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Sometimes I'm right and I can be wrong. My own beliefs are in my song. The butcher, the banker, the drummer and then, makes no difference what group I'm in. I am everyday people! Yeah. Yeah. There is a blue one who can't accept the green one for living with a fat one trying to be a skinny one.


And different strokes for different folks. And so on and so on and scooby dooby doo-bee. Oh sha sha… We got to live together! I am no better and neither are you. We are the same whatever we do. You love me you hate me you know me and then. You can't figure out the bag l'm in. I am everyday people! Yeah. Yeah. There is a long hair that doesn't like the short hair for being such a rich one that will not help the poor one. And different strokes for different folks. And so on and so on and scooby dooby doo-bee. Oh sha sha. We got to live together! There is a yellow one that won't accept the black one. That won't accept the red one that won't accept the white one. And different strokes for different folks… and so on and so on.

BUYING A BIKE


For your first bike buy something less shiny because  it's too easy to wipe some shine off it.


Pick something that has lots of cheap parts: New bikes tend to have dearer parts and less second hand parts are less available. CBR 250's are good for keeping on the road cheaply, and not losing too much on resale. Trail bikes are good small learner bikes.

 

With bikes, it's not so much has it been crashed, but how hard and is it still bent? A lot of speedos have been tampered with... so look for other signs of aging..

 

A lot of this will be checked during RWC inspection,   if it comes without RWC, some things could add to a lot of money.

 

It's good to have a car or 'scissor' jack with you so you can jack the wheels up,
run your finger around the rim to check for dents,   jack up the front, spin the wheel to check for brake drag, and wheel runout,  shake wheel sideways to check wheel beerings,  forks back and forwards to check steering bearings,  turn steering slowly to check for  dents in steering head bearings, take the bike down,  bounce the suspension see how smooth it is,


check discs for wear, they start life flat,  groove from pads is wear, tho new ones aren't too dear these days.


Check the forks for rust pits,  and maybe straightening creases at the top of the swept area,  have has teh bike been lowered to hide the creases in the triple clamp?

 

On mid 90's hondas, the lower triple clamp could splay out when the forks bent,  there should be a visible ring on the LHS of the axle,  about 10mm in from the end,  if the triple clamp is splayed, the axle goes in further to compensate,  and the LHS disc is misaligned in the caliper

Check radiator for straight, is the coolant clean and green,  muddy coolant could mean you need new radiator or oil pump soon, maybe headgasket blown,  and probably everything else on bike has been neglected,


Check plastics for rattles,  can you see any dodgy repairs, asymetries,


Check switchblocks and ignition for wear,


Shake instruments and lights,  look for bruised or messy wires,  bruised or resprayed front fairing frames, 

 
Check the frame welds near the steering head.

 

Look inside the tank,  any white corrosion under cap?  is it a respray?  is the paint flaky at the weld seam on the bottom of tank from hasty paint prep,

Look at the bike while the engine is cold, that way you can tell how easily it starts.  Check how smooth it is starting off at very low throttle,  this gives an idea of bearing wear / damage.  Then see it hot,  in case it runs perfectly, then overheats... headgasket blown.

It's not too bad to blow a little bit of blue smoke starting off cold,  it could still last until the next crasher buys it... but price should reflect any smoke, 

I prefer to see a bit of dry dust on the engine,  fresh cleaning could mean it's got an oil weep, 
equally,  I prefer old oil, that looks clean, rather than freshly changed,  which could mean there was some problem.

Pull the chain off the back of the sprocket,  it won't lift off at all for the first 75% of it's life, new chain and sprockets can be $300 or $400

When you ride it,  take your hands off the bars,  see if it goes straight,  (all CBR250's pull a little to the right,  I've worked on dozens of them)  try hard braking...  it shouldn't shudder too much,

If you check 2 bikes of the same model,  you'll get a better idea of how everything should look and feel.

Once you've bought it, don't lend it to your mates unless you want it crashed

 

Comments, Questions, Updates:
Simon :acbike@gmail.com
Ph :0432 509 303

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