?'s before buying 98 Superhawk
 

Went to look at a 98 VTR today.. Bike looked in good shape for being a 98.. The seller advised me he uses it as his daily rider to and from work etc.. The bike started right up but at one point he went to give it a few revs and it stalled.. Granted the bike wasn't quite warmed up yet but my question would be "is this normal?" I'm not extrememly familiar with Vtwins or this bike specifically.. I've done a little research.. The bike started right back up.. The bike also has 33,000 miles on it.. Should this be of concern? Not sure how many miles people are getting out of these bikes. The guy is asking $2500.00 for the bike.. Here is his write up in his AD.. Thanks in advance for any assistance anyone can give me..

I have owned this bike for almost 6 years now, I have never had a problem other than routine maintenance.This bike has jardine exhaust, dyno jet kit, new chain, fairly new tires, brand new battery. The bike is in extreme clean condition. It runs great and is very powerful. Please contact via email, leave a number I will call you. The vtr has apprx 25,000 miles. Keep in mind I ride this bike everyday so mileage will change. The bike has recently had it's valve job and major servicing completed. Please no low ballers, price is a little negotiable. $2500 Thanks

Yes they can & do stall sometimes when cold but it could also be the carbs are not set quite right.

As for mileage, mine has over 80k miles and is still going strong and there are other here with more miles than me. ;)

Do you think the price seems reasonable?

It does sound reasonable but I haven't seen the bike.

If you are unsure, you might want someone to do a pre-purchase inspection for you.

The guy who is selling it took care of it.. He's got a whole garage of bikes... He tells me he's the 2nd owner. I have the VIN # is there a something like Carfax for bikes that you know of? I think I'm gonna take my chances on it.. Thanks for your input.

Bikes seem to be a bit harder to keep track of than cars. You can swap frames, motors, components and the VIN numbers don't necessarily reflect this on a Carfax type of report. Same thing with mileage... you can have high mileage bikes that are in incredible shape and low mileage ones that are in terrible shape whereas a car is a little bit more predictable in this category. Buying used from the owner is a little bit of a roll of the dice, but look it over and if it looks and rides good then it probably is.

+1 to having someone check it over if you're still unsure.

I'd say with the mention of the valve service, his other bikes, the new wear parts, and the clean condition that you've got a cream puff style bike on your hands. If you're looking for a really nice bike that's probably about the best you may be able to find. The price sounds great too. Keep in mind that's Ninja 250 price territory. Don't even worry about the mileage either. Oh and any carbureted bike will stall if you try to rev it when it's cold, except maybe if the choke is open all the way. Good luck!

Shawks can be a bit cold blooded so having a stall after starting her up wouldn't concern me assuming she sounds ok. Also buying from someone with a garage full of bikes is reasuring IF the other bikes are in well cared for condition and they are all bikes he rides. There are guys who buy cheap abused bikes and fix them up just enough to turn a buck - Personally I would stay away from that scenario.

Will the seller let you out on an extended ride? Perhaps bring cash with you so he knows your serious and see if you can take her out for a bit. An hour in the saddle may reveal some warts if there are any. You'll also have a good opportunity to decide if the Shawk is for you, she is quite a bit different than the typical Jap liter bike.

You mentioned the Jet kit and the pipes. Ask him what else may have been modded and the purpose behind it. From this you'll learn about the owner and how he cared for the bike. Ask him why he is selling. Ask what he is getting or switching to. Make sure his reason for selling won't be a problem for you too.
Otherwise check the typical stuff - CCTs, R/R, front end feel, fluids, check the service receipts, etc
From the add sound like you could go in with $2300 and pick this up which would be a pretty good deal for a mostly stock cared for SHawk.

It sounds like you are getting almost the excat same deal I did. I bought my 98 sh form a guy who collected bikes and took REALY good care of it. I got it with 27k miles and I am well over 30 now after owning it for a year. I gave $2,200 for mine which I thought was a steal. Just wanna check the CCT situation and R/R. R/R can be a royal pain in the ass and leave u stranded. If you buy the bike and the R/R is factory, switch it for a yamaha R1 or R6 right away.

I remember your R/R adventure!

I concur with the above. Carbs can be temperamental when cold, perfectly normal. Without seeing some pics it's hard to judge value. 25 seems fair if it's not showing signs of an off.

And welcome to the forum. If you do pick her up, you'll love this bike. Where are you from?

Thanks for all the input thus far from everyone.. Wolverine- I live in Frederick, MD man.. I see you're from Gburg.. I graduated HS in 97 from the Burgh man.. Bet we know some of the same people. Gettysburg isn't that big.. I took a video with my phone and just uploaded it to youtube.. Sorry for the awkward angle.. I didn't think of putting it on Youtube and didn't know how to hold my phone to get the ideal angle. Video can be seen here.. Also the noise at the beginning of the video is the wind hitting the mic on the phone..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkLdZGp1p2M

From the vid the only thing that would make me ask questions is different color plastics ie tail section.

So, what ya gonna do?? We definitely need to get together for rides if you pull the trigger, I'm only 1/2 mile off rt.15. Small world! :winner:

yeah, I even replaced the factory one with a finned direct replacement and it took a big crap on me too.

I've been using a finned direct replacement one for 4 yrs now with no issues.

Me too (well, 2 years) but I kept the original as it still works. If I have a problem in the future I'll put the original back in and source a R1/R6

LoPing78 - Welcome to the forum, hope it all works out for you.

Sorry to ask this but is the "finned direct replacement" just a plug and play piece? Because I've been reading up on this for my '99 and thinking about doing the R1 thing but it needs a little work and i'm a little uneasy about doing electrical work. So I take it the "finned direct replacement" is just like the stock one but larger finns to help keep it cool?:confused:

also if the "finned direct replacement" is just a plug in part with no modding needed, i would feel more comfortable with that, does anybody have a part# for a purchase at my local dealership, that would be a huge help. thanks

Look for a R/R from 2002 and up.

By the way, 9 years on my 02 and no problem yet, knock on wood.

Mine is an aftermarket one but it is a plug and play item. The R1\R6 mosfet items actually are a more reliable solution but the factory style ones can work pretty good also.

I got mine from these guys : http://www.regulatorrectifier.com/catalog/

I don't know which one it was as they have a few listed but mine was manufactured by TourMax so you could call them to get the proper P\N

I'm about 95% sure I'm going to pick the bike up on Saturday.. I'll post pics in greater deatil once I get it back to my garage.. I'm already kicking around ideas about how to customize it.. I'm going to keep an eye on CL and local bike shops this week. If a better deal doesn't come along I'll be a new VTR owner in 5 days.

Picked her up yesterday and had an opportunity this morning to snap a few pics.. never mind.. the photo uploader isn't working.. You've all seen a red SH... Love it so far..

But we haven't seen yours...

Trying to upload the pics again.. for some reason this website does not like uploading pics.. I've tried from two different computers and using two different formats that has worked with every other website I've ever used.. Anyway here are some pics I put up on my flikr account today.. The exhaust is customized Jardine. The previous owner cut the canisters back to what looks about 1/2 of their original size.. The bike sounds unlike any other superhawk I've seen on any of the forums and youtube..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dw781/

Those of us with yellow Superhawks have seen red ones before. Usually when we pass them on the straights.

Ha..I didn't know Big Bird was actually a SuperHawk..I kid, I kid... My first street bike was yellow.. Kawasaki ZR7S..what a turd that bike was. Think I got passed by an old lady in a motorized cart once..

That SH looks too good to sf. :(

What you don't realize is we slow down on the straights as it's much more fun to blow by the slow yellow ones in the corners...... ;)

Not familiar with SF... I'm still a n00b here..