Suzuki VX800 - School me

[bmwhacker]

Not too "old school" but I guess 20 years old is getting close these days.....

Going to look at a 1993 Suzuki VX800 in the next day or so, I've never seen one. This bike has been garaged here in the desert for a few years and non running, rust in tank, says the owner. Looks like it might me real cheap. Older owner says "please lo-ball me, I want it gone". He's in his mid 70's and quit riding a few years ago.
I thought it was a "cruiser style" Suzuki but looking on the web, it appears to be more of a Sport Bike.
Anyone here up on VX800's?
I'll post some photos when I see the bike.

[radianrider]

I find the bike very interesting. Try vx800.net for a lot of information.

Several threads on advrider as well. May buy one next summer. Friend has one for sale.

[lrutt]

when I first saw VX800 I'm thinking no way old school. Even if it is 20 years old it's kind of hard to fathom anything from the 90's as being old school.

I thought the VX line was the Intruder, Funky carb arrangement with one under the tank and one under your butt I recall. Kind of a pain. Shafties too as I recall. Nice lookers though with that 21" up front.

[Prmurat]

I was interested for a while with this bike... unbreakable, go anywhere, not too heavy Vtwin... Such a good bike that Sachs did it own version. A better bike than any Intruder!!!
http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/bi...0--2000--2004/

[bmwhacker]

Since the bike is only 20 years old I probably should have posted this thread over in "Road Warriors".

Here's a Suzuki file photo of one.....hmmmm
Hopefully the one I'm gonna see ain't PURPLE.

[vtwin]

Finicky carbs, vacumn petcock goes bad, hub splines on the rear drive wears, rotors grooves, slow steering, battery is crazy expensive, body parts hard to find.

Good things: engine is in the Marauder, so parts should be available, large 5 gallon tank, once sorted, pretty reliable.

See if it has the rare factory luggage rack. I was able to get one for my '91.

[bmwhacker]

Found an old thread on the site from other inmates.
If it is real cheap and appears salvageable it might have a new home.
Gonna go check it out tomorrow.
more info:
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=303467

[mtiberio]

I had one (with the luggage rack, must of come with the heaviest bracket I have ever seen, figured out a way to mount without it...

I enjoyed this bike, and it would pull to an indicated 135 easily (hotter cams and taller gearing than the intruder). The intruder had a shorter swingarm, and I once toyed with the idea of installing one of those to make it turn quicker...

mine was purple, and the only problem I ever had was after one particularly hard run back from the beach (~130 miles). The bike caught fire in my driveway. Never did find out WTF happened, although it looks like major amperage was running through the throttle cable which ended up melting the sheath. I put out the flames, and replaced all the melted parts (I replaced the inter airbox hose with a piece of generic spiral aluminum foil ducting) and the bike was perfect after that....

this was before suzi came out with the sv and tl series. i think they decided there was sufficient interest in a sporting twin to warrant a pure design... still the vx is a pretty competent bike...

[bmwhacker]

Funny how one imagines the condition of a machine from descriptions.

This poor speciman had been used & abused.....photo doesn't look as bad as it really is.
Left side lay down, rear turn signal dangling from a wire. Foot peg mount bent, gauge body, mount & headlight damaged.
Fuel tap control missing, seat torn, tank scraped and damaged, also rusty from 6 year old fuel left in it. Tires old & weathered, grips missing, levers tweeked, some plastic parts "UV'd" to near dust....but "It ran when it was parked".


On a brighter note, 28k original miles, but obviously very rough miles.




I would have been pressed to haul this money pit home for free.
Who knows what other major repairs it would need. Very likely all the brakes / calipers would require rebuilding, Some loose wires hanging here and there.....
The owner said he'd take $500.00. .....I didn't even give a counter offer as "free" would have been a real insult, but the reality of repairing a bike like this would be absurd. I don't think there is even much of an EBay Parts market for these machines.

so the hunt goes on.....

[bk brkr baker]

Close to "standard" in terms of style.
My bud, James has 150,000 miles on one.Another bud , Cy made some high pipes that run the mufflers at the bottom of the seat level back. He bought a spare for back up that is nice enough to ride anywhere ,I think the back up was around $1200.So not too bad.
These bikes have potential, you just can't get a perfect bike for $500 often, if ever.

[vtwin]

For a non-runner in that condition, that's too much. Like I should talk, you should see the Stinger I bought.

[Prmurat]

For $500, what did you want??

[vernon dent]

Originally Posted by mtiberio

I I enjoyed this bike, and it would pull to an indicated 135 easily (hotter cams and taller gearing than the intruder).

135 mph? maybe if it was towed behind a hayabusa....

[mtiberio]

Originally Posted by vernon dent

135 mph? maybe if it was towed behind a hayabusa....

serious dude. that suzi has some serious steam. it is a 900 4 valve...

as far as the $500 one goes. It might be worth striping it, and building a street tracker or something...