GStwin.com GS500 Message Forum

Whilst many GSTwins members will possibly keep their ride forever, there are many who will not - me being one of them... just waiting out my provisional license before I get something more substantial. BUT when it comes time to sell, people have mixed opinions about a modded bike. If a potential buyer has spent any time on this forum, they would recognize the value in the basic GS500 modifications but quite often, "Modified" can read "Thrashed" to others.

On the flip-side of the coin (just as leaner/provisional drivers love loud exhausts and bling-bling wheels) a modified bike, especially one with a power increase, would definitely get your shorts moist.

When I look on Bikesales.com, there are another 46 GS500F's to compete with and the vast majority are standard - so wouldn't a modded bike stand out from the rest? So, think back to when you bought your 500 and what your preference would have been...

Standard - stock as a rock, serviced regularly and well maintained
Mildly modified - practical improvements such as a slip-on exhaust, crash knobs, nothing too serious
Heavily modified - more serious mods like full exhaust, K&N + jetting, Katana front end, tail swap

I lean toward stock, but a tastefully modified bike would be a good second choice for me.

I'd prefer stock, because then I know what and how the modifications are being done, rather than finding the PO has screwed something up and just left it

-Mart3y

I also lean toward getting a well maintained stock bike...but if the mods are stuff like frame sliders, fenderectomy, etc...(mild stuff as you said)...I would be okay, but a bike that has front end swap, aftermarket signals and exhaust...might be a bike that was in an accident and repaired (why not mod if it has tweaked forks and pavement grinding on the muffler)

Just my two cents...

Later.

But can ever you be 100% sure the bike hasn't been reverted back to standard?

I once worked on an 11 second WRX that had almost $20k worth of mods - we converted the whole car back to standard (including front bumper and exhaust heat shields) so the owner could sell it as standard. The new owner then brought the car back to us and we installed almost the same setup on it again! He had no idea and we were not allowed to tell him!

Stock. If I had more time to do research and such then modded would be fine, but by the time I looked into all the mods it would probably be sold. That, and the fact that so many times it can be a cover up for a crash, I avoided anything modded for my first bike. I think the closest I got was looking at a Ninja with a cut down fender.

But it all depends. If I were selling it modified I would not really emphasize the fact that its modded, but bring it up after potential buyers have already contacted you (obviously you have to mention you have put a lot into it, hence the higher price). But whenever I saw a long list of all this stuff someone had I went straight for the back button.

I would say slightly modified as well. But if you do replace anything, try to add the original parts to the deal so the buyer can actually see it. That way they know it was changed by choice, not because of an accident.

Usually, if somebody wants a heavily modified bike, they want to do it themselves.

My bike is my hobby; I buy stock and enjoy doing little mods and tune ups. I try to stay classy and not do some of the really flashy mods, but I enjoy when people come up and cannot recognize what my bike is.
I do know though that any mods you put on should not be put on the value of the bike when it comes time to sell it, no matter how cool I think it looks everyone has there own unique style.

I definitely feel comfortable with a bike that's stock, but as previously mentioned there's no way to know if a bike hasn't just been reverted back. I have all of the stock parts from the XB on a shelf and when I sell it they'll all go back on the bike before I do. The only thing that'll be different from when I bought it is the lack of warning stickers. Now a stock bike that STILL has the warning stickers on it and low miles makes me think it probably wasn't ever messed with.

I'm perfectly fine with some light mods like an exhaust, signals, new jets, air filter. The fact that those are still on the bike lets you know that the seller didn't just revert the bike back to stock, and there's a good chance you're getting the bike how it was. I doubt I'd ever buy a heavily modified bike, unless I wanted it for a project.

As far as things go, I hate having bikes that are too clean and shiny. It takes away some of the fun. I appreciate that I got a great deal on my current bike because it was stock, spotless, and barely had any miles, but it's made me hesitant to modify any of the stock parts and I'm always overly cautious with the bike. I'd much rather find something with some dents, scratches and modified parts so I have no worries about modifying something myself.

Well that depends.

I bought option 3.  The builder was a well respected member of the forum  (as well as another forum), really knew his stuff and had a decent shop. He was honest about the facts, such as that the motor was rebuilt with a crank from a GS450.

So I got a "heavily modified" bike for a decent price.  I works just the way I want it to, and I didn't have to mess with it (much - it had a clogged pilot jet and a vacuum cap fell off).

No matter which way you go, there is some risk when you buy a used vehicle. Well, there is even some risk when you buy new! Just keep your eyes open.

*I* prefer Stock.

However, it also depends what you mean by Mods.

If there were two bikes the same and one had Ohlins suspension and the other didn't - and I wanted that suspension - then the one with the Ohlins would get the nod. Same applied to things like RadGuards, Center Stands and so on.

Things like Fenderectomy can make a bike illegal depending on your jurisdiction. Bar end mirrors are personal. As are indicator changes and so on.

The Honda 919 I got was bought over others cause it had a luggage system and center stand - things I would have added anyway. Otherwise, it is stock.

Michael

Same as the masses for me, *I* also prefer stock when I buy anything.  If its been modded I dont know who or how well it was done or for what reason, and its completely psychological but when somethings been modded I cant get out of my head that its been "messed with" ... even if it hasn't.  Using the GS as an examplel; things like removing stickers, chopping the rear fender, changing your mirrors or adding say LED signal lights I don't really consider a "mod", more of an aesthetic change.  Pretty much anything performance related I consider a mod in my opinion.

Modifications do not bring up the price of vehicles but rather down in some cases. The sellers often think there worth more (in the case of import cars) but really they do nothing for the true selling price and value.

Most people would prefer a stock bike/car. I would buy one with slight mods if i knew they were done right i.e. by a friend.

Yup, lightly modded is the way to go for me. However My definition of light is far far different from others.
I would consider a paint job too heavy. However a front end swap is light for me. I cant paint, and if I get a stock paint job I know I can body panel my way out of anything. FE and others are hardware mods and as such easier to figure out for me.

I love it when people buy a perfectly running jetted bike from me and proceed to put on a jet kit. One joker after hearing I have a bike that I jetted ~10 years ago, he was going to put another one in cos this one is old. Yup genius, jets wear out like tires.

Anyway crap like murdered out or ratted out to me mean - I crashed and forgot to fix it. Then there is the favorite "chopper" cos they chopped some brackets out. Yea right dumbass, that's a chopper. Any mod is only as good as the clown that does it. You talk to the guy and the instant he uses terms like these I'd gradually lose confidence in it.

Cool.
Buddha.

I prefer stock, especially in a sport bike, it seems to me the more its been modded the more likelyhood its been riden hard. If you decided to do mods only do easily revarsable mods, like bar end mirrors.

Quote from: nikfleisch on March 28, 2011, 08:37:52 AM
I prefer stock, especially in a sport bike, it seems to me the more its been modded the more likelyhood its been riden hard. If you decided to do mods only do easily revarsable mods, like bar end mirrors.

:cookoo:
The more "modified" the less the bike is worth........plus you are just asking for trouble...

I had looked at a Ninja 500....my expert helper noticed the seat had the stuffing pulled out from it.....he said, Bob,you know if this idiot did that, he also messed with the exhuast and the carbs...stay away.....the price on the sign went down every day...from 3500 to 1200 to make offer.......

The gs 500 pretty much is what it is...perfect for me anyway...but really, what would one expect to accomplish by nig-rigging?


Cookie

No, im just saying id be deterred from a heavily modded bike. main reason i kept all my stock stuff is because i dont want to sell the gs with the ar end mirrors haha im keeping those bad boys.

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.

Unless the changes you make actually improve the bike substantially, they add very little if nothing to the bike's value. It may make it more appealing to certain people though.

With my wife's 2007 GS500F we had lowered the bike with longer dogbones for the rear shock linkage, changed the windscreen to a DB Sport Touring style, had the seat cut down, changed to a 18-tooth front sprocket, replaced the OEM throttle tube with one from an SV650, and put on a rear top case. When we went to sell it we got pretty much top price compared to other GS500's for sale, but it's not like we got $500 more, which was more or less what we put into it.

Also, a lot of people's "mods" are hack job el-cheapo flushmount signals that are drilled through an otherwise good fairing panel, and put on at the wrong angle. I've only seen a handful of bikes that were actually well done locally in the past 25+ yrs

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.

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.

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.

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.  :2guns:

Quote from: slipperymongoose on April 24, 2012, 04:08:01 AM
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.  :thumb:

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  :thumb:

Michael

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.

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

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.

 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.