Well..Getting a 2004 600RR.. its been dropped... front fairing is cracked. since this is my first street bike... I have no idea what i should really be focusing on. I've never riden one so a test drive would be less than beneficial since the only thing i can compare it to is a cr 125, cr 80, kx100 :/ I have no one that will test drive the bike for me other than the owner so...its really just a gamble on the guys honesty.

Really my main worry is the frame/forks. (since it has fron fairing damage) I'm pretty sure unless its blatently effed....the only way you can really tell is ride it and wait for the wobble. I'm hoping to hear some other magical way to see it other than look for fractures/creasing near the forks on the frame... I'd try to go by tire wear patterns but....bike tires are rounded..

so what else other than check the lights, brakes, fire it up when its cold, hear it run...watch him test drive it for me...listen to how well it shifts... should i ask him to get up some speed and gauge his confidence level on it @ 60 mph?

not sure how to check chain/sprocket wear.. what else should i be looking at? think the guy would let me do a compression test and check the runout on the rotors? lol

 

 

he says theres a crack on the gas tank fairing too... although if its leaking gas...the smell is pretty obvious lol

 

Sean, since you don't have much experience in looking at bikes b/f prospective purchase, I'd recommend you ask to take it to your local Honda factory dealership & have it checked out. They will thoroughly inspect & diagnose what needs there are, inform of possible issues, etc. If you're serious about this bike, the $85 (or whatever they charge), could be a wise investment on a multi-thousand dollar purchase.

If the seller isn't interested in doing this (it would benefit him too - especially since you'd be paying for it), I'd say look elsewhere.

Good luck.

 

+1 on taking it to Honda

 

I've seen your other threads stating that you're getting that bike for $2500-ish. Even with the damage pictured - that's not a bad deal @ all.

gotta ask - you have any friends or even social accquaintances that have a good amount of riding experience? Even cruiser-only guys can ride a sportbike competently enough for a simple test ride to see if it shifts/brakes/steers with no weirdness.

If not - tell us where you are/update your profile info- there might be someone on this board that would be willing to give it a test spin and a once-over.

 

well... the problem with the honda ting is hes delivering it 90 miles then the honda dealership is another 45 mins :/ even if he'd spring for it....bike will be here at 9 am... prolly need to make an appt. for something like that .... i wish i had someone to just ride the damn thing lol. I guess ill find out one way or another...

located in columbia sc. forgot i didnt list it on my profile info. changing that now..

 

Hmm... Best you can do in a situation like this is to make a very thorough bill of sale. And that will only provide legal recourse if he sold you a lemon.

Basically where he states that the frame is straight and the bike is free of major defects to the best of his knowledge ect ect. That'll kinda protect you against something like you getting a bike with a blown head gasket or a blown engine (no way he couldn't have known about those).

Another choice would be to have him meet you at the Honda dealer and then you find a way to get her back to your house. Another possible is if you can "rent a mechanic". Possibly see if you can get one of the Honda mechanics to come to your house and check over the bike before you hand over payment. Dunno how well that would work tho.

 

yeah... sucks that its on a tuesday morning.. although im excited... im skeptical... just maybe cause the book value is so much higher than what he was asking... i mean i called the dealership and those 2 fairings for sure cost 1400 new... so that literally puts us at book value. but i went through a god awful amount of emails and looking at bikes that were priced with the same tag but were like...93-97 cbrs with 40k miles not in any better shape... so im stuck thinking everyone is out to get 1500 over the value of their bike lol

Really....by the look of the pictures and the fact that the fairings werent replaced....you can see the extent of the damage...and maybe someone here can quesstimate on the likelyhood of there being frame/fork damage.. im by no means a rational voice of opinion on the matter... but it doesnt *look* like it took a hard enough impact to do something that severe

 

Man - for $2K cash, and the toolbox or whatever you're trading that you are willing to part with - it's a good deal even if the fork is a little off. Hell take a little straightedge and at least hold that against the slider and the tube - see if anything looks weird to the naked eye.

Just to my well calibrated eye - it looks pretty good - the bike doesn't appear to have a lot of extensive damage - someone bought a bike, laid it down and were forced to sell or are too scared to keep it, who knows - you'll never get the straight story on that. Have a 5mm Allen wrench - pull the fairings off if you want, take a good look at the inside - you have that right as a buyer.