Buying a GS500 - standard or modified?

[SAFE-T]

Buying a heavily modified bike is great IF the previous owner knew what he was doing. Probably pretty hard to know unless you have some history on them.

[sledge]

Modded bikes don't hold any significant price premium over unmodded equivalents, if they did the dealers would be tricking them out themselves and their showrooms would be full of them. Secondhand buyers will always prefer stock, unmolested, good condition low mileage bikes with documented service histories and pay for these accordingly.

[DoD#i]

Sledge obliquely explains why my POS had been modded. Even though I was not in love with the "mods".

It was way on the cheap side.

After I added the soup can mod, it even ran OK and didn't sound like crap. $15 in spray paint made it look about 1000% better (if the [yup, still broken from here anyway] gallery ever comes back to life, there are some pictures of the "wonderful" "custom" paint job it had on it, with lots and lots of stickers, too.)

The fork springs were, unfortunately, stock, but I fixed that.

The petcock was whackily out of whack - out and in connected to tank, reserve connected to carbs. Required a bit of head-scratching to get that back where it should be.

[Flux Maven]

When I look for bikes I usually look for slightly modded. I am 19 so I am still in the stage where I NEED loud exhaust and rejetted accordingly. I bought my bike and did the work myself and it wasn't too bad but I would rather just buy one already setup the way I want. That being said, It is a longer process finding a bike that suits my needs If they have a fender eliminator, full exhaust, custom blinkers, and zero gravity windscreen. I ask where the stock stuff went. If they say "Oh I just wanted a different look and all the stock stuff is right here if you want it" then its probably a decent deal. If its got high miles and a bunch of stuff replaced and a flat black rattle can paintjob then I see it as a bike that was probably mistreated or wrecked and pieced back together with missmatched craigslist finds than cheaply repainted to cover it up. I would never buy a highly modified bike that has "30k invested bro!" when I look at crotch rockets, I don't really want one that will go BOOM between my legs. 

[mister]

Time to warm up the zombie shotgun with my 2 cents! Right now im in this situation, being I have a modded bike with suspension and indicator changes. I was only just thinking the other day how would I price such a bike? Most people who buy bikes would want a generally unmodded bike like everyone has said, but there maybe some who would appreciate a few tasteful and generally positive modifications. for me things like any luggage systems, and aftermarket exhausts etc providing they have been done correctly I'm in favour of. If I was looking at a bike with modded suspension I would be looking at the PO and seeing how his weight and riding style etc compares to yours because what worked for him might not for you and you could be getting yourself into a whole lot of hot soup.

As I said.... if there are two bikes (a stock and a slightly modded one) AND the buyer wanted those mods, he would buy the modded bike Over the unmodded on Provided the prices were close. he is NOT going to pay an extra $500 cause you did $500 worth of mods. He might pay an extra $100, maybe, possibly. But really, what he would like is to pay the Same as an unmodded bike but get the mods. Then he feels extra good about the Bargain he picked up. 

When I was looking for my 919. There was one for sale with a rack and center stand (mods I would have added anyway). Downside was, it had aftermarket exhaust to give that Rumble some people want. BUT, that is not something I want to subject my neighbors to at 4am in the morning when I fire it up for work. So, That mod was a Turn Off. No sale, the search continued.

ALSO, with pricing. Just because people are asking a certain price does NOT mean they will get it. Pick ads and track them. See how long they stay listed. After a couple of months call them and ask them if it is still for sale and if they have had much interest. Quickest sale I saw was of a GS500. While everyone was ASKing $5,500 - $6,000 this bike was offered at $4,000. It was on bikesales for 2 weeks only. So.... don't just price the bike at what everyone else is, price it to sell 

Michael

[knowles]

With me, have a few things done would be a plus, even better if they have receipts for the work being done so i know that someone who know what they're doing did the work. heavy modded things you probably won't get your money back when it come time to sell, because not everyone wants a heavily modded bike. slip on, maybe full exhaust with k/n and jetted, with progressives up front would be about it. more than that you might have a harder time selling it for the price you want.

[toadcat]

I bought my GS500 (which is what I'd call 'heavily' modified) from a guy who I'd ridden with a few times and followed his build thread on the same forum I visit regularly. I'd also spoken with the guys at the shop where it was serviced who vouched for the bike too.

With mods, unless it was something I would have done (or liked to have done) to the bike, it doesn't add any value. I see things like bar end mirrors, fenderectomies, anodized crap, and (shudder) LED indicators (extra points when they're not relayed properly and flash way too fast) as a pointless waste of money as they do not add anything to the bike's performance and in my view, make them look substantially worse. Plus, where I live, these kind of mods scream 'DEFECT ME' to the local constabulary..

The GS500 I bought has only performance modifications and also a good hardcase top box which has been great for uni and touring.

Here is my thread which has a list of all the mods:
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=57386.0

[vinny]

Give me a stock standard bike any day.

With everything kept stock, its a lot easier to diagnose problems and follow workshop manuals to fix problems.


Ok, i might go for a bike that has been re-jetted with a better exhaust, but i would check everything more carefully, but stock is just easier.

[Watevaman]

 When I bought my bike it had just a K&N lunchbox and V&H full exhaust. I didn't know anything about the POs but it soon became obvious that they were as stupid as they come. My carbs were improperly set up for the air filter and exhaust, the bike was in a state of disrepair I didn't have any idea of when I bought it, and it had been however long since stuff was changed.

Now I have not only fixed everything I came across, but I've always added more mods myself. I have new springs front and back, new handlebars, new SS brake lines, etc. and if I ever sell it that's what I'm selling it as. I'll be honest to anyone who asks if there are any problems. If I buy another used bike though, the most I think I'll want on it is a new exhaust. Anything else is something I want to do myself so I know if any problems came up that that's when they did.