Is it worth it?

[insanity456]

Here's a question for you folks. I have a buddy that's selling his bike since he doesn't have time to ride. It's a 2001 Honda CBR F4i, pics below. 3,500 miles on it. He's looking for $4,000 for it.

Here's the story directly from him. He sent me a quick email when he had a chance at work:
"Well the story of the bike is a long one. The bike can sell on the street for about 5500-6000. The bike has a salvage title on it but I don’t know why. Usually when a bike has a salvage title is because it has had a scratch on the frame. I originally bought the bike from a friend that races bike professionally. He needed a bike to race in the 600 class but he is a full team rider for Yamaha. This was going to be the first time he was going to race in the 600 class but could not get a r6 from Yamaha and didn’t know if he really wanted to race in the 600 class. So he bought this f4i. it was pretty new but the original owner was a stunt rider and ran the bike into a fire hydrant. The weird thing was that all the damage was done to the front end and the frame didn’t even get a scratch on it. For some reason the bike was salvaged. What happens a lot of the time is that when someone knows someone in the bike repair industry they have them over quote a damage report so that it will get totaled out so the insurance company will take care of the bill. So I bought it for 1300. that was a deal at that price cause what I bought still goes for at least 2500. I basically bought everything new for the bike. Forks, front wheel, upper, headlight, turn signals, clip on’s (expensive vortex ones), vortex rear sets, Pirelli tires, chain, chain tensioner, paint, pipe, rear seat, fender eliminator, wind screen, brakes, rotors, I'm sure there’s more that I haven’t thought of right now.

My buddy has been riding the bike for a while, and says it runs & rides like new since he put all of the new parts on it. He's had it up to 120, and it rides great.

Anyhow, would this be worth it? It has obvious cons, but with all of the new parts and work he put into it, is it worth the $4,000?

[Sev]

I'm of the opinion that you shouldn't buy a bike from a friend unless it's in mint condition. If something goes wrong with the bike it's just going to strain the friendship.

That being said, I'd get a mechanic to go over the bike. A bike doesn't get a salvage title for a scratch to the frame. It gets a salvage title when it would cost more to have the bike fixed then it would to buy a new one.

Let's say he put about the difference in price into the bike. So 4000-1300 is 2700. Typical labour costs are about twice the parts costs so you've got another 5400 there plus the 2700 he spent in parts is 8100 to get the bike repaired after whatever accident it was in. Probably worth a lot more then a 2001 bike would sell for. So it was scrapped, then bought on a salvage title.

Now... is it a safe bike to ride, I have no NO idea. I'd want to go over the whole thing from stem to stern. I will tell you this, buying a used stunt bike is rarely a good idea:

Top end of the engine is usually oil starved, and could be partially burned up as a result
Steering head has taken unusual amounts of force from dropping out of wheelies. At the very least the steering head bearings will need to be replaced.
The Swingarm pivot bearings are the same as the steering head. Probably pitted and worn.
If he just changed the chain you'll need to replace that AND the sprockets as the current chain is going to be wearing very quickly.
The impact to the firehydrant may have damaged the frame... has it been checked to see if it's still true? If not... well you cannot really get the frame straightened.


All in all, despite the fact he's your friend, I'd get a mechanic to go over the bike from stem to stern to make sure it's actually safe to ride before spending money on it.

[Skier]

Is it worth $4,000? Not if it was a stunt bike. Not if it was oned by a "pro racer." These kind of owners will put the bike through hell and there's a good chance it wasn't taken car of properly.

Second, the salvage title should scare you away, too. Chances are good the fire hydrant just mangled the front end and whatever side it landed on, but who knows if previous stunting and dropping damage was included in the repair price or not.

Stay far, far away.

PS: I also just noticed it has no mirrors. Don't just stay away, run away - that bike has lived most of its life with the sticky side up.

[VermilionX]

take your $4000 and put it as downpayment on a new bike.

you should get a low monthly w/ that kind of payment for a CBR600RR or CBR1000RR.

that new '07 CBR600RR is sweet! more powerful and only 345lbs. that's 16lbs lighter than the '06.

are they out already? i only hope it's not like yamaha's '06 R6 17k redline controversy.


but only if you're willing to finance.

if not then i 2nd them... bring a good mechanic with you to check the bike.

[camthepyro]

No, you could easily find a mint condition '01 F4i for 4,000.

[insanity456]

Thanks for the reply everyone, and the very useful info. I have since decided against this investment. I was pretty much leaning that way already, and I suppose I was just looking for confirmation from the more experienced folks. I'm a pretty careful guy, and do a lot of research and such before a purchase.

Thanks again, everyone!

[Sev]

Best of luck finding a bike you'll like.

[-Holiday]

Good call to stay away from that. I'm not saying your friend is lying to you, but he is grossly misinformed on a lot of things, especially the salvage title part.

Also, let me just say also since you used the word, I dont think a motorcycle should ever be looked at as an "investment"...

[Lion_Lady]

Not ALL salvage titles are bad juju.

Hubby bought a beautiful, old airhead BMW with a salvage title... it was a 'theft recovery.' Had been titled and inspected and was a commuter bike for the previous owner. In nice, not pristine, shape.

In MD if a bike is stolen and paid off by insurance, it is assigned a new (salvage) VIN # if it is later recovered. Keeps you from getting too much attention at the DMV, among other things.

P

[CNF2002]

x2, bikes are depreciating assets, not investments. If you finance it, they are just insured debts, negative assets. You can buy a really nice bike for $4,000. One that runs well and wasn't a racer bike with a salvage title. He probably want to sell it to you, his friend, because no one else would buy that bike for that price with a salvaged title.

Salvage titles are not applied to vehicles with scratches to the frame. He's BSing you or just doesn't know any better, in which case I'd be careful about anything else he says about the bike.

Good luck hunting.