Pricing & thoughts on a 1991 GS500E

[pres589]

Company buy/sell/trade weekly has a 1991 GS500E, red, with 10.2k miles and V&H pipe.  No other info; the guy is asking $1300 OBO.  Is this a fair price?  I'm in the midwest, these bikes don't come up that often, and I have the cash should I go ahead with it.  I also don't have a motorcycle license yet, have been really busy with new job in new town activities, and want to take the MSF in the next month. 

My plan is, if the bike looks decent and sounds alright, have him take it to my home where I can lock the thing up in my back yard until I have the right gear and the MSF/license/insurance.  I've been lurking around here for a while and the money seems decent, but I wanted to get feedback before I call the guy.

[aaronstj]

With no other info, it sounds a little spendy.  But it's awful hard to find GS500s any cheaper, especially around here (and I guess around there).  It's worth looking at, I'd say, see what kind of condition it's in.  If it's in good condition, I'd go for it, at at least offer $1000.

Other people will probably tell you it's too expensive. 

[Destro]

It sounds about right, if it looks decent go for it.  As you said it will not be on the market long, I sold my GS this spring to the first guy that looked at it.

[Yankee Punker]

 That don't sound to bad, but check over a few things like does it start right up, how are the tire's , look at the forks from the side and make sure there straight and are the fork seals free from oil, are the engine case's all scratch up from being dropped, and even take a look at the rear sprocket at how the teeth and chain look, you would want to take some $ off the asking price if you notice anything not really alright.

[Admiral Crunch]

I bought my '91 with about the same mileage for the same price.  Pre-01 models aren't that common in the for-sale ads around here, and I couldn't afford a $2500 one.  I grabbed it.  It was in decent condition and ran well, but it did need a little minor work, and some plastic was a bit scratched up in spots from a low-speed drop.  Nothing big.

[starwalt]

My ebay price guide says that's not too far off the mark. Your local market is a big factor on GS price.

Other factors are:

Is the current owner the first owner?
Has the bike been stored inside?
Is the title a clean title or a salvage title? (though a good repair job may not matter here).

[pres589]

I just got back from looking at the bike.  There's ups and downs here, I'll list both, I'd like info on cost here;

Ups:  Rode nice, driveline wasn't jerky or anything, clutch and brakes felt good.  Started fairly easily with just a little choke for a minute then it was good to go.  Bike sounds good, no bad noises underway or running in the driveway.  Seemed to track straight, at least at the 35mph speeds that I reached on the streets around the house while I rode for a few minutes.  Mostly good cosmetics, the tail and seat are in great shape, just a couple scratches on the tank and some other stuff mentioned below.  The tires are some Metzlers that looked to be in good shape, a good 75% or more tread on both front and rear.  Power delivery seems decently smooth.  Unsure if the exhaust is a full Vance and Hines setup or just a back box welded to a custom mid-pipe but it was agreeable.  Paint overall is good, including the frame, save for two short scratches near the front of the tank.

Downs:  The bike has been dropped once.  Damages include a scratched up side case on the right hand side (painted somewhat poorly with black spraypaint to hide the damage) which wasn't terrible but it's not perfect by any means.  Right side front turn signal screwed up, held together with tape, I'm going to assume a threaded insert that uses a screw to hold the body together isn't so threaded anymore.  Finally, and this is the most worrying to me, the right side front fork seal leaks.  Not terribly, there wasn't much residue on the fork or body, but it's there, it's not right, and I'm unsure how bad this is.  Finally, the cover and probably the bulb for the high beam was missing.

The deal is, the owner is a college student in lawschool in a college out of town.  The father selling the bike for the son, they haven't had it that long, apparently the kid never really rode it since he can't keep it anywhere at school, so it's spent most of it's life with them in the garage.   I told him I would offer $1100 for the thing because of the damages to it.  This may have been a bit of a rushed decision, that fork seal scares me as a new to replace bent parts doesn't sound cheap at all.  The turn signal doesn't bug me nearly as much as it's an excuse to price the bike down and get myself a set of Buell or other signals for the front.  I've got a decent automotive and electrical background so I'm not afraid of doing my own work to the thing so if this is a thing that a new set of seals in the forks can fix (time for a Progressive spring swap as well?) and they aren't hard to change, then I don't feel too bad about this decision.

What thoughts, oh mighty GS board, do you wish to share with me on these items?

[The Buddha]

Fork seals - they leak - you swap them 1-2 yearly.
Forks being bent dont follow from that. What is much much worse and can cause forks to leak, but you should be able to seeit - forks being rusty. Tiny specks of rust are enough to do it in.
The Other thing is, is it jetted to the pipe. GS'es are lean as heck from the factory. With pipe - definetly need it - and low speed or start up can be OK and you can be lean up high.
Cool.
Srinath.

[pres589]

Fork seals - they leak - you swap them 1-2 yearly.
Forks being bent dont follow from that. What is much much worse and can cause forks to leak, but you should be able to seeit - forks being rusty. Tiny specks of rust are enough to do it in.
The Other thing is, is it jetted to the pipe. GS'es are lean as heck from the factory. With pipe - definetly need it - and low speed or start up can be OK and you can be lean up high.
Cool.
Srinath.

I looked for rust, the fork shafts (and really the whole bike) were rust free, nice and shiny.  The oil on the fork wasn't bad at all, although it might get worse with a lot of movement.  Front didn't seem too weak, I wonder if it's been re-sprung already?  I weigh about 170 pounds, didn't feel much movement up front really, it seemed pretty decent for the mean streets that the subdivision threw at me (that's a joke, smooth pavement all around).

I plan on going through the carbs to check jetting while waiting for an MSF opening, and do all the other maitnenance items as well like a K&N Lunchbox, oil change, the blinkers,  et cetera.  Reading up on the fork seals, looks like a solid afternoon of maitenence excitement, so if these things are only good for a couple years to begin with, I'm feeling pretty decent about it.

[The Buddha]

Carbs and air filter, valves and oil and filter - I dont even crank up the bike usually before doing these - usually test riding will point to what needs to be done, take it easy on the test ride.
You could do the fork seals in winter, the rest has to be checked out right after you buy it. And an afternoon of maintenance - so what are you planning to do with the other 4 hours  ...
Cool.
Srinath.

[pres589]

Since I'm not enrolled in the MSF yet, and don't want to really start riding until I've taken and passed the thing, I'll probably have a month of looking at the bike and not riding.  Plenty of time to go through the carbs and maybe attack the fork seals as well.  I don't have a real garage for the thing, it'll be out on my patio which is covered and safe, but not quite as nice as being in a garage in the winter, so I don't know how badly I'll want to be out there, swapping fork springs and all that when it's below freezing out.

[gsmetal]

I don't know if you bought the bike yet or not but if that guy would take $1100.00 I would buy it in a snap.

Sure there are a few scrathes on the pipe but so what? You think you're not going to add to that.

Geeze....the bike is $1100.00 and you probably have to put some fork seals in it or some other minor repairs but then you're going to be done with it.

There's a guy on this board who bought a 06 and is thinking of sueing because he's had so many problems.

But the damn bike, take the course and start enjoying!

[aaronstj]

Word.  Sounds like there's nothing wrong with it that you wouldn't expect from a 15 year old bike.  Go for it.

[pres589]

Sweet, ok, glad I'm not the only one that likes the bike.  I would have written a check today to close this down but the guy showing it has to get the title signed by his son who is out of town yadda yadda, I'm putting a $100 deposit on the thing with recipt tomorrow morning to hold it until next weekend when the title should be ready to go and I can take it home.

Went out today and bought a helmet, holding off on a jacket (looking at some Joe Rocket mesh jobs they had at the store, I'm not ordering on the internet because I want to make damn sure the thing fits right) but that has to wait for another paycheck to show it's face in 2 weeks.  And once the bike is home, I'm only cleaning it up until I have the MSF, insurance, yadda yadda.

[Mandres]

Sounds like a great deal to me.  Enjoy it