And what do we think of this trade?

[redhenracing2]

I'm sure that some of you know that I am in a legal crisis with speeding tickets. In an effort to come up with some supplemental cash, I have been trying to sell my GS. That is not going well. I do, however, have a guy very interested in trading me another bike plus $200 cash for mine. It's a '98 Bandit 600, and it's pretty rough. The gauges are busted up and neither work. It is ugly. I think the pictures speak for themselves. On the other hand, it does seem to be very solid mechanically, and boy is it fast. Does this seem like a good deal, or should I bail?

[gregvhen]

I dont think its that ugly of a bike.  I think it looks pretty cool, other than that blue headband on the busted gauges. if everything works fine (gauges excluded) id do the trade. Try to snicker 400 out of him though instead of 200. cause with a faster bike youre gonna need the extra money for more speeding tickets. 

[The Buddha]

Yea I agree ... you didn't meet him in the court house line did you ...

BTW that is a horrible round headlight conversion. He oughta have used a GS500 headlight ear set modded to fit the 41 forks and a GS headlight ...
Cool.
Buddha.

[centuryghost]

Looks to me like you would be inheriting another project bike = money pit. I'd keep the GS and hit up a coinstar.

[DoD#i]

Not enough money to be worth getting into a project that's going to eat money, if the whole point of all this is you need money. And if you need money for speeding tickets/lawyers, that last thing you need is "boy is it fast". You need a trade for a moped that can barely do 30 and $1200, not a bright-red cop magnet "gee officer, I didn't know how fast I was going, the speedo's broke" and a piddly $200.

[Jared]

Pull the tail plastics off--maybe the tank too so you can eyeball it all up.   Looks like the sub-frame is bent a little- It's a steel frame so that's fixable.
Looks like it took a decent spill... look everything over really well (cracks in welds ...etc etc..).  I'd price up the parts it needs before making any  decisions... how hard are the gauges to come by... ( set of 01's for 150$ on fleabay now ) ...and whatever else it'll need....


Sounds like you like it... yours is straight right...ready to ride.... Get more money out of him and maybe go for it...but make sure it's straight/and or fixable first.

Totally your call...

[bassmechanicsz]

big thing would be it depends on how much money you need to pay the lawyer.  If you only the need the $200 then it might be worth it but if you need more than that i would probably hold off on the trade and just sell your GS since yours is working without needing any fixing up and should be easier to sell than a bike without working gauges i would think.

[sledge]

..........and why does he want to get rid of it?......probably cos its got a major problem or he wants something cheaper to run/maintain, like a GS5. The paradox is you also want to ditch your GS5 in favour of something thats cheaper to run/maintain.

You are not going to come out on top in this deal.

[tt_four]

Yeah, under normal circumstances, I'd trade my GS for a bandit any day. There's so many amazing looking bandits out there that your options are limitless, but on the other hand, if you need cash, I'd just sell your gs for what you can get for it. I think you need a break to give your driving record a rest. I used to get pulled over constantly, but I haven't really ridden much in a couple years, and now my record is perfect

Here's 15 pages of sweet bandits for everyone to browse though
http://www.customfighters.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7577

[mister]

Does this seem like a good deal, or should I bail?

Seeing as you asked... Bail. Not a good deal. Essentially swapping your working bike for a none working bike which will cost More than the cash give to you in the trade to get up to scratch.

If you sell your bike and spend all the money on fines, then you are... without a bike, without the money and it will cost you more money again to get another bike.

Fine collectors are all about putting pressure on you to Pay and PAY NOW OR ELSE... BUT... to my knowledge, they cannot refuse an Offer to pay them. An arrangement which is Not 100% payment immediately. Have you approached them with such an offer?

Michael

[bassman]

I think that bandit looks great! (a bit like my Yamaha XJ600N), but I wouldn't trade a perfectly good bike (your GS) for something that has a known problem (and possible unknown problems).  You'll be kicking yourself for evermore if you do.

Bassman 

[redhenracing2]

Fine collectors are all about putting pressure on you to Pay and PAY NOW OR ELSE... BUT... to my knowledge, they cannot refuse an Offer to pay them. An arrangement which is Not 100% payment immediately. Have you approached them with such an offer?

Michael

No, I was unaware that you could do this. Can they do payment plans or something?

[tt_four]

Essentially swapping your working bike for a none working bike which will cost More than the cash give to you in the trade to get up to scratch.

The only thing he said didn't work was the speedometer, it sounds like the rest of it is fine. I still say don't buy it, because you either need a slower bike, or a complete break from bikes to begin with, but as far as the trade goes, outside of your current ticket situation, I think it looks like a good deal.

[johnny ro]

Agree on slower bike. Try a redline D440 29er.  Never another ticket.

[gregvhen]

geese that thing needs a fenderectomy so bad.  But hey its not the bike that needs to be slower its you. You dont want a bike that your not happy with just because IT keeps you from getting tickets, you need to control yourself so that YOU keep you from getting tickets. Its like fat people sewing McDonalds for makin em fat. it aint McDs fault, it theirs for eating it so much and not being active. just like its not the bikes fault you got alot of tickets.

Im not saying you should or shouldnt make this trade, just saying dont skip it ONLY because its a faster bike.

[tt_four]

It depends how your bike is set up too, you could take the same exact bike, set one up with low clipons, rearsets that are 2 inches back, a stiff seat, and lower gearing, and you're much more likely to ride around like you're crazy than you would be on that same bike with tall riser bars, relaxed foot pegs, a comfy seat, and taller gearing.

But still, we kinda keep getting off topic. For the sake of my own motorcycle insurance rates and the bad looks I get from people who assume all people on motorcycles are crazy, too fast and dangerous, I think you should take a break until you're ready to try again.

[tt_four]

This thread makes me curious, what ever happened to Victoria? She was posting up new bikes 3 times a day to see what we thought, and then she dissapeared. I have a feeling she's out cruising around a ninja 250/500 as I type this.

[redhenracing2]

Yeah the whole 'faster' aspect of it is definitely not what I am in it for (though some extra pulling power on my daily interstate venue would be nice   ). It is probably about as solid as mine is mechanically, really just aesthetic differences. It doesnt look that bad in the pictures because I didnt get any closeups. It's one of those that looks ok from 10 feet away but then when you get up on it . . . .    I actually have a *girl* very interested in it now though. Soon as my clutch cable comes in on tuesday I'm gonna slap it on and let her take it for a spin. I'd say theres an 80% chance she will take it, she REALLY liked it for some reason. If it does sell though, I will be immediately buying my neighbor's old Acura Legend. V6, 5-speed, and in pretty good shape. I agree, I need a break from motorcycles. Guess it's time to buy my first car . . . 

[mister]

This thread makes me curious, what ever happened to Victoria? She was posting up new bikes 3 times a day to see what we thought, and then she dissapeared. I have a feeling she's out cruising around a ninja 250/500 as I type this.

I did notice on her scooter blog thing a while back, that the facebook feed had that she had "passed the course... oh my....". And she did start a Teachers That Ride discussion board http://www.weareteachersonwheels.com/ where I saw someone post they thought she had bough a Honda Rebel though she mentioned she's doing the Ninja 500 vs GS500 thing, or some such. Either way, last activity was like over 10 days ago... even on her own board!

Michael

[jeremy_nash]

I actually have a *girl* very interested in it now though. Soon as my clutch cable comes in on tuesday I'm gonna slap it on and let her take it for a spin. I'd say theres an 80% chance she will take it, she REALLY liked it for some reason.

It's the fart can, for some reason, chicks really really like them.  I put one on my old chrysler k-car, and had to beat the girls off it with a stick!!