had the frame, swingarm, kick and center stands, as well as engine mounts and footpeg mounts powdercoated. New rims and stainless spokes from mike's. New wiring harness from Mike's. New Mike's electronic ignition, which i suspect is the re-labeled Pamco and coil. New cables. He added the allen head clutch bolts, which may or may not be causing the issue. I will inspect that and the worm gear well. The side covers were repainted. The tank looks repainted too as it doesn't have the metallic flake in it that most factory has. Around the filler the tank paint had bubbled. He cut the peeled paint off and repainted with rattle can. Other than that it is straight and presentable for a rider. Original exhaust is in pretty decent shape and not rusted through that I could see. I don't plan on changing much other than putting on lower bars. Maybe a few items here and there. The engine case and top end have some oxidation that I will try to clean up when I get the time. I really didn't need another bike, but this one seemed like an opportunity that I could not go wrong.
 
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