Things to look out for?

SMH at those that believe the 5th is better. Linked brakes? are you kidding me. I have one and those are going the way side ASAP..... Granted the 5th gen has a bit more long legginess to it over the 4th being a tad more sport, so pick your poison, FI is over rated. a clean well taken care of 4th gen is a great bike. neither one is bad, just one leans more one way over the other. Now had Honda installed the 5thgen motor in the 4th you'd have a winner, almost, still not a 1000cc.

 

I'll save the Gen4 v. Gen5 debate for those more seasoned than me. As for cost, $2k...

 

2k is a steal for that bike!! And yea a "well cared" for carbed bike is just as good as a FI bike. BUT well cared for carb'd bikes are getting harder to find. I'd say the 50k is a good thing, it keeps everything working right. And it means the bike is a joy to ride. The worst thing for mechanical things is to let them sit. Also bikes with low miles usually means they're not that fun to ride.

 

What's wrong with the linked brakes??

 

What a ridiculous statement!

... or people just had life come up, live in a cold winter climate for 6 months of the year or ... the list can go on.

My second '02 I purchase last summer had 9.900km's on it. It's plenty of fun ... enough so that I rack up over 30km's between April and October every year.

 

Apparently I pushed someones button. :black_eyed: Why don't you craigslist honda shadow 750's. Almost all of them have less than 10k, because people move up. A lot can be said about SS bikes too. VFR's are usually high mileage bikes. Which isn't a bad thing.

 

I've only had my '08 for 3 weeks and I have almost 1000 miles on it. Had to wait for new tires to show up, and we've had some really chitty weather, but I did get 235 on her today! Awesome day!

 

Yes, you did push buttons ... I don't have a high tolerance for this type of nonsense.

 

You took it wrong. Not my fault. No "nonsense" to be had. Maybe you should lighten up a little bit?

 

buy it, buy it now! that's a great price for a bike (assuming in good mechanical condition) with a custom seat and hard luggage. Do you or your buddy know a little about wrenching/maintenance on a bike? if so, seriously consider it!

 

Reek, that's kind of where my mind is at right now. Almost feel it's too good a deal to pass up, assuming all checks out with it. I'm not the most mechanically inclined individual in the world, but I have some wrenching experience. Swapped out a busted 350 Chevy for a 400 small block in my beloved first car as a teen. With the abundance of information available on the interwebs, and most importantly an ability to learn, I'm open to learning on the fly when it comes to wrenching on my bike. I mean, that IS part of the fun right? Turning your own bolts and becoming somewhat self sufficient instead of running to the dealer every time something is amiss?

 

Gnarlymutt - you hit the nail on the head, well, for some of us.

Not everyone enjoys turning wrenches, but I do, except for when it's prime riding weather - then I'd rather be riding.

 

Mmm, that's a whole other thread. But on the short it's a balancing act one prefers over what the bike does for you, more a personal control thing, one needs to know what they want in braking to be able to understand. That and add that the 1st gens of the 5th gens where not all that great, even Honda knew this and sorta fixed it on the 6th gens.

 

Yah, I'm pretty happy with my linked braking on my 6th gen.

 

Guess I should start browsing the mechanics forums for recommended tools/equipment to get once this purchase is made. So close to pulling this trigger...

 

I've never had a complaint, but I understand it's on a certain type of bike. If it was linked brakes on my R1 I would hate it, but the VFR for me works perfectly.

 

Just a good set of metric sockets, box wrenches/spanners, ratchets, metric hex keys/sockets, and torque wrenches.

 

This may not apply to more current computerized fuel injected minimal maintenance bikes, but I've always felt knowing how to wrench on your own bike was part of riding. Knowing / learning every nook and cranny of your ride, learning its personality. anyway, a good service manual, this site and some basic metric hand tools are a good start. and if you keep with it, you'll start amassing all sorts of carb tools, bead breakers and tire tools, chain tools, bearing pullers, etc, etc. Atleast that's how the last 20+ years have gone for me. now pull the trigger and get riding!

 

Thanks all for the advice in this thread as well. I felt mostly confident while looking the bike over for any obvious issues that might dissuade me from making an offer. My plan is to make an offer tomorrow!

 

Let me guess, he sold it?