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Undervalued Classics?

1986-87 Yamaha FZX-700 Fazer

Kawasaki C10 Concours. A lot of bike for little cash.

'80s Yamaha Seca's

MuZ Skorpion's

Kawasaki GPZ 550.
 
I like the Fazer, good call...

How about the Radian? I see those for $1000.

I'm thinking of doing a "$1000-2500-5000-10000" story, where I figure the best way to spend each amount of money. So, maybe:

$1000: Radian
$2500: CBR600F3 or FZR
$5000: ZX-10R
$10000: ST1300

Ideas?

VaderSS said:
1986-87 Yamaha FZX-700 Fazer

Kawasaki C10 Concours. A lot of bike for little cash.

'80s Yamaha Seca's

MuZ Skorpion's

Kawasaki GPZ 550.
Click to expand...
 
Gabe said:
So tell me a risky idea! Not everyone can be on the leading edge of moto-journalism like you, you know.
Click to expand...

You have a choice, write something more risky, or more main stream. Risky and good may get you noticed, risky and bad may make you a flop. Or, main stream where you are less likely to fail but may take longer to be noticed. If this is a career thing, safe may be best if you don't have a fall back that you enjoy. If you like risky, then you have already been given lots great ideas (some you took note of in your last post).

I am not making a career out of this, so I would make a risky move :D Then again, I race YSR's instean of main stream 600RR's too :D
 
I don't see any "risky" ideas in this thread. You mentioned the YSR50...that might work: I guess th eidea is "get into roadracing for much less than a 600", but the magazine I've pitched this to doesn't really play much to the road-racer crowd.

You also mentioned pimping older 600 supersports as sport-tourers: that's hardly a risky idea. I've seen lots of stories that convey that idea. It's still a nice angle.

I'd also like to thank everybody on this thread: I've gotten some great ideas, even if they are mainstream.

Sidewalk said:
You have a choice, write something more risky, or more main stream. Risky and good may get you noticed, risky and bad may make you a flop. Or, main stream where you are less likely to fail but may take longer to be noticed. If this is a career thing, safe may be best if you don't have a fall back that you enjoy. If you like risky, then you have already been given lots great ideas (some you took note of in your last post).

I am not making a career out of this, so I would make a risky move :D Then again, I race YSR's instean of main stream 600RR's too :D
Click to expand...
 
There have been some very good ideas in this thread. As you know, I stole that MZ, but they're rare as hen's teeth, so probably not the best one to highlight. Bikes that often seem cheap to me include Triumph Daytonas (heck, I stole a Speed 4 once, based in part on something you wrote about them :wtf). The suggestions of the FZR1000, the Bandit 1200 and the Concours 1000 seem spot on to me too. For a cruiser, Joe Glydon once recommended that 750 Vulcans were a bargain. I think they still are. Lots of bikes for the money in all cases.
 
islemann said:
The Yamaha XS650 twin, the XS750/850 triples and the XS1100 all fall in that range. I don't think the Yamaha 2 stroke twins fit though. Sure, they were fabulous motorcycles but they're now rare and expensive to maintain if you actually ride one. 3X a year isn't 'riding'..
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Yamaha XS twins rock! I have had several and they were just too much fun. They are getting more pricey as more 60's Triumph twins disappear.
 
Gabe said:
I like the Fazer, good call...

How about the Radian? I see those for $1000.

I'm thinking of doing a "$1000-2500-5000-10000" story, where I figure the best way to spend each amount of money. So, maybe:

$1000: Radian
$2500: CBR600F3 or FZR
$5000: ZX-10R
$10000: ST1300

Ideas?
Click to expand...

Yeah, definitely the Radian. I did not realize they were that cheap. Was always an underrated bike. The bike I replaced with the Wing was a pristine 2003 C10 Concours that I picked up with all the right mods and 1,200 miles(not a typo) for $5k. It was basically a new bike. If my fiance had not been uncomfortable on it, I'd still have it.
 
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Gunzen said:
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Ooh I remember my friend's Fizzer well. I bought a new FJ1100 and had buyer's remorse after riding that 750. Light, maneuverable, and that motor! The FJ felt like a truck in comparison!
 
I didn't mean to sound like a dick as much as I did. I will elaborate more later when I have more time.
 
Honda Pacific Coast
VFR750 gen1 pre-VTEC
TL1000/R

You could even do a follow up article on bikes that were undervalued and have become cult classics.
Example: SV650 Good luck finding one in the Bay Area for under 3500. Also Honda Hawk and CB1 and GB500.
 
Oooo...good call...

What do you guys think of the mechanical reliabilty of 80s and early-'90s Japanese bikes? Does electrical and rubber stuff fail enough so that buying a $1200 FJ1200 turns into a $3000 boondoggle?

Karmak said:
FJ 1200s, Timeless
Click to expand...
 
It varies wildly from bike to bike, both within a model line just from user care or lack therof and from line to line, based on minor and major flaws.

I bought two '86 Fazers in 1999. Both had been crashed and both had sat for years. I took the two bikes and made them into one runner, and really had no issues beyond basic maintenance for the next 8 years.

The biggest issue with the Fazer was a steadily falling availability of used parts. I found a lot of parts on ebay and had quite a collection of spares when I moved to California. I gave the bike to a good friend as I knew I probably would not have garage space here and my heart was in the Goldwing by that time.

NOS parts were still available not too long ago, but the prices on these are the same that you would pay a dealer for them. If you needed too many parts, the bills would add up quickly. Some aftermarket support was also available, but usually in the form of generic parts. Case in point was spark plug towers. At the time I needed them, a set of NOS ones would have been $50, where I got a set of servicable Bosch ones for $10. At the time, that was a big deal to me(in college). Now, I probably would just get the correct part.

The internet has made it a lot easier to support older bikes, as groups and forums allow one to find out all of the normal issues and find parts, both individual and in the form of parts bikes.

I've not heard of a model that does not have a flaw or three of some sort. The internet allows one to find out about these flaws before one is suprised by them and usually gives a relatively painless way to mitigate the issues.
 
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Gabe said:
Oooo...good call...

What do you guys think of the mechanical reliabilty of 80s and early-'90s Japanese bikes? Does electrical and rubber stuff fail enough so that buying a $1200 FJ1200 turns into a $3000 boondoggle?
Click to expand...

Rweezy is getting my 1100 for 4 bottles of Skyy, including racetec, works perf, and many other extras, lost license, I'm sitting for a year.
 
An old Ascot there's a classic and usually inexpensive when you find one.
 
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