Buying my first bike, what to look for?

[Drakenator]

I apologize if this has been asked before. I briefly searched and didn't find what I needed so here goes.

I am looking at buying my first motorcycle. I've been interested in the CB750's for awhile and have been lurking here and there for a few months. Well I found a running 72 CB750 local to me and was wondering what I should be looking for when I go check it out?

Any problem areas to check out? Any specific questions to ask? I am familiar with the obvious, how often do you change the oil, service it, any motor or carb rebuild work performed etc.

I am mechanically inclined and plan to work on it myself. Well at least to the best of my ability. I just want to make sure that I don't end up buying something that is either not fixable or pay too much for a project that needs too much work for his asking price (range $1k-$1500).

I plan to have a friend go with me who is a lot more familiar with motorcycles than I so I won't be completely disarmed. Although it would be good to know what to check and ask about when we check it out.

So far the bike looks stock except for new tires.
Thanks in advance and I look forward to becoming a regular contributor to this forum.

[Re-run]

It is pretty simple really.
First off, make sure it starts and idles smoothly.
Look for any smoke. if it is properly tuned, there will be none.
Seller says new tires. Either ask for a receipt OR find the tire age. This is a number on the sidewall of the tire.
most tires will have DOT followed by a series of letters and numbers. At the end of this string will "hopefully" be 4 numbers. the frist 2 number indicate the week, the last 2 indicate the year, the tire was made.
Being 2010, if the tires are anything past xx09, they are not new and as such should not factor into the price.
For instance, if the tire(s) are xx08, then they were made in 2008 and have 2 of their 7 years already used up. Tire replacement on motorcycles is recommended at 7 years regardless of tread, because the rubber gets hard and looses traction.

Other things to check out is rust. look at the frame VERY carefully. if there is a lot of rust, that could be bad.
Doing this also might reveal cracks in the frame, obviously bad. Also look for rust in the tank. This might be hard to do so if you can, look at the fuel filter if there is an external line filter or drain the float bowl contents into a cup and look for debris.

Look around the head for bent fins or missing fins. This allows you to look for oil leaks too. Any head oil leaks, depending on how bad, will require motor removal to repair.

obviously make sure all switches and wiring is good. If you look at the wires and there is a lot of jumpers and splices, that is a price dropper for sure.

Look at everything cosmetic, obviously a 30+ year old bike is not showroom but also should not look like it came from a junk yard.

Test everything like you would a car.

if you can, post a pic of the bike and we might be able to suggest more.

[Drakenator]

Some great tips, thank you! Hoping to get out this weekend and check it out.

[dave Esch]

I am looking to buy a cruiser and have given serious thought to selling mine. If you go into member's bikes, its under 76 homemade cafe. If you're interested u can email me or just reply to this post. If not, I enjoy riding it anyway, and best of luck finding a bike!