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Posted: **Mon May 14, 2007 10:08 pm**

I ride naked...

I love that. Anyways... if you are regularly doing a big trip then some sort of sheild would be good. It dosn't have to be one of those huge Sails that were on the bikes in CHiPs, just something to deflect most of the wind blast over your head would be fine.

Reason I say this is that I put two inches on round my neck in the forst year of my riding, and as I said I ride nakeds... There are plenty of 'generic' aftermarket fairings/windsheilds available.

As for if the bike has been taken care of? The big indicators are what it looks like - is it covered in oil/grease/rust, is it leaking, does it start (From cold) without a problem, any weird noises (usually a knocking) from the handle bars etc.

If you don't have any confidence sort out an independant mechanic to go look it over with you, if nothing else confering with him could be used as a bargaining tatic to bring the price down and even if you can't get the price down the cost of the mechanic is a small percentage of the overall purchase price.

Nightnurse: I can beat that. Our trike had 7,000 miles on it when we bought it and it's an '83

Posted: **Mon May 14, 2007 11:02 pm**

Wow... 600 a year... I' rolled over 1800 and I've been riding a solid 4 weeks out of the 6 I've been lisenced. I fully expect to be at a bare min of 10k at the end of the season.

Posted: **Tue May 15, 2007 2:55 am**

Drunner611 wrote:And #2, I plan on doing a bit of highway riding and this bike has no shield/fairing. Is it a good idea to go out and get one? Thanks a lot.

I wouldn't have a bike without at least a small shield on it for highway use, others never use any shield of any kind for all kinds of riding. A lot of personal choice involved here.

Also makes a big difference whether you live in Southern California or Florida, etc with year round summer or if you live in the Northeast and ride year round like I do in freezing weather and heavy rains.

I put one of the larger Plexi 2 type fairings on in the winter and thru the spring rains here in NE Ohio and a smaller Spitfire in the summer. Can't imagine doing 400 mile days at 75-80 mph indicated on a GS500 without at least a small shield on it. Still gives plenty of wind in the face.

Posted: **Tue May 15, 2007 3:35 am**

I've got the same Spitfire on the Trike. Should fit pretty much any bike and as Jack said makes a huge difference.

Posted: **Tue May 15, 2007 1:47 pm**

Duane wrote:One of the instructors at my safety class told us when buying a used bike it should be around 600 miles a year anything more then that should lower the price.

I think he's nuts. A bike that's been sitting in someone's garage for 2 yrs., with the fuel turning to sludge, tank rusting and the seals drying out, will have low mileage. On the other hand, a bike that has been ridden regularly for it's entire life (like the one in the original post) is more likely to have little or no problems, assuming that basic maintenance was performed. Which would you rather own?

I work on a lot of these low mileage garage queens for friends that cannot be convinced that the low odometer reading on an old bike is no bargain.

Posted: **Tue May 15, 2007 4:29 pm**

Kal wrote:I've got the same Spitfire on the Trike. Should fit pretty much any bike and as Jack said makes a huge difference.

Cool...is that a CX-500 trike or a 650? I have a GL-500 Silverwing at home. I'm pretty sure I've posted it before.

Posted: **Tue May 15, 2007 10:03 pm**

Elby is a CX500c

The CX650 Turbo is on my "Must Own Before I Die" list. CX's have the unappreciated Honda syndrome in spades.

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How many miles is too many miles for a used bike?