see if the seller has any maintanence records since he/she's owned it. the price sounds nice. that's about 700 usd? you can get kat parts pretty easy as the bike was pretty much the same from 88 to 97. good luck!

How'd I miss this add?

It's almost exactly what I'm looking for (would prefer a 600)

Good luck if you buy if. If not.....well, let me know, please

Carbs cleaned and steering stem bearings & races. That tells me:

(A) The bike probably hasn't run in quite some time. Might be covering up some other problems;
(B) The bike probably had a hard landing or an accident if the steering stem bearings are bad.

Is it a good price?
Yes, provided you can get it to run and can't find any evidence of frame damages. If you have the capability, take it for a ride plus have a leak-down compression test done before you commit to buying -- those will tell you if it's going to be a money-pit or a good deal.

What to watch for:
Missing 2nd gear (gear not engaging or failing to stay in 2nd)
In-tank rust
Frame damage (esp. places where the powercoat is chipped or missing).
Serious smoke at idle or when rev'd to 5k RPM.
A ton of oil in the airbox.

For my full used-bike checklist:
CyberPoet's Used Bike pre-purchase checklist / inspection list

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

I'd say with the bad bearing there's a good chance someone like Jason was riding it (read:ABUSED) . Be wary . Look for other signs of abuse (odd tire wear , leaky fork seals , odd sprocket size/wear , spraypaint , busted steering locks) .

Thank you for the replys. Some great Info there. I am in the midst of rebuilding a KZ550 right now so I am not going to get into a bike with too much work required. The head bearing thing is worrysome.


Dan i hope to look at the bike today . I will post up my findings and the number of the seller if I'm not buying.

james

I saw this bike today. It looks like it's in decent shape but he couldn't start it today as he has it at work and the bike was partially disasembled . The plastic is in great shape as the previous owner had repainted it (Burgandy) .

They had a bike mechcanic (the owners a car mechcanic)check out the bike and was told that the carbs need a rebuild . Not a problem for me .


I found no sign of problems with the neck bearings so that worry went away but they had just done a compression test and the results are a low i think . 110,120,120,120 left to right. (Throttle closed) . They said they added a little oil and had a 10-15 psi increase on every cylinder. That indicates rings to me and means i'm not interested.

Any thoughts?

If the valves are significantly off, you could get those kind of compression values (normally a valve adjustment needs to be done before a compression or leak-down test. Personally, I'd normally walk away from those kind of values (120 - 130 usually means its seen some harsh duty with crap oil -- IMHO -- and is on the low-end of acceptible by MC industry standards). The fact that all the cylinders are worn evenly is a good sign that it's probably nothing more serious than rings and wear -- but i never take seller's word on compression values...

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

While I was there we checked the #1 Cyl. It showed 125. That was after the addition of some oil.

I think you are correct and I'm walking.

BTW your checklist ROCKS thanks for that

Just in case someone here has an interest the phone # is Tel: 905‑764‑8771.
That's in Thornhill.