Motorcycles



BostonHedonist said:

Or he can get an older carbureted Triumph Bonneville. That'd be way cooler.

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There are many very cool used bikes to be had for less than $3000.



Steve Smith said:

There are many very cool used bikes to be had for less than $3000.

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Not really. This seems to be one of those lines people throw out there when they last looked a decade or two ago. The damned "cafe racer" and bobber crazes means most any decent standard sold for cheap money in recent years has had a half-assed conversion (see below).



The others are seen as collectibles - people are asking over $3k for a decent original Honda CB. Old Beemers and Bonnies, not so much.

What you can find cheap is old cruisers from the late 70s/early 80s, and some of the early squared-off bikes of the 80s with huge fairings. Not so cool, imo, except the CB900F supersport, perhaps.

Someone looking for a standard bike as a city runabout would be better off considering a Misfit or used TU250X, I think.



MarioImpemba said:

Had my first accident today - real slow speed lowside. A cager was cutting me off in a round-about and I swerved towards the curb and slid on the gravel dirt near the curb. Turned out OK. Picked the bike up and rode home with a bent toe-shifter. My hand hurts like hell, but I'll get over it. **** happens, I guess; my fault for not being more defensive around cagers.

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Glad to hear you're ok.



MarioImpemba said:

Had my first accident today - real slow speed lowside. A cager was cutting me off in a round-about and I swerved towards the curb and slid on the gravel dirt near the curb. Turned out OK. Picked the bike up and rode home with a bent toe-shifter. My hand hurts like hell, but I'll get over it. **** happens, I guess; my fault for not being more defensive around cagers.

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Hopefully you were wearing gear!



akatsuki said:

That Cleveland bike looks pretty sweet actually - a Misfit would be a nice around town bike here...

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Yeah, i'm strongly considering it as a first bike.

My initial plan was to go for an older CB350 but

a) at the end of the day, I truly believe any new bike will be better than an old bike

b) with the first point pushed aside, i could make an exception, as i would rather a cb350 over a misfit to be honest, but the prices they are commending with the recent trends, especially living in brooklyn is not justifiable.

I sold a perfectly running/riding 2006 Monster S2R1000 with a salvage title for $2500 last year (in Brooklyn), I could never imagine spending $3000 on that Misfit. You can get an SV650 all day for under $3000.



Kookz said:

I sold a perfectly running/riding 2006 Monster S2R1000 with a salvage title for $2500 last year (in Brooklyn), I could never imagine spending $3000 on that Misfit. You can get an SV650 all day for under $3000.

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I dunno how you'd recommend a salvage title bike over a new one under warranty, or a sport bike over a standard. That's like telling someone spending $30k on a new Toyota that they could get a 1980s Ferrari 308 for the same money. It's true, but based on their selection there's no indication that would be suitable.



MarioImpemba said:

Had my first accident today - real slow speed lowside. A cager was cutting me off in a round-about and I swerved towards the curb and slid on the gravel dirt near the curb. Turned out OK. Picked the bike up and rode home with a bent toe-shifter. My hand hurts like hell, but I'll get over it. **** happens, I guess; my fault for not being more defensive around cagers.

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Bummer man. I had a similar off last year when a gray haired woman in a minivan looked right at me then waited till I was leaning over and accelerating through the roundabout to speed up into my trajectory. That made me a believer in gear, especially gloves with a studded palm...

But hey, you rode home and now you've got the dreaded first slide out of the way.

Old Harley guy once gave me a piece of advice: white hair, white car, female driver, a***n driver, minivan. You see more than two of these, watch your ass.



epb said:

Not really. This seems to be one of those lines people throw out there when they last looked a decade or two ago.

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You have no idea what you are talking about. Maybe you can't buy a good bike for under $3000 but that doesn't mean that others can't.

Here are three bikes I bought in 2012. I haven't bought any in 2013 because three is enough.

2000 Cagiva Gran Canyon (Ducati 900 engine) 12000 miles, $2000
1997 Kawasaki KLR 650, 10,000 miles, $1500
1994 Ducati 900SS, 15,000 miles, $1550



epb said:

I dunno how you'd recommend a salvage title bike over a new one under warranty, or a sport bike over a standard. That's like telling someone spending $30k on a new Toyota that they could get a 1980s Ferrari 308 for the same money. It's true, but based on their selection there's no indication that would be suitable.

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You completely missed the point.



MarkI said:

Yeah, i'm strongly considering it as a first bike.

My initial plan was to go for an older CB350 but

a) at the end of the day, I truly believe any new bike will be better than an old bike

b) with the first point pushed aside, i could make an exception, as i would rather a cb350 over a misfit to be honest, but the prices they are commending with the recent trends, especially living in brooklyn is not justifiable.

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When you decide to sell that Chinese bike a couple of years down the line you will learn why they call it the Misfit.



BostonHedonist said:

Or he can get an older carbureted Triumph Bonneville. That'd be way cooler.

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Steve Smith said:

There are many very cool used bikes to be had for less than $3000.

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He doesn't want an old bike. Doesn't want to work on it and just wants it to run. Most shops around here won't touch even moderately older bikes.

There just aren't a ton of small displacement standard bikes around. The TU250x is out there for a 30% more than the cleveland bike and there are not many used ones available (although it will probably hold resale value better). The CBR-250r is out there if you are ok with a fairing and sportbike styling. if you go back a few years you can get a 2008 250 nighthawk although it seems like a lot of people still want 3k for a good condition one even though they are kind of ugly?



Steve Smith said:

When you decide to sell that Chinese bike a couple of years down the line you will learn why they call it the Misfit.

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Honestly, for somebody like my friend, buying a new $3k bike is not about resale value. Figure anything loses a decent chunk of value when it walks off the lot. At that point though, its really just his disposable income.

If he hangs onto it for 3 years and doesn't want it anymore, somebody--in the city where used prices are high since many buyers simply can't look at far away bikes--will probably still pay more than a thousand bucks for it (as long as its running). If he gets that much, he'd probably be entirely happy.



epb said:

I dunno how you'd recommend a salvage title bike over a new one under warranty, or a sport bike over a standard. That's like telling someone spending $30k on a new Toyota that they could get a 1980s Ferrari 308 for the same money. It's true, but based on their selection there's no indication that would be suitable.

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Both the Monster and an SV650 are standards, so I'm not sure what you're talking about regarding sport bikes.

Neither is very old and both are sure to be more reliable (and easier to find service for in a city) than the low cost over everything else Misfit. I said nothing about a salvage title on the SV650, you can get clean titled SV650s (one of the most reliable bikes out there, lots over 100k miles) all day for under $3000. Guaranteed to be easier to service and more reliable than that Misfit, not to mention capable of highway speeds, won't be outgrown in his second week of riding, and will still sell for 90% of what he pays for it next year.



otc said:

Honestly, for somebody like my friend, buying a new $3k bike is not about resale value. Figure anything loses a decent chunk of value when it walks off the lot. At that point though, its really just his disposable income.

If he hangs onto it for 3 years and doesn't want it anymore, somebody--in the city where used prices are high since many buyers simply can't look at far away bikes--will probably still pay more than a thousand bucks for it (as long as its running). If he gets that much, he'd probably be entirely happy.

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If he were to buy a used Ninja 250, he'll be able to resell it for 90% of what he paid for it. $3000 in, 2700 out is easily doable. I'd be shocked if anyone would pay $1000 for that Misfit in 3 years. If one is seriously looking at that bike as a reasonable alternative, I'd say they haven't done enough research to be looking into motorcycles in general.