hello/charging question/should I buy it?

[als]

Hey-- I just found this board and I'm glad I did.

I'm looking for a cheap first bike and I found a gs500 locally.  It is just what I was looking for, but I'm very suspicious of its condition.  It shows no clear signs of being dropped but the front fender is all scratched up and behind the seat is scratched.  Also, the gas tank has been replaced and is a little rusty-- Other than that I thought it looked good.  Except the battery is dead.  I wasn't going to buy it without checking it out, so I went looking for a battery.  The seller helpfully jumped it from his car-- seems to me that's a bad idea.

Anyway, he seems to think the battery is dead and that's all, but when you take the cables off, it just about dies.  Full throttle will just barely keep it running, with flickering lights.  Now, I don't know much about bikes, but I do know about cars, and I think that's more than a bettery problem.  Any guesses as to whether it's the R/R or the stator or both? 

The bike is a 92 with 2900 miles.  The other big warning sign is that there is still a tag from the shop hanging off the bars-- That makes me think he found out how much it would be to fix and decided to forget about it.

I got him down to $800, but I don't have money to burn, and I'm nervous about this one... but if it's cheaply fixed and ok otherwise, I don't want to miss out.

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

I dunno bout being dropped.. BUT... the electrical issue could EASILY be a dead battery. We've proven on this board that a GS will run with a dead battery/missing battery.. but it runs poorly, VERY poorly. The generator just doesn't have enough output. Jumping the bike from the car is fine, as long as the car isn't running. I'd recommend you go to wal mart, buy a battery, and try the bike with the new battery in it. If it works, and you buy the bike, you already have your battery. If it doesn't work, you return the battery, wal mart takes returns on ANYTHING. Hasn't cost you any money, and saved you from buying a bad bike.

Just my $.02... wait for the smarter people to answer.

[makenzie71]

battery's toasted.  Put a new battery in it, or put the trickle charger on it, and it'll run. motorcycle ignitions systems suck if battery current isn't there.

As far as a few scratches I wouldn't worry about it.  I would be more concerned with the fact that it's a 92 with only 3k on it...that's rare.  But with as cheap and simple as these bikes are as long as it runs good I would get it.  $800 is a good price for a 90~95%, good running early GS500.

[Egaeus]

I would say make him drop the price because of the electrical "problems" and slap a new battery in it, but $800 is pretty cheap. 

There's most likely nothing wrong electrically except for the battery.  If it ran okay with the cables on, then it should be fine.

[pandy]

I'd offer $500.00, but I'm a cheapskate!

[als]

Yeah-- I tried to get him to go cheaper.  When I first started looking at the bike, he dropped it right from $1000 to $800, before I could even mention my own price.  So that was suspicious...   After I began to suspect an electrical problem I tried for $750 and he woudn't go for it.  If it does just need a battery, it's a fine price, but it looks like it's had two unkind owners.  I don't think it was ever dropped/crashed, but it hasn't been treated nicely.  I do think it probably tipped off its stand.

It's the tag hanging on it that makes me wonder-- Who would even ride it home with the tag on?  That tag just screams to me that he didn't want to pay to get something fixed.

I know $800 is pretty cheap, but I'm a jobless grad student and I'm looking for transportation-- not just for fun.

Hmmm.  Got a couple of days to decide I guess.

[pandy]

So...did ya' get the name on the tag? Call 'em and tell 'em you're thinking about buying the bike and ya' know it needs some things fixed....maybe they'll look up their records and see what their estimate was?

[makenzie71]

If you think $800 is too much then take whatever you want to give for the bike, put it in front of him and say take or leave it.

[ducati_nolan]

Definatly it needs a new battery, once you cet that in there, you can check to see if the charging system works. After you get it started with a fresh, fully charged battery, but a volt meter on there and rev it up to 5000rpm and the voltage should be roughly 14 volts or so and hold steady. If the voltage keeps dropping the charging system probally has some issues. Take it for a ride and check it again. If the voltage is fine and it is back to 14v or so at 5k, you're probally fine, but if it's low you have issues.

The low miles makes me worry about rust. You may want to check compression to make sure the cylinders haven't been rusty. Also the carbs could get clogged from rust and the carb rubber barts could be cracked from age. The usual stuff.

If it rides fine with the new bat, you're probally fine and have a good deal just expect the usual stuff.
good luck 

[starwalt]

$800 is a fair price, in most markets, for a running well cared for 92 GS.
Check the link in my sig for ebay values.

Did anyone look to see if the battery had water? If so, it is toast and probably just a load on the electrical system.

If all other aspects of the bike are good, it still sounds like a tank and carb cleaning are in your future. Perhaps an inline fuel filter also.

If you are looking for point-and-shoot ride, this one may not be it. If you don't mind a little wrenching -- or a lot -- this is a borderline price for a typically (ab)used GS.

[scratch]

Welcome!

Hopefully, it's not Goat's Syndrome: http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=10798.0

[als]

Uh, yeah...  saw that. as I was searching.  I'm planning to take a voltmeter with me and if there isn't voltage from the stator, I think I'll forget it.

[MarkusN]

It could very well be just the battery, though. If that has a shorted cell or two it will pull down the voltage, causing all sorts of problems and making it actually run worse than without battery.

[pandy]

Bumpity bump! So what happened? 

[als]

Nothing until Monday-- That's the next time I can meet the guy.  In the meantime, I'll be looking out for other cheap bikes.  But if the charging system is ok it might be worth it.  I'm thinking back on it though, and remembering that when I checked for scratches on the fork tubes, they looked pretty oily.  So that would just be one more thing.  I don't think it's an $800 bike in the shape it's in.  The guy _never_ had it inspected in the time he owned it and I don't intend to get nailed for everything he was too cheap to take care of. 

On another topic, anyone know about shops near Philly?  I can pretty much do all the work myself, except for tires...  and I need it inspected. 

[makenzie71]

tires are easy to do yourself...especially on such skinny wheels.  All you need is a couple big screwdrivers, some WD40, and something you "press" the beads loose with.  Actually changing the tires is a 1-beer job.