South Carolina?

[ribbert]

........perhaps it's not unreasonable for a 57 year old man to just feel too old for a bike?

Haha, you have just drawn the ire of much of the forum     In my case, I'm 60, never ridden faster or further than I do these days and usually after the first few hours of a ride wish the ol' girl had more power. I am not alone.

I wondered about the rebuild as well, but I assume he just took it on as a project. "Because he could", which is why lots of old guys work on bikes, it seems to me.

Seriously Kyle, you're taking the piss out of me aren't you?
What on God's earth would posses a sane man, of any age, to dismantle a bike that's barely run in, spend thousands of unnecessary dollars and have it off the road for months just to return it to the state it was in before he pulled it apart so he could commute 4 miles a day on it?

You are selling it to yourself. You are speculating on probable explanations for each circumstance to justify it to yourself.

As I said, it may well be legit, even retired preachers are allowed to ride bikes, but there are enough alarm bells to proceed with caution. It all sounds a bit glib to me.

I told him I was planning on flying out there and driving it back, partially hoping to get him to 'give' if there would be any reason that wouldn't work out, because you'd have to be a serious asshole to leave someone stranded like that.

Yep, the world's full of them!

Kyle, you know all this is friendly advice and I'd hate to see you get stitched up with a dud purchase.


Noel

[novaraptor]

I don't get a ton of alarms going off, but there are some tingles. From what you have posted, he didn't say he did the work, simply that he used to be a motorcycle mechanic when he was younger. And is he the original owner? I too wonder why all the work on such a low mileage FJ? Did he purchase a real project that was rode hard and put away wet, and then had to do the rebuild? Nothing wrong with that, but you should know. From the pics, it looks well taken care of. Fly out, look it over. If it doesn't live up to spec, fly home. Or, since you have the money in hand, consider what you would have to spend to bring one of your bikes up to that spec, and build the bike you know and own into the bike you want.
As for why he's selling: It may not be that it's too fast for him, it may be that it's just getting to heavy for him, or his interests are now elsewhere. Still, keep trying to find someone in the area that can check it out for you, and that can possibly accompany you to the sale. Wouldn't necessarily want to show up in a strange town with $3400.00 in cash in my pocket and meet a total stranger alone.

If you have the sellers name, you could also do an online background check for a few bucks... Whatever you decide, happy roads to you.

[fintip]

Haha, you have just drawn the ire of much of the forum  ireful   In my case, I'm 60, never ridden faster or further than I do these days and usually after the first few hours of a ride wish the ol' girl had more power. I am not alone.

Fair point, but not everyone is you, Noel. Remember, this is America, home of the cheeseburger. I hope to be killing it at that age, but not everyone is.

Seriously Kyle, you're taking the piss out of me aren't you?
What on God's earth would posses a sane man, of any age, to dismantle a bike that's barely run in, spend thousands of unnecessary dollars and have it off the road for months just to return it to the state it was in before he pulled it apart so he could commute 4 miles a day on it?

You are selling it to yourself. You are speculating on probable explanations for each circumstance to justify it to yourself.

As I said, it may well be legit, even retired preachers are allowed to ride bikes, but there are enough alarm bells to proceed with caution. It all sounds a bit glib to me.

Well, I asked, because it's a somewhat valid question... But I think you're a little over-skeptical. People need hobbies. People do all kinds of things for hobbies. Including rebuilding bikes that don't really need it (though, as I post below, this one did need it).

In any case, I am proceeding with caution. 

I sent this text in your honor:

Me: Why go through all the trouble to rebuild such a low mileage bike? Did it have any problems before? I have to admit, I'm still struggling to understand why you're selling it. (Forgive my skepticism, last time I bought a bike on CL I was burned by a guy who really screwed me over.) 9:37 AM
SELLER: The previous owner had the crankcase vent tube disconnected but near enought the connector to still draw oil fumes in the airbox along with all the road dirt. The compression on the bike was near 105 in each cylinder (121 minimum per the factory manual) and she burnt oil pretty bad. 9:42 AM18649408171: As for the rebuild, I'm a bit of a perfectionist. I couldn't afford a new one and I didn't want someone elses problems. 9:44 AM
SELLER: Now, I'm 57 and medically retired (a bad back). I still can ride (for short trips) it but no longer have big garage to put it in. I bought a big 5th wheel and moved to SC. It sits covered under the nose of the trailer and I'm afraid its just going to rust away. 9:47 AM
SELLER: But I'm not hurting for money and I'm not going to give it away. 9:49 AM

Later:

SELLER: I rebuilt the f11 as well and it is up for sale on cl too. 10:01 AM
SELLER: F11 was in far worse shape but only had 1300 original miles. 10:02 AM
SELLER: If you look at the ad for the f11 you will see the fj in the backround. 10:04 AM
SELLER: Selling the F11 for the same reasons. 10:05 AM

Found the ad: http://greenville.craigslist.org/mcy/4419905953.html

The picture in question:

[jscgdunn]

Kyle,
You have done your due diligence via phone.  I would go for it if you can.  From the pics and conversation (which documented well enough for the potential lawsuit should things go wrong ), you need to go there, stand in front of it and make the call.  If you are then skeptical, you can get home the same way you got there.

A life truism is "The one you pass up is the one you never get".

Jeff

[fintip]

Me: That's a fine bike. Point taken. You don't talk as much about the cosmetics of the FJ1200, so I assume it's not quite up to showroom spec the way the F11 is. What are the cosmetic flaws on the FJ12, if any? 10:11 AM
SELLER: None really, there are small scratches here and there, but no major issues. The aluminum supports for the footrest show their age; the finish is slowly deteriorating. You should be able to see that if you enlarge the pictures. I've always gotten compliments, I built her to be a rider however. No cracks in the body work, though some of the body work was rebuilt too and then repainted. You wouldn't know it unless you pulled the part off. Don't ever use bondo on plastic, it will always show it in the end. Plastic can be welded and glued and is usually stonger once done. 10:38 AM
SELLER: If you ever decide to weld plastic, be sure you buy a good kit, there are a lot of cheap ones out there that don't work very well. 10:41 AM
SELLER: Something else, I replaced the stock oil radiator with a racing version and it made a huge difference. 11:24 AM

I really want it, but... So much money.

I was leaning away from it, but I think I'm leaning towards it again.

This will be by far the largest purchase I've ever made if I get it. And it's hard not to listen to the voice in the back of my mind saying I could just get a new bike for this money, and I'll never get my money back out of this bike... This is a long-term commitment bike, for sure.

[RD56]

Having used CL a few times, I'm acutely aware of scams employed through this medium, but the smartest thing I've read so far concerned rolling up to this guys abode with $3400 in your pocket...ALONE. I even like the fact that he brought religion into the picture...a real calming influence. But come on guys, the fact that the guy wrote Heinz instead of Hines. If I had $.01 for every misspelled word, dangling participle, misquote etc., etc., that I read in this forum I WOULD be a rich man. It's rare that a true scam artist will give you a real phone # that's been in existence for more than a few days or a legal address that can be checked or legitimate references, like a bank manager or something similar. This is the reason for due diligence.

When I was much younger and had some money in my pocket, I bought a brand new Ducati Darmah. Longer wheel base than the SS, same engine, prettier bike - at least to me- and I took the engine out after 500 miles, ran it up to Reno Leoni, the fast guy before Ferracci, and had him modify that engine with 40mm carbs, hotter cams, larger displacement, Contis, the list goes on. The bottom line is there are idiots out there who do things for the fun of it. Maybe this guy is one of them. Very few scam artists would have legit pics of the mods made to the bike, or his level of knowledge about the bike. Rationalize it beyond all comprehension and loose the bike, or go for it and just wire the money to a bank down there, let him prove who he is and enjoy what looks like a real nice bike. By the way, let me know if you pass and I'll go buy it.

Good Luck, Rick

[andyoutandabout]

I'm on the spiky fence. If I had 3500 i'd be looking for another 2000 and get a 2006 FZ1 in red. However, 3500 for a fully sorted fj is very tempting. I figure mines about as far as I'm going with it and when I add all the things up that weren't regular maintenance then:
1200 to buy it
 500 for the 17'' conversion and brakes
 125 superbrace
1250 for a once over by Randy (fork valve and seals, spin on oil thing, pods, carb fix)
 400 rear shock revalve and spring
3475 then, but without really any engine mods - so his price is pretty good.
Mind you my money has been spread over 9 years of ownership, which cushions the blow.
Spending a lump sum always seems worse.
I'm erring toward a yes, buy it and be done. You'll have a great bike and it'll be an fj.
Andy

[The General]

A seminary professor has faith in what`s fair. If he doesn`t agree to cover half the airfare as a discount off the advertised price, I wouldn`t proceed.

[fintip]

A seminary professor has faith in what`s fair. If he doesn`t agree to cover half the airfare as a discount off the advertised price, I wouldn`t proceed.

I dunno, it's not his responsibility to make it easy for me to buy. That would be a kind gesture, but I don't think it's fair to expect it or anything.

3475 then, but without really any engine mods - so his price is pretty good.
Mind you my money has been spread over 9 years of ownership, which cushions the blow.
Spending a lump sum always seems worse.

Exactly. Though, it would be nice to have suspension upgrades done... I still plan on someday changing the rims out for wider ones, updating the rear shock, putting in emulators. All of those things will be another 1500, probably. I'll still be getting engine bars here very soon, as well, and am tempted to get a superbrace to protect that front fender.

[mark1969]

None of you know me on here, though I have lurked and replied to a few threads...having read and digested this thread, if it were me, I would trust my gut on this.

In other words, throw logic, desire and dreams out of the window, and ask yourself does it FEEL right in relation to both the bikes credibility, and for you as a purchase at this time.

That's how I would want to play it, because it's all too easy to convince ourselves when really taking a step back and trusting our gut is often what works best (sometimes in hindsight, and sometimes when we get it right..).

Good luck whatever you decide. 

[Lotsokids]

That Vance & Hines Supersport exhaust sounds AWESOME. I had that on a ZX-11. It has a deep sounding roar. Loved it! Second only to my Cobra 4-into-4 exhaust on my V-Max.

[fintip]

So I've all but decided I'm doing this. Just waiting to hear back from him on logistics on how we would do the airport-to-anderson thing.

I decided to look at the numbers a different way:

Things I can sell:
   mirrors: $90
+ Fairing: worth $300 I guess
+ front tire: will probably sell, might try to tie down and bring
+ stock exhaust: whatever anyone wants to pay for it, shipping + donation
$400+

Money I won't spend that I would have spent:
   chain & sprockets: $175?
+ petcock: $170
350+

400 + 350 "saved" = 750

Assuming I spend 500 on travel expenses and the trip as a whole, that's:

3400 + 500 - 750 = 3150 net cost of trip + bike.

Now, would I trade my two FJ's (probably worth about this much, possibly more) for this upgraded FJ, and a great trip through the south?

The answer is clearly yes. I would. I can't say no to that. So I'm getting it. I asked him to either trailer it to airport, pick me up, arrange a friend to pick me up, or give me $200 off as a goodwill token for how much this is all taking on my end to make this work. He hasn't responded for a while, so he's probably mulling it over. (Who knows, he may be looking at this thread for all I know.) I feel like that's fair.

Next order of business will just be selling the bits and pieces, or figuring out how to bring them with me somehow. (There is a little rack on there...)

Anybody want a stock exhaust? Cost of shipping + donation?

[jscgdunn]

Good luck....we await the extended "ride report" home as we live vicariously with the foolhardy vagabond.

Jef

[fintip]

Well, he got insulted at my request to help me get to the bike from the airport or drop $200 off the price. Told me it was the third time I'd insulted him about price, so he was done.

Not daunted, but irritated, I tried to smooth it over, reminded him that I'm basically putting all of my savings into this on a bet that I can sell mine when I get back to recoup the difference.

He responded with something that has thrown me off a bit:

Yes, but those are your issues. Saying that the extras were worth 2000 and the bile was only worth the balance is indeed insulting.

Is he saying that the extras that come with the bike are worth 2k? Are there extras I don't know about?

So, up in the air at the moment... We'll see what he says... A little annoyed... Probably still worth it if I have to pay sticker price AND figure out a way out there, but this guy certainly isn't going to do anything to help me out. 

[jscgdunn]

Send him a deposit....he get back  to the happy place.  After all you have worked him pretty good.  Cash talks.