Mine was a '76, looked a lot like your 250. Lets just say I was young and it was a looong, $$$$$$$$ process. No love lost when I finally got rid of it. Ironically, the bike I traded for I eventually got back and still have, 20 yrs later. It was my first bike.
Hahaha well i hear ya on the $$$$$$$ paid 50 for it and promptly spent about 150 on a stator and stuff to fix the gas tank.....LOL
I had a '73 F7 (175) I bought out of a neighbor' shed in 1989 which hadn't run in 15 years, had less than 500 miles on it. Cleaned the petcock, threw in fresh gas, and it started and ran like a champ with no maintenance for the next 20 years, when I sold it. Great bike as far as I was concerned, more powerful than I would have expected a 175 to be.
Most of my un-fond memories were due to a Kawasaki mechanic trying to screw me over. Course, my trying to JB weld the piston back together didn't help either. I got to where I could literally have the engine out of the bike and the crankcases split in under 30 minutes. Think I was 16 at the time. :huh Like I said, no love lost. You can read more about it here: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=609359&highlight=mania and since I originally traded a free bike for it and then proceeded to pour probably hundreds of hours and I think about $600, it still qualifies for this thread, right? It was an oddball bike- pretty sure that's a Suzuki DR front end on it and man, what an ugly color.
They are out there. This one had brand new tires and only 4200 miles, but it needs card work and the fork seals are bad.
Yeah, they're out there. This one is a re-post, but worth showing again, it had Brand New tires, I paid $200 for it, took off the crash bars, and sold them on eBay for $100. The biggest expense was a front brake line.
Me and my dad's bikes. mines the kdx i picked up for free and the hercules is my dads and he picked it up free from a buddy!
I love this thread. Cheap bikes are the best. I bought a 1992 ninja 500 for $200. Sat unused outside for about 10 years. Needed a lot of time but not very much money. Tank was horrible and took a few weeks of abrasives, electrolysis and finally acid washing, but the result was a like-new tank. The cables were all frozen solid, the front brake had no pressure and the carb was completely frozen/clogged. A few more weeks of disassembling/lubing/hammering and she was a solid runner. New battery, new fluids, new float valves, $15 ebay petcock and $25 ebay seat was pretty much all the money she needed. Really fun bike, and fun bringing a bike back from the dead. Love the 90s 16" white wheels with the rear drum brake (on a sportsbike!?). And of course the maroon looks great after 20 years of sun-fade. 1974 Yamaha DT250. Free! So this was the first bike I ever rode so many years ago. Belonged to a friend of mine. I got a 30 second explanation of the controls and given the keys. I remember accidentally popping a wheelie the first time I left the driveway and almost running into a parked car because I had no idea how to steer. At a stop sign it started bouncing off the rev-limiter for no apparent reason. So I hit the killswitch... still revving. So I removed the key from ignition. Still bounching off the rev limiter... I had to jump stall the damn bike to turn it off. After I had started riding I borrowed it to take me and my girlfriend home one night. The powerband, vibration and seat (or lack of) was enough that she cursed and swore she would never sit on it again. That was before we realized that all of the rear lights had stopped working on the dark highway we rode home. I gave him a standing offer that I would pay him whatever he wanted if he would ever sell it. A few years later he called me out of the blue and said that it had died on the side of the road and if I could get it home I could have it. I rode out there at midnight and got it running underneath a street-light. I will never sell this bike. Less impressive deals, but still great value $1500 or less: 1979 Kawasaki KZ400. $1400 in immaculate condition. Rain or shine daily rider the last two years. 23,000 miles. Gotta love the old UJMs that were designed with easy maintenance a top priority. 2002 Kawasaki EX250 $1500. Did nothing to it, pretty much just changed the oil and rode it to South America. Good bang for your buck.
1974 Yamaha DT250 May not be the first Yamaha for free, but of all bikes for free, this one has the price for the best story behind. And for being good looking. Seems it can go anywhere too. You can't have that luck unless you deserve it. Good karma
I have always loved KLRs and wanted to save during my deployment to get a brand new one!!! Well that didn't work out of course, so I waited till tax time and found a fixer upper, I always liked the older body style better anyway, I decided to get it and brought it home, after riding a few wheelies the 13 year old wheel bearings gave out, tearing into the bike I realized it had never been taken care of, the original air filter looked liquified and the chain could stand on end, I repainted it, protaper bars, fmf exhaust, new chain, jd jet kit, new d606 tires and no toil air filter and I am in love!!!
Not a big story, but I smile at the thought of a running $100 bike with 2 new tires. I actually bought it off a bike shop, they couldn't get it running nicely and the owner was tired of looking at it. He had it on Craigslist for $500, and I was leaving. He asked me if there was a number I'd pay for it, and he accepted. The Vision internet forum had the info that helped me solve the running problem. I rebuilt the front brake, sync he'd the carbs and detailed it. Sold it for $1200.
Picking this up soon. 1980 GS550. $200. It runs, the carbs load up, and needs a battery. It will be a nice compliment to my 82 GL1100 (it was free! Birthday present from my pops.) And my "Goldwing" i think I've posted pics of it in here before.