I took another little tumble on the bike today. The taxi in front of me stopped abruptly in the middle of the road and I stopped too fast, throwing me off. It was at low speed so I'm not too banged up. The bike however, I think I'm done with. There's a new dent in the tank, and the stator cover on the right side (which I bought brand new to replace the old one) is scratched up. I'm ready to sell.



How much to you think I would get for it? Two dents in the tank, big scratch on the stator cover. The handlebars also need to be replaced but I have a new set that I haven't gotten around putting on yet. It also needs front turn signals. Needs to be painted as well. I'm thinking maybe $5-$600? I bought a brand new rear tire that I'll have to include. It's at a bit of a loss for me, but I think at this point it's not worth putting a lot of money into getting fixed up.

Done with riding this bike, or done with riding entirely?

It's your choice of course, but if you love motorcycling I wouldn't stop. You can avoid incidents like this to a great degree if you hone your braking skills and give more following distance in traffic (not saying the taxi driver should or should not have stopped hard, since I obviously don't know the exact situation).

A replacement gas tank shouldn't be too expensive, if you can hunt one down. If you have the repair manual and can get cheap parts, you could fix it up yourself (though obv. this would be an investment of time learning how--I'm no mechanic, myself) but if you really want to sell your GS500, then:

I think $500-$600 is a cheap price for it if it runs, even if it is damaged. I'd try to set the price a little higher, and then perhaps negotiate a fair price with your buyer. Maybe ask for $900 or a bit more, and then negotiate from there. Check your state's lemon laws though--sometimes if you sell a bike for more than a certain price, it has to be in roadworthy condition, or the seller has the full legal right to return it to you for their money back. Otherwise, you can only sell it cheaper than that, as a "project" or "as-is" or "for parts". This varies a lot by jurisdiction.

Quote from: ralph13 on May 30, 2013, 06:27:37 AM
Done with riding this bike, or done with riding entirely?

It's your choice of course, but if you love motorcycling I wouldn't stop. You can avoid incidents like this to a great degree if you hone your braking skills and give more following distance in traffic (not saying the taxi driver should or should not have stopped hard, since I obviously don't know the exact situation).

I think $500-$600 is a cheap price for it if it runs, even if it is damaged. I'd try to set the price a little higher, and then perhaps negotiate a fair price with your buyer. Maybe ask for $900 or a bit more, and then negotiate from there. Check your state's lemon laws though--sometimes if you sell a bike for more than a certain price, it has to be in roadworthy condition, or the seller has the full legal right to return it to you for their money back. Otherwise, you can only sell it cheaper than that, as a "project" or "as-is" or "for parts". This varies a lot by jurisdiction.

FYI - OP is in Canada, as can be seen by has location in his profile. (Isn't it nice when people actually use that?) So, since I know nothing about what makes something road-worthy in Canada, I'll stop there.

Also, IIRC, Canada requires something of a "graduated" licensing for motorcycles, right? You take a class, get initially licensed, then have to ride within a set of rules for a certain length of time?

If you really like riding, you might look into taking an advanced riding course to gain additional instruction in cornering, braking, maneuvering, etc with your bike. Is that going to completely prevent you from ever getting into another accident? Maybe not, but it will help you build additional  avoidance skills.

I hope you are not done with riding altogether. If you don't like scrubbing bits of road out of your skin you could invest in a bike with abs. If you had anti-lock-brakes this accident wouldn't have happened.

if you are gonna sell that cheap, then might as well just keep it and ride harder.

Quote from: ralph13 on May 30, 2013, 06:27:37 AM
Done with riding this bike, or done with riding entirely?

It's your choice of course, but if you love motorcycling I wouldn't stop. You can avoid incidents like this to a great degree if you hone your braking skills and give more following distance in traffic (not saying the taxi driver should or should not have stopped hard, since I obviously don't know the exact situation).

A replacement gas tank shouldn't be too expensive, if you can hunt one down. If you have the repair manual and can get cheap parts, you could fix it up yourself (though obv. this would be an investment of time learning how--I'm no mechanic, myself) but if you really want to sell your GS500, then:

I think $500-$600 is a cheap price for it if it runs, even if it is damaged. I'd try to set the price a little higher, and then perhaps negotiate a fair price with your buyer. Maybe ask for $900 or a bit more, and then negotiate from there. Check your state's lemon laws though--sometimes if you sell a bike for more than a certain price, it has to be in roadworthy condition, or the seller has the full legal right to return it to you for their money back. Otherwise, you can only sell it cheaper than that, as a "project" or "as-is" or "for parts". This varies a lot by jurisdiction.

The bike is running fine. Cosmetically the bike needs some work. A new pair of front turn signals need to be installed, the plastics+tank need to be painted. This will cost a few hundred at least, money I would rather put into another bike that's in better shape.

I've had an offer for $500, but I would get more for the bike by parting it out. The engine alone is worth that much.

I got $1000 for a GS with blown fork seals, a dead back brake, and carbs so far out of sync it didn't ride smooth till 5k rpm. With a ripped seat and tank with some dings. I'd buy that thing right now for the $600 you're thinking about lol Except I'm in Florida

Quote from: mustangGT90210 on May 30, 2013, 10:38:16 AM
I got $1000 for a GS with blown fork seals, a dead back brake, and carbs so far out of sync it didn't ride smooth till 5k rpm. With a ripped seat and tank with some dings. I'd buy that thing right now for the $600 you're thinking about lol Except I'm in Florida

So do you think it's worth at least $1000? There's a couple dents in the tank. I priced a new one, but I can't put $300 into this bike. I don't think it's worth it. If I could get the dents pressed out that would be the better option.

The stator cover has a rash on it. Not sure how I could go about fixing that, maybe some light buffing. I bought that cover brand new too, so I'm a little disappointed that it's scratched up again.

$1000 is a good deal on that bike compared to what they are going for in my area in Michigan. But if it were me, I would keep that bike a little longer, generic turn signals are cheap, leave the paint and dings as-is and put in the practice time on a bike that's already been dropped. Then once really comfortable riding put the money into a better looking bike.

Maybe it's just me, but in your case, it would give me peace of mind to know I had the more experience and was a bit less likely to damage the pretty new bike.

Can dents be easily removed from a tank? I have two. The smaller one isn't that bad but I'd really like to get the bigger one removed.

This was the dent in my tank. I popped it out what I could after stripping the paint following the video below. Then did all the bondo work, etc. But you can tap it out pretty close as long as your tool can get to it easily enough.

EDIT: might help if i link the video.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJHo_hn1Mak

[attachment deleted by admin]

The dent is here:



The left side engine cover has also been scuffed:



I have a bunch of interested buyers which I thought there wouldn't be with a bike in this condition. I still haven't decided if I really want to sell.

I regret selling my GS500, even though it had some problems. Maybe you should keep yours and make the most of it. Obviously, the choice is yours.

Look up the spartan build in the project thread, and see how sparticus pulled his dent out, that may work better. But if you are still in the learning stage at all, that is the perfect condition bike to do the learning on IMHO. But I have been told my thoughts on the subject are wrong.

I spent $1000 on my first bike, plus an additional $600ish making it look flawless. 2 months in I got cut off by a ford and lost control in gravel trying to avoid. Bike still ran fine, but all that money I spent making it look perfect went to waste. I have regretted not saving that money ever since.

I'm a newbie too bike riding, and already had a similar incident from a tourist deciding to brake hard and stop in the middle of the road coming down some windys, there was no way I was stopping, locked the back up, pulled hard on the front, made the split second decision to go up the inside of him rather than hit him, into a ditch ..... managed to keep the bike upright unti i tried too come back up to the road, then I went down, by that time i had enough speed off so didn't really damage anything, bent the front brake lever a bit and a few scratches. I didn't for see this happening, was probably closer than I should have been and got caught out. Another learning experience.
But too me  a bit of damage to the bike some scratches and a dent or two, well they give you a story or two too tell, and they aren't things that make the bike un-rideable.

I spent a lot of time practicing my stops, quick stops, and swerves in a parking lot. I'm sure I looked stupid, but I'm pretty sure if I hadnt spent the time, my accident would have turned out much worse.

I'm glad neither of your incidents left you too beaten up.

Quote from: rock_rebel on May 30, 2013, 04:49:32 PM
The dent is here:



The left side engine cover has also been scuffed:



I have a bunch of interested buyers which I thought there wouldn't be with a bike in this condition. I still haven't decided if I really want to sell.

Would a dent repair kit work? I was looking at some videos on YouTube about dent repair and often a kit was used.

All damage looks cosmetic

I'd say fix anything wrong mechanically, and don't stress the cosmetic stuff. As long as its running/riding, I'd say enjoy it!

Quote from: steezin_and_wheezin on May 31, 2013, 05:57:05 AM
All damage looks cosmetic

I'd say fix anything wrong mechanically, and don't stress the cosmetic stuff. As long as its running/riding, I'd say enjoy it!

Agreed.  The damage just adds character.  Keep riding it.

That isn't damage...it's cosmetic individualization. The cover could be cleaned up quite a bit, so I wouldn't sweat it. Whether you sell it or not is up to you, just remember, a different bike won't make you a better rider.