Need help! Looking into buying my first bike, and know nothing!

[WR_Engineer]

Hey all,

As the subject states, I know nothing about motorcycles, and looking to buy my first. I found this offer on Craigslist, and was wanting to get some opinions as to if it is worth it, and what the problems might be.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/mcy/5130406564.html

Thanks!

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For someone that would be a deal, but if you do not know anything about bikes/mechanics, you might want to keep looking.
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[shinyribs]

The Obvious:

-Squeak-knock in the engine: Considered it as needing a rebuild. It may not need it, but it likely does.

- Lack of stock airbox: Pods are notoriously terrible to tune on these particular carbs. You'll either have to go thru that carbs+ add an airbox, or buy a set of aftermarket racing carbs that will work. They're $700

-The battery and electrical bits have been moved from their original location. Nothing wrong with that, but as usual with other people's work, it's probably an electrical nightmare. The stock gauges are gone, so there has probably been some wiring magic going on up front, too.

- Rear end of the frame hacked off. May or may not affect your viewpoint of the bike.


The Unknown

- If it needs chain and sprockets that can add up $100-150

- If it needs tires they can run anywhere from $75- 125+ each , then add mounting and balancing.

- I can't be sure if it actually has an upholstered seat, or if that's just a fiberglass base?

Things to check:

- Rust in the tank
- Look behind the gaitors ( black accordian looking things on the forks) to see if the fork seal are leaking or not. $30-40 fix.
- Pu tit on the center stand, sit on the seat to lift the front tire off the ground and see if the bars turns smooth. Any notchy-ness or sensation of them ''sticking'' in the straight-ahead position means it needs steering bearings. $30-40 fix
- Age of brake lines, overall healthiness of the brake system. Cracks in the rubber? Clear fluid? Do they activate/release quickly as they should?
- Does it charge? That could be a $5, $50 or $300 fix depending on what issue it has.



My personal opinion, he's selling a titled parts bike with a chopped frame. No offense intended, but I'd probably spend $200 max to buy that bike if I didn't mind the hacked frame and was really wanting that particular bike as a project. A squeak in an engine followed by a knock sounds like a rod or crank bearing to me. It probably seized a bearing (squeak) then tossed it out (knock). Likely the carbs overheated the engine caused it, but that is purely a guess.

BTW, not sure where you are, but I'm in the Roanoke-Lynchburg area. If you're set on a DOHC CB750 that's cool. They are fantastic runners and reliable once sorted out. But if you are just looking for a project bike I can hook you up with much better bikes than this. Good luck!

EDIT: That ad is Richmond SF, not Richmond VA. My bad.

[WR_Engineer]

shinyribs, thanks for all the advice! I had a feeling that the back end of the frame had been chopped off, which makes it a toss out for me. I'm currently a grad student at the UC, and don't have a lot of money to spend. Therefore older DOHC or SOHC  project bike, and was planning on doing an engine rebuild anyway. Wish you were in the CA area. Could help minimize the time this search is taking a lot!

[Re-run]

I'll say 1 thing, sohc parts are very easy to find for almost everything and are usually very cheap. If you are on a budget, an sohc is probably cheaper.