I haven't gone to see this bike, but I'm a little worried about the supposed bad wiring harness.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/mcy/1320628130.html
I emailed him asking why he is so sure it is the wiring harness which he responded.

"A few of the connections on the harness at the regulator/rectifier are exposed and/or burnt. I know the problem is electrical and the wiring harness is the only major electrical component that has not been recently replaced."

I saw and read through the thread on the Regulator Rectifier problems, which seem similar, but not necessarily the same symptoms he describes.
https://cbrforum.com/forum/f2-tech-93/regulator-rectifier-r-r-problem-solved-27739/

Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you.

 

I have the same problem on mine. I cleaned all the connections on it with a small fine file on the connections and hosed it down with contact cleaner till i can purchase a new one. i do beleive johnnyx has a sticky that explains a good replacement that you can use from a suzuki with a slight change in wiring, thats the route im going with. As long as you can pull the connector out and make sure ALL the contacts connect correctly you should be ok. Check the fuses too, a bad connection could pop one. God bless DC and its simplicity.

 

it depends on what he means when he says sputter. when i think of sputter i think of a fuel problem. the regulator on my 929 went out. those symptoms were all the electrical components would shut off then come back on. it really never sputtered. but like dojo said get an ohm meter and test the voltage going to the regulator.

hope some of that helped.

 

The sputtering could be from a bad connect to the plugs. IF you have an ohm meter, put it to the continuity (ohms) symbol (sorry if you know this) with the power off, match pin to pin from the connector to the R/R, and ohm each pin. On my fluke it beeps if it has continuity, if that doesnt work, change over to dc voltage check, click on the key, and check pin to pin. The ohm test should clarify it, but im not positive if some require a switch to be toggled while being ohmed. Now that im not **** *** drunk on JD ill be able to help a lil bit, despite the headache. lol.

 

So it doesn't sound like its too big of a deal?
I'm well versed in electronics and and using a multimeter to test them. I'm not sure if I would replace the wiring harness or just replace segments of wire or clean and hotglue the wires. (if a multiple wire group doesn't have to bend after installation, I've found hot glue to be good at keeping them separated and weather sealed)

Can you think of some other questions to ask about the problem to narrow it down?
What do you all think about the price? And photos?

 

Ask if he's ever had to jump start the bike, if he/she says yes, ask if the car was running, if yes, ****s been fried, but still fixable. The bike is a beauty even with the roadrash, if you saw mine, which i paid 1500 for, you'd jump on this like a rabbit on viagra. BUT, with the roadrash, tire wear, check the chain, i'd start off offering 1500, or lower, or higher. Up to you. Electrical, as you know, is a time consuming pain in the *** at times. Hopefully you get a discount. Keep us posted.

 

sure you know this but you should always get them to come down on the price. i don't know anyone that start out selling something not expecting to come down. i know when i sell cars/motorcycles i start out at about 300-500 more than what i want. not too much to scare people away but enough to have some leverage when someone asks me to come down. so regardless if you think it's worth 1500 or not try to get him to knock at least 300 off. especially if he doesn't plan on fixing the wiring harness.

 

craigslist is the free ebay. lol.

 

It looks like you can buy used wiring harnesses and starters and the like off ebay for relatively cheap, so I'm not too worried. I just wanted to check to see if his story made sense, since sputtering to me sounds like a worse problem. Like carburetor, or timing related. (though I've taken apart my carburetor on my Honda Metro a couple of times for various reasons and have never thought it was a complicated evil machine that people make it out to be)


So I'll try to bring him down in price and point out flaws. Hopefully it will have that CCT rattle I've read about, and it looks like that rusty, scraped, engine cover looks worrysome!


Ebay doesn't have anywhere near the options that craigslist has for cars and motorbikes in my area.

 

Damn, the bike sold. Not to me.

That didn't take very long, I've been busy over the last couple of days so I didn't have a chance to go look at it.