Hey everyone! First time poster, but a long time lurker. Just have some questions for the pro's. First let me say that I am a huge fan of Suzuki. I currently have an '03 Vinson quad and a '07 DR650. I love them both, but I'm looking for a moderately priced street bike. I have always loved the looks of the GS500E. I recently found a local dealer that has a '98 GS500 that I'm dealing on. I have yet to see it in person, but I will be going to look at it in person Saturday. My question is what should I look for or pay special attention to besides the obvious? Just for a little more info. It has 12,000 on the ODO and the dealer said that other than a small nick in the exhaust can, it's spotless.
Thanks for the help. I look forward to the responses.
Top five things that come to mind to look out for, other than the obvious signs of previous drops.
1. Condition of the inside of the tank. Lots of rust or old liners that are falling apart = bad. (See my build thread for how I know this)
2. Push the forks up and like 10 times and then see if you have any oil on the fork tube. If it's wet, then it needs fork seals. Not too expensive if you want to fix it yourself, but also not the easiest first project on the bike.
3. Take a look at the bottom of the carbs. If the brass plugs covering the mixture screws are missing, then the carb has probably had some work done. Not always a bad thing, but it can be a pain to fix a PO's amateur work.
4. Tires. Look for condition as well as tread depth. There should be no cracking on the sidewall or in the treads. $200 for new tires is no fun if you didn't plan on it.
5. Chain and sprockets. Is it dry (no PO maintenance), dirty, rusty, is there a master link, is the tension properly set, do the sprockets have plenty of life left, are the tension indicators at the end of their travel? Another $100-$150+labor if it needs new chain and sprockets.
I'm sure others have more knowledge to share. These are just some obvious things that are hidden costs if you don't check them.
Thanks bombsquad! I'll be sure to check all that out.