Hello from Marietta, Ohio!!!
Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2006 2:32 am
Hello. I am GXBauman from Marietta Ohio. This is my very first forum & very first post. Glad to be here. I'm mostly ig-nernt, so be gentle with me. I've been surfing this site for months now and am finally about to hark-up on my first bike since the seventies (fuzzy memories, man). Actually, that was my dads bike. I just rode it ALL the time. It was a 1972 (I think) Yamaha 360 Enduro. And man, was it fun! I can't believe I've never had "the itch" again until now (well, about six months ago). But the kids are off to (or through) college so my mind was able to wander toward motorcycles and fun things again.
So here I am. Didn't think I'd be here this soon, actually. Money's tight (NO WAY, GXB! Say it ain't so!). But my wife didn't object and set me up a "motorcycle fund" with part of our tax refund. Well, that started out at X dollars, and since then has built up to... uh, X dollars. I cried daily at this point thinking "no motorcycle for me." But wipe that tear from your eye and read on. The other day I was surfing about in some bulletin boards and ran across this bike for well, X dollars! Hey, I HAVE THAT! Went and looked at it last night. It is a...
1982 Yamaha Virago 750.
Just over 9,000 miles. Relativly new tires (85% or so), new carb seals, new tank liner, new battery, new clutch cable, new horn. There's a couple other "new" things that were pointed out, but I can't remember what they are. Not paying much for it!
Now this just may be one of those too-good-to-be-true deals, but since I was the sucker born THAT particular minute all those years ago well, never mind. After meeting with the owner for a couple hours and discussing the bike (he'd gotten a larger bike and needed to sell this one ASAP - wife's orders), I was left with the impression that he was on the up-and-up (hey I already admitted to being a sucker, so GET OVER IT). He'd better be, because there's one small item. The bike won't currently start. Don't panic. I'm not laying my money down 'till I hear the engine purr (or at least sputter, kicking-and-screaming) to life. The owner is "90% sure" that the problem is that the carburetor is not properly synchronized. But I'm going to get the bike to a shop for a once-over by a professional, so that question will be answered then.
There is a small ding in the gas tank which is the only cosmetic snag I could see for a bike that age. But over all it looks fine. It looks like something that will not break my heart if (when) I lay it down. Good starter bike (if it starts!) for me.
So I'm either getting a deal, or totally screwed. I'll take the chance (since it's the ONLY chance I have to ride). Hey, I didn't have to take a loan out, so if the bike turns out be a bust it's not catastrophic, just a MAJOR bummer. He's throwing in the repair manual (Clymer), so at the very least I'll know my way around the thing trying to keep it running. So either way I figure I'll get my money's worth. But I'm a rider, not a tinker(er?), so let's hope it's good. I'm not even going bother insuring the actual bike. Just those poor sots that I bounce off of on my way to being stuff-on-the-road and my poor little broken body. Or are we NOT allowed to talk that way here? (What can I say, I'm a fatalist.)
Signed up for the MSA safety course a few months ago (got class & such the weekend of 6/23), so that ended up to be great timing.
I don't have a (good) photo of the bike right now. I'll take some and get one on here when it's officially mine. It's no great shakes to look at (black-on-black-on-black w/ chrome fenders), BUT I'LL TAKE IT!!! I'll "Register my bike there" at the other post when it's officially mine, too. Don't want to jinx it right out of the gate here.
Wish me luck,
O's & X's
GXB
So here I am. Didn't think I'd be here this soon, actually. Money's tight (NO WAY, GXB! Say it ain't so!). But my wife didn't object and set me up a "motorcycle fund" with part of our tax refund. Well, that started out at X dollars, and since then has built up to... uh, X dollars. I cried daily at this point thinking "no motorcycle for me." But wipe that tear from your eye and read on. The other day I was surfing about in some bulletin boards and ran across this bike for well, X dollars! Hey, I HAVE THAT! Went and looked at it last night. It is a...
1982 Yamaha Virago 750.
Just over 9,000 miles. Relativly new tires (85% or so), new carb seals, new tank liner, new battery, new clutch cable, new horn. There's a couple other "new" things that were pointed out, but I can't remember what they are. Not paying much for it!
Now this just may be one of those too-good-to-be-true deals, but since I was the sucker born THAT particular minute all those years ago well, never mind. After meeting with the owner for a couple hours and discussing the bike (he'd gotten a larger bike and needed to sell this one ASAP - wife's orders), I was left with the impression that he was on the up-and-up (hey I already admitted to being a sucker, so GET OVER IT). He'd better be, because there's one small item. The bike won't currently start. Don't panic. I'm not laying my money down 'till I hear the engine purr (or at least sputter, kicking-and-screaming) to life. The owner is "90% sure" that the problem is that the carburetor is not properly synchronized. But I'm going to get the bike to a shop for a once-over by a professional, so that question will be answered then.
There is a small ding in the gas tank which is the only cosmetic snag I could see for a bike that age. But over all it looks fine. It looks like something that will not break my heart if (when) I lay it down. Good starter bike (if it starts!) for me.
So I'm either getting a deal, or totally screwed. I'll take the chance (since it's the ONLY chance I have to ride). Hey, I didn't have to take a loan out, so if the bike turns out be a bust it's not catastrophic, just a MAJOR bummer. He's throwing in the repair manual (Clymer), so at the very least I'll know my way around the thing trying to keep it running. So either way I figure I'll get my money's worth. But I'm a rider, not a tinker(er?), so let's hope it's good. I'm not even going bother insuring the actual bike. Just those poor sots that I bounce off of on my way to being stuff-on-the-road and my poor little broken body. Or are we NOT allowed to talk that way here? (What can I say, I'm a fatalist.)
Signed up for the MSA safety course a few months ago (got class & such the weekend of 6/23), so that ended up to be great timing.
I don't have a (good) photo of the bike right now. I'll take some and get one on here when it's officially mine. It's no great shakes to look at (black-on-black-on-black w/ chrome fenders), BUT I'LL TAKE IT!!! I'll "Register my bike there" at the other post when it's officially mine, too. Don't want to jinx it right out of the gate here.
Wish me luck,
O's & X's
GXB
