Firstly, if this is in the wrong location, I apologize ahead of time. Seemed like the best fit... I had an 07 RR, bought new, owned for 4 years, putting ~36,000 miles on it. Street/track/touring usage. Had to sell it in May 2011, as I had nowhere to reliably store it for 18 months, while I would be on a huge bicycle tour of the whole US. I want the same platform again. Don't like the newer models, and I'm a Honda guy to the bitter end. Enter: 923 mile old white 2007 600RR I found locally. Seller wants $6,950, and would probably take 6,200. How do I tell if it's a CA model? I looked at it today, and here are my concerns: Original owner was a woman who owned it briefly, tipped over after stalling it, then sold it to an automotive pawn dealer. Current owner is not a rider, but is super nice, not sleazy, doesn't know a ton about sportbikes, but buys/sells a lot of vehicles. Bike is quite clean, starts up great, sounds good. Mileage is for real. PROS: It's a virgin motor...I'd be able to baby it, and build it up the way I want to, without worries of how it was maintained or ridden before me. I'm picky. I still have undamaged, gloss white race wheels for this bike. Stands, tools, spare bodywork, extra rotors, a brand new radiator, and other randoms for this bike, also. I solely maintained my previous one for 4 years, and know it very well. I like the current color scheme a lot, and the tires are in great shape. Concerns: It has been sitting, on and off for about 4 years. To my knowledge, it did not have fuel stabilizer in the tank, oil in the cylinders, or the coolant drained while it has been essentially non-op. It was also not up in stands that whole time. I don't know how I would detect any corrosion caused by any of this, but it worries me. The damages from her tip over are minimal. Some scratches on the right side "boomerang" mid, and a small scuff on the tail. Bar ends have been replaced, so I'm assuming they were damaged. Forks, bars, triple-tree, all straight. All the bodywork looks great, but the bike has been ridden on wet roads some. This upsets me, but it's not a deal breaker. Just needs some detailing, and removal of a lot of stuff to clean all the waterspots off, and some minor oxidation on the exposed aluminum pieces, like the rearsets, oilpan, exhaust shield. Some bolts have minor fuzzy corrosion. What do you all think? It's a pretty good deal considering the LOW mileage, but would sitting for that long, without being prepped for it, have done much damage...? Hoses? Electrical? The fuel tank? Any thoughts you guys have, I'm all ears. This thing is going to sell very soon, so I need to weigh my options here. I have the VIN, if anyone with connections feels like running it, to check it out. Thanks!!!
I don't know which model years comprise the platform of CBR600RR you wish to 'stay in'. That said, I pulled up my local craigslist and '06-'08s are all over the place with ~10k miles for 5-6k. 10k miles on a five year old bike is nothing, but from the language and idiotic mods I saw in a lot of the CL ads, they tend to be owned by squids. I'd much prefer a bike with 10-15k miles on it with an adult owner, maintenance history, and as few mods as possible, as compared to a bike with very few miles and likely some issues from sitting. I'd be ready with the money and wait for the right one to pop up. They sold a ton of them, you shouldn't have to wait long. My $0.02
If you are in San Luis Obispo, take it to Herb Varin in Atascadero. C & H Cycles. Very good mechanic, very honest guy with what he finds, have him do a pre-purchase inspection on it. He just did some work on my S4 Duc and it sold the same day.
Thank you. This seems to be what most people I've asked are saying. I'm going to try talking him down from 7k, but as a private dealer, I'm sure he's heard too many people's low-ball speeches. The 600RR came out in 03. I've owned an 06, and an 07. I am only interested in the 07-08 generation. There are now 2 more generations after this, including current models. As for mileage...I see 10k as a lot, especially when I don't know how it's been ridden or cared for. My bikes never get wet, and I hate rust/corrosion like nothing else. Most people ride them in the rain and store them outside. I have inquired about probably 30 different bikes, and not a single owner had anything like a comprehensive maintenance history. What you said is true: a lot of squids buy these bikes. I'm prepared to wait a little for something better, but the closer we get to summer, the higher the prices for these bikes go. I don't mean to sound so OCD about this...It's just how I am. I do appreciate the input though, sincerely. Without such, I'd never be able to make bike purchase decisions, hah, I'd just keep analyzing forever.
I am indeed, thanks for the tip! EDIT: Talked to Herb. Sounds like a good guy, for sure. He said it should be totally fine, maybe just run some injector cleaner through after draining the fuel that's in the tank and filling with new. Pretty much the same for shaking loose any stagnant oil and coolant, then swapping in all new fluids. I'd do the same routine 1000 miles later just to be sure. Thanks again for recommending him!
So I went through every CL for all of CA, plus Vegas and Reno NV. Holy crap...There are not a lot of bikes that meet my criteria, ha. Anyway, I'm less obsessed with that 923 mile bike here in town, and am in talks with half a dozen sellers that all have <6k mile bikes for me to think about. They will all require me taking a bus to go get the bike and drive home, but I may yet find a good deal, and end up with something not covered in mud and rust...or full of either one. http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/mcy/3589466650.html 5,600 Miles, never gotten wet, quite clean, regularly maintained with Motul full synthetic, all mods included, high quality aftermarket Konica fairings with no damage, but I want OEM, and I don't like the color scheme. Would have to deal with selling those on .net, and sourcing decent OEM ones for anything I don't have in my spares box - - - $6000 http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/mcy/3594593267.html <5000 Miles, very clean, not rain ridden, has Yoshimura RS-5 full system, Power Commander-V, dyno-tuned to 111-BHP on pump gas, might come with an extra helmet - - -$6200 http://sfbay.craigslist.org/scz/mcy/3599790452.html 6000 Miles, exceedingly clean from what I can see, not rain ridden, adult owned, oil only changed once a year, 1 owner, well cared for, would be sold in stock trim, aside from upgraded chain and sprockets - - -$6000 http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/mcy/3551194194.html ~5200 Miles, has tipped over in a garage, professionally painted white mids, looks pretty clean, but still waiting to hear from seller about pricing if I have him keep the 800 dollar exhaust - - -$6800 OBO http://fresno.craigslist.org/mcy/3546661237.html 2,200 Miles! Looks decent, has tipped over once, awaiting pics and a reply from the seller. Comes with free helmet, which I would sell. I really like the color scheme, and it's OEM bodywork - - -$6500 OBO http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/mcy/3617251443.html ~7,000 Miles...Supposedly. He says the odo/speedo sensor is busted from a tip over. Same colors I like, but I'd have to pay to fix that issue, at unknown cost. Has some scratches, awaiting pics of damage - - -$5500 http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/mcy/3546650144.html <1000 Miles! Never dropped, barely ridden, garage stored, clean title, colors I like. Same concerns as the OP bike though...Dunno if it's gonna be troublesome from long term disuse - - -$7000 OBO http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/mcy/3624191494.html ~13,000 Miles...Very knowledgeable owner, nice guy. Occasionally gets rained ridden. Well cared for and maintained. Has probably seen the track some. Comes with a lot of mods, namely 4000-mile young Ohlins TTXHO789 rear shock, worth $1300, but sprung for a 190lb rider. I'd have to ride it home from fuckin' Vegas - - -$6500, maybe less
Ended up going with this one. Planning to take a train North to go pick it up next weekend, so long as the weather is good and dry. Stoked to find out that my insurance will be 60% less than it used to be when I last had a bike!
Why would anyone who feels that way hang out on advrider? I'm glad you found a bike you like--and it looks nice. But I wonder what draws you to an adventure riding site. Not criticizing. Just curious.
Good question. I've been a lurker for a long time, and am fascinated by adventure biking. I mainly joined to post in the Battle Scooters forum, where I started a very in-depth wrenching thread for a 1987 150cc Honda I was doing a mechanical restoration on, and now in the bicycle-related threads too, as I'm a cyclist also. For now, I'm mostly interested in owning sport bikes. There are useful sub-forums here, not at all related to adventure riding, so I posted this thread here, in case anyone had input. I'm not a squid, just sharing in the most relevant sub-forums. As for the dislike of rain and wet conditions, the short answer is that I like sport bikes to be spotless whenever possible. Sure, when I'm in the middle of a trackday, or a 600 mile day-trip, there are bugs and dust, but I never ride in the rain. If I ever own the 800GS I want, I'll gladly ride it in whatever conditions I encounter on my dream tour through Alaska, but you can bet I'll be back to cleaning it up the minute I get home.
A little inside. Cal Poly's cycling team is/was the Wheelman and the colors were always yellow and green polka dots. It was that way for years. But if you're a cyclist in SLO and haven't seen polka dots riding around - clearly they gave up on the dots. Sacrilege! Of course, I graduated in 1991, so it is possible things may have changed in the quarter century since I left . But I know the color scheme lasted for several years after I graduated. Actually, it looks like they still use the dots but a bit more subtle now:
You know, I had a funny feeling you might have been talking about The Wheelmen! I rarely see them near campus, but I do run into them from time to time on LOVR, and Foothill. Always cool to meet Poly grads online and whenever I've traveled. Met an Australian family in West Yellowstone when I was on a bicycle tour, and the dad had gone to Poly, ha!
We had some good teams back then. We won Nationals one year and it was usually us or UCSB that would win regionals. Of course I had little to do with those wins - but technically I was part of a collegiate National Championship team. Technically . Awesome riding and good mountain biking too. But I remember the wind! Luckily, it was only bad in three of four directions. I'm done reminiscing - I miss being out west bad enough as it is.
Nice! And yes, the wind around here can be brutal, agreed. I commuted 6 days a week, 9 months a year, for 5 years on LOVR, from Los Osos to SLO and back. Only ever had a tailwind maybe 3 times that I can remember, ha! If you miss it here, definitely don't look at the pictures I'm about to post in the Bicycle Thread...
So, it looks like I'm all set to head down to LA this weekend and buy a bike. The ad is expired, but it's a 2008 CBR600RR. Sooo pumped about graduating from my scooter project, to wrenching on and riding something much more modern, with much better range, haha!