- This topic has 4 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 5 months ago by brickerenator.
Buyer be Wary – Beginner’s buying used bikes
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October 28, 2009 at 7:22 pm #3533FrodoZVAParticipant
So I’ve been riding now for a grand total of 2 months, and loving every minute of it. Well at least every minute that i don’t spend troubleshooting the numerous issues with the bike I purchased. Good old craigslist got me hooked up with a guy a few hours away from me who had a 1995 Suzuki GS500 (not that i knew what any of that meant at first). After some searching I found a number of reviews saying this would be a good beginner bike … not huge, but enough power to have fun and not die the first day. Too bad, since I had very little technical knowledge, I went see the bike with just myself and my fiance. Test drive seemed nice (loads of fun at the time), and the bike in seemingly good condition. Sounded great, accelerated smoothly, handled nice … all that.
Now, 2 months later I am spending all my time and limited money trying to figure out why it has begun to run like crap. I get a hesitation while idling or driving a constant slow speed. accelerating and taking corners makes me forget all about that, but once i’m driving around town the band starts up again. Backfires from the exhaust and a popping noise from the carbs. After a week or so of this happening i thought i noticed the air flow mixture screws were missing. After ordering the parts and going to install them, the originals were actually there, just deeper than i thought they would be. Now i’m stuck again, and the only issue I see is small crack in a tube that connects both carbs, which seems to only have air running through it. So anyways, I’ve been doing a lot of growling at the bike.
If anyone has thoughts on what’s wrong, i’m all ears (or eyes i suppose). The moral of the story is though if you’re a beginner looking at used bikes, because of the price, do one of two things. 1. Bring some who has been riding awhile or has good knowledge of how motorcycles work with you to ride the bike. 2. Reconsider buying used and look into finances a new bike, i’m sure you’ll have more fun even though you have to make payments. On the flip side though … you wont have to worry about the bike or spend all your spare cash on repairs.
Thanks for reading!
October 28, 2009 at 8:41 pm #23045JackTradeParticipantThat sucks…but given what you’ve said, even an expert may have had trouble seeing the problem during the brief, pre-purchase inspection.
I’m no expert, but given the bike’s age, maybe the carb’s “low speed” circuit is partially gummed up?
To add to your tips…
3) Buy a bike with as few miles as possible. Most beginner bikes are plentiful, so shop around when you can.
4) Consider taking it to a garage or (gasp!) a dealer for an inspection after you buy but before you ride. Or if the seller will allow it, before you buy.
And for those like me who don’t have *any* motorcycle-saavy friends, the following is a goldmine. Read it before you go to look at the bike, and print out the checklist at the beginning as a cheat sheet for when you’re examining it. It really helped me when I bought my Buell.
October 28, 2009 at 9:01 pm #23046Gary856ParticipantFrodo, you need to check out http://www.gstwin.com
A big group of GS500 owners and fix-it-yourself experts there. If you’ve touched the carburator then you know more about it than I do already, but from what I’ve read on the gstwin forum it seems your carb is running too lean or just need to be cleaned up. Anyway, if you go to gwtwin.com with your problem description someone will chime in immediately. You can also research old posts on similar problems. It doesn’t seem like a serious problem; good luck.When I got my ’01 GS500 with about 8300 miles in Jan 09, I did not know how to ride, didn’t know how to start a bike, so didn’t even do a test ride. I talked to the owner, felt comfortable with him, and had him ride the bike to my garage and I gave him a ride home. I’ve ridden about 4500 miles on this bike and has had zero problem so far. It is a very simple and reliable bike. Since then, I bought a YZF600R and a SV650, both used and have had zero problem with them. I still enjoy riding the GS.
November 16, 2009 at 2:22 pm #23351FrodoZVAParticipantFinally figured out the issue with it. There is a vacuum tube linking the two carbs, which i found a hole in. Then I found another and eventually a third. All the while I keep telling myself, “I found one hole, so the problem can’t possibly be that damn tube anymore”.
I was wrong … Very Very wrong.
Picked up a short bit of hose and wrestled the new one on there, and it’s purring like a kitten (a bit more get up and go now too).
Anyways, Thanks for the input! If any new riders read this learn from my mishap, and don’t buy the first used bike that you set eyes on, take your time, shop and get some input from experienced riders if at all possible.
November 16, 2009 at 3:10 pm #23353brickerenatorParticipantI’ll be sure to check when I most likely pick up a GS in december
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