First I apologize if this sounds like bragging, I'm just still on a bit of a mental high and need to tell someone that can appreciate this (i.e. not my non-riding friends).
You know how you always hear of some guy that had stumbled onto a great deal. I'm finally "that guy"!!
The long story:
I have a friend/riding buddy named Pig (short for Piglet and yes that is his name). He has a good amount of disposable income and is always buying stuff dirt cheap and reselling it for a good profit. I on the other hand have a fair bit of debt and no disposable income to speak of. We are both into motorcycles and cars. He's more of a sport bike guy and currently has a GSXR-1000 and a RC-51. I have my lowly GS500 that gets me to the same spots his does but not at the same velocity. He knows I'm into the naked bikes. He got a line on an SV650 that may be for sale cheap. From what he heard it was an '07 with about 6,000 miles on it. One of those "my friend knows a friend who has a sister...) Anyway, he tracked down the leads and found out where the chick with the SV lived. We rode down last weekend to where the bike was supposed to be sitting to have a first hand look before contacting the owner. The bike did actually exist and looked very nice. There were some minor scrapes on the pipe and the bar end where it must have been dropped but there was no damage to the tank, side panels or frame. We figured she dropped it at a stop sign or something. Looking at the frame tag it was actually an '06 model which is still fuel injected and there was no way to tell mileage without the key (digital). We took a few pictures and rode off.
He called me this week and said he had tracked down the contact information of the owner. Like I said, he's a sport bike guy but he'll buy anything if the price is right. Since he knows how much I like naked bikes he offered me first shot at it. I knew I probably wouldn't be able to afford it but decided to call anyway to get the details. The woman was very nice and really knew her stuff as far as motorcycles go and what they are worth. It was a leftover '06 model she bought in '07 (hence the confusion about the bikes model year). The scrapes were from one of her lovely neighbors that knocked it over while parking/pulling off and didn't say anything (one of the lovely bonuses of parking a bike on the street in the city). Her boyfriend didn't like her riding and as they got serious she rode less and less. Now they are getting married and she hardly ever uses the bike. In fact, it had a dead battery from sitting. She didn't know how many miles and couldn't check with the dead battery but she was sure it was less than 6,000. She wanted to get rid of it but didn't want the hassle of selling it on craigslist or the classifieds. She knew they usually sell from $4,000-$4,500. She said she'd sell it for $3,500. Having nothing to lose I asked if she'd take $3,000. She said make it $3,250 and you have a deal. I said I'll take it!
Then reality set in and I had to figure out where I'd get $3,250. I scrimped together what savings I had, called in a few loans I had made and borrowed a bit from my very generous mother. Even when you are getting a good deal it is hard to part with large sums of money when you have all that cash actually in your hands. Despite my cold feet I decided this was too good a deal to pass up but before I handed the money over I decided to go buy a battery and hear the bike run to make sure everything was good.
I got the battery yesterday and went down and met the owner this morning. I put the battery in and the bike fired right up. With no choke to screw with I must add! I took it a quick spin around the block to make sure it shifted good and ran alright. It felt a bit top heavy at low speeds but overall rode good. I told her I'd take it and handed her the cash to count. All was good and we got to the paperwork. That's when I realized the bike only had 1,642 on the odometer!! That's like a new bike to me! She also had some kind of paperwork on the Suzuki extended warranty she bought that expires in 2012 (Anyone know if that warranty is transferable?).
So now I have the closest thing to a new bike I've ever owned sitting in my work bay. I'm a bit torn on whether to flip it right now for a profit or just tag it and enjoy it. I will think on that one over the weekend but I'm leaning towards keeping it. What's a little more debt... :icon_lol:
Once again, sorry if I sound like I'm bragging but I'm still really excited at the moment. Thanks for reading!
-Jessie
Haha sweet!
Just don't think that riding an SV gets you out of MD GS rides! :icon_razz:
As for keeping it, I know I would want to, but titling and all that jazz starts costing and flipping it for a grand would be pretty sweet too.
freaking awesome !
congrats on a really, really nice bike. as far as flipping it, i'll give you ............... (amount hidden) for the bike if you want to flip it. i'll assume you're in baltimore... wow what a hike.
keep it man, the sv is a great bike, great powa, great reliability, and most importantly, fuel injection. :D :D :D
I have an easy answer for you (this is what I always do). Keep the bike, but, put it on CL for more than it's worth, like $5000. You would be amazed how many idiots will buy stuff more than it's worth. I once bought a '80 Chevy SWB for $400, sold it for $1200 the next day, didn't even wash it. I once bought an Intrepid for $300, sold it for $1300 3 days later. I have flipped dozens of cars and bikes, it's GOOD money. All there is to it is constantly checking CL, networking, and having a couple grand on hand at any time....
Nice story. Yes, the Suzuki Extended Warranty is tranferable.
(http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/images/threads/000/121/937/1833649-worthless.gif)
When do I pick up your GS?
I can be in Baltimore in under an hour O0
Thanks for the positive replies!
PachmanP- Got your bike back together? Tell me the time and place and I'm there! Kay and I will be up at my family's house in Bedford next weekend if you want to join us for some redneck riding :D
brickerenator- Funny you should say that. I dropped the SV at my work for safe keeping and I had more people wanting to know what I was going to do with the GS than people checking out the SV :laugh: I was planning on leaving my GS at the family house in Bedford if I keep the SV but my brother is really bugging me to let him have it. There was a GS on CL recently. I didn't go see it but it sounds a bit rough. I emailed the guy and he said he'd let it go for $1,100: http://baltimore.craigslist.org/mcy/1255633969.html There is also a kid out in western MD with a 1990 Katana 600 that would sell for $750: http://westmd.craigslist.org/mcy/1263867149.html
Bridger-Now to sound like an idiot, how do i go about posting pics on this forum?
-Jessie
BaltimoreGS - well I am sorry, I am going to have to borrow that SV's upper triple clamp. Sorry man, but that's just it. It will be sent back to you unharmed in short order. But, sorry, gotta be done ... yea ... Maybe just 1 day ... but have to have it.
Cool.
Buddha.
Quote from: BaltimoreGS on July 11, 2009, 06:55:40 PM
PachmanP- Got your bike back together? Tell me the time and place and I'm there! Kay and I will be up at my family's house in Bedford next weekend if you want to join us for some redneck riding :D
Haha, that cracked me up. I live an hour and a half from Bedford and you nailed that one on the head. Now that the Cannondale factory is firing 200 out of their 300 staff to ship their jobs overseas, that town is gonna be even worse that it is now.
I would definitely keep the SV. In 10 years that bike is going to be the new GS, and you'll already be 10 years ahead of the rest of us. I've always liked those bikes, but my soft spot is for the first edition in black, even if they're not fuel injected....
(http://forum.svrider.com/gallery/data/500/medium/IMG_2182.jpg)
If you're really worried about the cash, and I know I shouldn't be saying this here.... but you could sell your GS and make half the money back, depending on the condition. I do the same thing though, I get good deals on stuff, and feel like I should sell them because I'd rather have the money than something nice. If you already have the bike I'm assuming you already paid to transfer the title and insure it, that's all money you'd love if you re-transferred it, although I'm sure you could get most of the insurance back. No harm in putting a couple hundred miles on it first though so you know for sure. You could still sell it for more than you paid for it at that point. Depending on how much money you owe for other things, I can't guarantee keeping it is the responsible thing to do(I know, "thanks mom!").
Quote from: BaltimoreGS on July 11, 2009, 06:55:40 PM
Thanks for the positive replies!
PachmanP- Got your bike back together? Tell me the time and place and I'm there! Kay and I will be up at my family's house in Bedford next weekend if you want to join us for some redneck riding :D
-Jessie
Is Kay your g/f and does she work out at Merritt Athletic Club? If so, I know who she is b/c I'm a personal trainer at the Towson location.
ver4- Yes she is and yes she does. She plays a lot of racket ball there. She has the '95 GS that currently has the dented black tank and cracked side fairings on it (I swear the re-paint will get wrapped up sometime this century...)
tt_four- Hey fellow redneck ;) Bedford is a great town to visit, not a great place to live. I would live there if I could find a job that payed well but they are few and far between. Hence the working in Baltimore. I helped an old buddy from my racing days open a motocross park just outside of Breezewood when I got out of college (www.breezewoodprovinggrounds.com). Back then Cannondale had started an offroad motorcycle/ATV division (which is what led to their financial troubles later). They used that place as a test track and would give us new bikes to ride and show off. Pretty sweet deal! They were well designed, powerful race bikes. They were fuel injected 4 strokes before anyone else was (though the batteries always seemed to get drained when left sitting). Honda even copied the frame design for its last generation CR motocross bikes.
I agree with you though, the first generation SV's frame is a work of art! At the moment I have a blank signed title and a blank bill of sale, hence the flipping dilemma. I don't want to sell the GS though I would let my brother take it on the condition I get first dibs if he went to sell it. I have way more invested in it than it is worth. Another story for you: The time I wasn't "that guy"
I grew up with dirt bikes and got into motocross and hare scrambles as a teenager. I was never particularly great but I could at least finish the races (I had a few DNF's) and had fun doing it. I also was on my parents insurance and didn't have to worry if I would be able to work come Monday. The good old days... My brother is a few years older and we were always close. He was into quads and I was into dirtbikes. His friends got into street bikes and he eventually got a '96 CBR 600 F3. I thought it was the coolest thing I ever saw at the time, yellow with purple graphics and wheels. He was very cool about letting me ride it and helped me get my license. Despite the fact I had been injured many times on the dirt bikes my mom never minded those but she really hated that "death machine." My brother ended up only having it a year or 2 before he sold it. I think it was more the astronomical insurance cost than my mother's nagging that made him do it. I'd love to have that bike today though. Due to financial constraints, lack of health insurance, and the general setting in of the real world I eventually got out of dirt biking.
Fast forward a few years. I'm now working in Baltimore. A friend of mine in Hamden gets a street bike, Savage 650. He's bugging me to get one now. I ride his and the motorcycle bug is back. I have a little bit of cash saved and start checking craigslist periodically for good deals. I know nothing about street bikes so I have no idea what I'm looking for anyway. Weeks go by and I still haven't found anything. Then I click on an ad for something called an '01 GS500 in Hamden. The price is much higher than I have but the picture catches my eye. That bike looks very familiar and I think that is my friend's row house in the background. Then it dons on me, that is the bike parked on the sidewalk 2 doors down from his house! I've stumbled by it many times on my way back to his house from Frasier's Bar. I call my buddy and tell him to check and make sure. He talks to the guy and it turns out it is his bike. His work was relocating him to Texas and he was only taking what would fit in his Ford Ranger.
Fast forward a week later and I'm sitting on my buddies porch. His neighbor is now loading up the Ford Ranger with as much crap as he can. The GS is still sitting there. This guy is slowly re-prioritizing his possessions and eliminating those that won't fit. My buddy had already gotten a free TV, excercise bike and pressure washer. His neighbor is now looking at the GS and contemplating it's fate. With a really desperate expression he looks at us and says, "I can't give this away for free, what will you give me for it?" In hind site I probably should have low balled the guy but I felt bad for him. I had $1,500 in my motorcycle fund and offered him the full amount. He accepted.
Now this would have been a "great deal" story if I didn't burn a valve 1,000 miles later and spend a chunk of money and a lot of time fixing it. My own fault for not doing the maintenance when I got it. And in fairness, the guy told me when I bought it that the only thing he had ever done to it was change the oil. He even gave me a service manual with the bike. One lesson learned the hard way...
Anyway, after all the headache I had with that bike in the beginning and the time I spent fixing it I really don't want to get rid of it. Thanks again if you survived that long story ;)
-Jessie
Bla bla bla, and no SV top triple. Jeez.
Just kidding.
Cool.
Buddha.
Quote from: BaltimoreGS on July 11, 2009, 08:32:34 PM
ver4- Yes she is and yes she does. She plays a lot of racket ball there. She has the '95 GS that currently has the dented black tank and cracked side fairings on it (I swear the re-paint will get wrapped up sometime this century...)
-Jessie
Yes, I'm a good guesser. :D BTW, she's awesome at racquetball since I've played with and against her on many occasions.
A few weeks ago I parked next to the GS and a was checking it out a little, not bad other than the dent.
Now we definitely need to ride once I get my license and my bike up and running. :cheers:
Quote from: BaltimoreGS on July 11, 2009, 08:32:34 PM
Anyway, after all the headache I had with that bike in the beginning and the time I spent fixing it I really don't want to get rid of it. Thanks again if you survived that long story ;)
-Jessie
I didn't make it through, I skipped to the end when the guy was loading up his truck, but only because I'm going to bed, I'll read it all today.
I didn't say I was a redneck! I just happen to know where bedford is because I'm pretty into bikes, and most of mine are cannondales. I also have a friend who used to work there, so I'd occasionally stop when I was passing through on the turnpike. I would've made him get me a job there wrapping handlebars, since all the old ladies who build the bikes there refused to do it, but there was no way I could've lived in bedford.
How's the blank title and bill of sale thing work? Is there another way to transfer a title other than the two of you just taking the title to the notary with your proof of insurance?
I know I've already said it on here a couple times, but when Heather is ready for a bike upgrade, I'm really hoping I can talk her into, as well as find as GS just like the one pictured above. The only thing about her GS she's ever complained about, is that it doesn't sound like an inline 4, so I'm not sure what she'll want in the future.
Bhudda- Keep checking your mailbox.... :laugh:
Ver4- Definately. What do you have left to do on your bike? Don't forget I have that little 250 Nighthawk if you want to take your test on it. And on a side note, I hear she is pretty good at racquetball. The guy that owns the rotating sushi bar in Towson always compliments her playing when we stop there (Tony Yu (?)). I've never played her. Racquetball seems like a rather sadistic sport to me. Get in a closed room and whip a hard ball around at high speeds at another person... I'll stick to tennis ;)
tt_four- No offense meant by the "redneck" Josh, it is a term of endearment to me. Maryland is a lot different than PA when it comes to titling a vehicle. A notarized bill of sale is only necessary if the vehicle is less than 7 years old. So anything 2002 and back doesn't require a notary, you just have to have a clear title with the previous owner's signature on the back. So for this bike I would need a notarized bill of sale. Luckily I have a friend who is a notary. He did the bill of sale for me when I bought the bike and did a second one with just her information on it in case I decide to re-sell the bike.
Another fun difference between MD and PA, in MD there is no annual safety inspection. At the time of purchase there is a comprehensive inspection the vehicle must pass but after that you never have to re-inspect it as long as you keep the registration current. So pretty much you can let your car become a POS death trap and still legally drive it as long as you keep renewing the registration every 2 years. Even better, if the vehicle is over 20 years old you can get "historic" plates with NO safety inspection. I can go buy a rusted out 1989 Honda Civic with bad brakes and a major fuel line leak and have legal tags on it tomorrow. This state makes you take your defensive driving to a whole new level!
Kay is the complete opposite of your girl, she hates the inline 4 cylinder sound. I personally love it. She has a Yoshimura exhaust on her GS that she loves. Keep an eye open for one of the old Bandit 400's, Heather may like that. There was one for sale around here that I liked but the guy wanted more money than I was willing to pay. Later
-Jessie
Yeah, Ohio is pretty lax on inspections as well. A bandit 400 sounds fun too, but that wouldn't be much of a step up from the gs aside from the exhaust note. Maye just a bandit 600, depend on how big they feel. When the time comes it's likely that I'll see if I can find an old cbr or something and just pull the plastics off. I doubt I'd go crazy with mods and fancy parts, but just clean it up and hide the cables. She says she doesn't like bikes with fairings, but that might only be because her bike doesn't have them. There's a good chance that if we found a fully faired bike she'd change her mind before I pulled them off. I also like bikes without fairings much more, but I know if I found the right bike, and it was in good condition, I'd never be able to pull the plastics off, specifically a cbr 90rr or a TLR, I'm not too picky about the sound either way, but I'll admit I do prefer the inline 4. Twins just kinda sound like noise to me, haha.
Some guy has a 95' honda VFR on craigslist right now for $850. Says it runs great, he's just selling it cheap because it needs some of the fairings. If I was ever so slightly closer to being ready for another bike I'd completely jump on that, but hopefully I'll find another deal like that when I'm ready.
Great buy on the SV!! I'd keep it and the GS as well. Having that second bike will come in handy when the other bike is being serviced or when a buddy is in town and you guys want to go for a ride.
BTW, if you ride down to DC, let me know.
-Porkchop
Well I just had the carbs cleaned and some new parts installed. I have to get the rust out of the tank, which should be done this week and I also need to get the rear brake rotor taken care of and the new rear tire installed. I say I'm one to two weeks to having my bike back on the road and then I can get it inspected and titled.
I know who Tony is as well.....another very good racquetball player. Racquetball isn't bad, unless you get nailed with the ball, then it hurts like hell.
porkchop- Thanks. I don't get down to DC often but I have 2 friends that work in DC and live in Alexandria that are looking to get bikes, how far are you from Alexandria?
Ver4- Cool. Let me know if you need help getting the rear tire installed. Fair warning though, the machine at my work WILL leave marks on your rim. If you are picky about appearance then you better hit a bike shop. Later
-Jessie
Quote from: BaltimoreGS on July 11, 2009, 06:55:40 PM
brickerenator- Funny you should say that. I dropped the SV at my work for safe keeping and I had more people wanting to know what I was going to do with the GS than people checking out the SV :laugh: I was planning on leaving my GS at the family house in Bedford if I keep the SV but my brother is really bugging me to let him have it. There was a GS on CL recently. I didn't go see it but it sounds a bit rough. I emailed the guy and he said he'd let it go for $1,100: http://baltimore.craigslist.org/mcy/1255633969.html There is also a kid out in western MD with a 1990 Katana 600 that would sell for $750: http://westmd.craigslist.org/mcy/1263867149.html
Hah. I was hoping you'd give it to me. Free of charge. Aim for the sky they say.
Anyhow.
Gratz.
Thanks for the links, A week or two ago, I decided to put off a bike until I finish college (11 months). Unless some one *cough cough* decides to give me one.
Sorry, no free bikes from me :laugh:
I did take a few pictures of both bikes this morning when I got to work:
'06 SV650
(http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww360/jessiedoran/SV650a.jpg)
(http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww360/jessiedoran/SV650b.jpg)
Exhaust Damage:
(http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww360/jessiedoran/SV650c.jpg)
The '01 GS500 it may be replacing:
(http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww360/jessiedoran/01GSa.jpg)
(http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww360/jessiedoran/01GSb.jpg)
I like the painted guage buckets.
Nice bike, but whew that is a rusty chain! Please don't ride the bike with it like that the chain might fall off!
Mary
I'd take the GS over the SV 9 times out of 10 and twice on Tuesdays!
Quote from: BaltimoreGS on July 12, 2009, 05:28:14 AM
Bhudda- Keep checking your mailbox.... :laugh:
I checked yesterday ... maybe today, sometimes mail is slow ... :dunno_black: ... OK.
Cool.
Buddha.
That is a nice bike. :thumb:
So you rode both bikes to work today?
Someone just put a 1995 Yamaha FZR600 on Craigslist for $500, which I kinda want, but not enough to actually buy. Either way it's still a great deal, he just says 2nd gear is slipping. I'm sure a slipping 2nd gear is a red flag for "Hey I've been dumping the clutch on the highway trying to do wheelies!", but still. I'm not looking for another bike right yet, and the cheap bikes are always out in the middle of no where.
BaltimoreGS have you ever done the Chesapeake bay loop? I think that would be an awesome ride?
Thanks for the compliments. It goes for state inspection tomorrow. At this point I think I'll just keep it and ride it the rest of the season then see if I want to sell it next year. It definitely is a change from the GS's I'm used to. I prefer analog gauges but they seem to be a thing of the past now. The SV feels top heavy at slow speeds. The fuel injection will be nice change though :D
JB848- The Chesapeake bay loop is a good ride but I prefer heading west into the scenery of the Appalachian Mountains. Check out Sky Line Drive sometime. A riding buddy of mine was talking about some ride in West Virginia the 2nd weekend in August. I'll make a post in the forum when I get the details.
-Jessie