Buying old race bikes, would you?

[Tony477g]

Now I'm not talking any normal race bikes that the locals would be racing. I'm talking kids on the teams who are racing amateur around the states. Heres a prime example http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/mcy/4800153436.htmlwould you guys trust a bike like this? Because I know he has a mechanic that works on his bikes and keeps them in top shape, oil changes every ride stuff like that, but this bike could also have been revved to the moon because I know jayme gardiner is fast. Or would you rather take your chances with a stock bike that was "trail ridden" but may not have been maintaned as well.

[hadfield4wd]

A well maintained race bike is way better than a non-maintained trail bike. It will see more oil changes etc.

[gimped up]

Talk to the mechanic.

Ask for honesty, let him know you are interested but are wondering why its for sale.

I've bought 4 national pro race bikes over the years, all were fine. But you need to ask and do your homework on them.

Some racers just ride them and sell when they are due for major overhaul.

If he is honest and it works out well.

Then you can check for more deals in the future.

Its a good way to get newer bikes for less dollars, sometimes.

Edited December 25, 2014 by RLC

[Qqqqqqqqqqqq]

A fresh Pro Racebike ..Yes

A flogged out pro bike ... No

[not_again]

Raced bikes usually see good maintenance. But since they are ridden hard, they are also stressed to a much higher degree. The friends I have ridden with on old race bikes experience a higher degree of parts breaking.

One friend has a 2008 250SX-F and has had the rear hub crack, broken headstay, and crack in the frame at the head tube. He also had 3rd gear come apart which trashed the bottom end of the motor. This bike looked a ran great when he bought it from our racer friend who maintained it well and raced it hard.

He's learned his lesson. The bike is running fine now but he spent a bucket of money on it.

[DMC707]

Raced bikes usually see good maintenance. But since they are ridden hard, they are also stressed to a much higher degree. The friends I have ridden with on old race bikes experience a higher degree of parts breaking.

One friend has a 2008 250SX-F and has had the rear hub crack, broken headstay, and crack in the frame at the head tube. He also had 3rd gear come apart which trashed the bottom end of the motor. This bike looked a ran great when he bought it from our racer friend who maintained it well and raced it hard.

He's learned his lesson. The bike is running fine now but he spent a bucket of money on it.

That bike is now 7 years old. How old was it when he bought it? I think the OP is referring to current or at most one to two year old ex racers

[not_again]

That bike is now 7 years old. How old was it when he bought it? I think the OP is referring to current or at most one to two year old ex racers

Bought two years ago and the friend who bought it had a couple of months before things started going bad. The seller was a friend and I remember him breaking things on it from new. It's gone through several rebuilds at this point. I wouldn't have bought it in 08 knowing it had been raced.

[Excitable]

a race bike is generally treated better than non raced ones, you cant win on a broken pos.

 

I love the ad's that list never raced, usually it means i rode it hard put away wet and never changed the oil or air filter, dont mind the smoke or low compression..its all original and 10 yrs old... ? 

[noaht4]

Bikes that were raced are usually very well taken care of

[leafsrule16]

Hell yeah.

 

You aren't going to buy a huge trailer, have a mechanic and travel all across the country if your bike isn't in tip top condition to perform. I used to get tires with 85% tread on them off a racer buddy of mine.. These bikes are kept up 1000x better then the kid playing on his 250f in a pit.

 

The only thing that I would be weary of is motor work. Something that's tuned to the nuts isn't going to be reliable. It doesn't matter to a racer because they rebuild them after every race or two anyways but I'd look for something as close to stock as possible.

[DMC707]

Hell yeah.

 

You aren't going to buy a huge trailer, have a mechanic and travel all across the country if your bike isn't in tip top condition to perform. I used to get tires with 85% tread on them off a racer buddy of mine.. These bikes are kept up 1000x better then the kid playing on his 250f in a pit.

 

The only thing that I would be weary of is motor work. Something that's tuned to the nuts isn't going to be reliable. It doesn't matter to a racer because they rebuild them after every race or two anyways but I'd look for something as close to stock as possible.

For a competitive 250F privateer, about every 3rd race they need some attention------   but the "tread lightly" factor does kick in when considering a practice bike 

 

Plus , some of these guys' genuinely don't have the money to hook up full top end jobs every 3 races and/or don't have a motor lease program like is available to the higher classification privateers

 

     

     I'd rather buy a bike from a bucks up vet class rider than most privateers though.         The dick weed ex quad rider who got my last bike walked away with a screaming bargain relative to the maintenance i slathered on it -- LOL

 

A 48 horse 250F or a 63 horse 450 is not going to make me appreciably faster and i'd rather have the older dude's well maintained stocker with a nice exhaust and plenty of other doo dads guys like me want to throw on their scoots  ?

 

Tons of pros and national amateurs well schooled on this process will also sell the nice chi chi's separately .    I learned this and have used it to great success.    All the carbon fiber stuff, Ti pegs, nice exhaust, etc etc, -- got e-bayed separate from the bike sale and i realize $1000 or more out of the poor bugger at the end of the day as long as i don't have to send anything back to a sponsor

[vbartos27]

I saw somewhere chad reed was selling last years bikes for around $7000. Not a bad deal considering he only rode half the year

[cgirouard423]

For me, it all depends. I don't think I would buy one from a team like the one that was listed. Those bikes may have been maintained, but also ridden extremely hard. I would rather find a bike that was maintained to the same degree (or close), that wasn't ridden hard. There are some C riders at the track that aren't fast but every time they pull up to the line their bikes looks like it just came off the showroom floor. Those are the bikes I'd search for. I know of a few right now for sale from kids I race with. They weren't ridden too hard and were very well maintained. 

[nascarnate326]

I like bikes that simply were not rode. Time capsules are the best, otherwise buy junk and restore it to your satisfaction. 

[not_again]

For me, it all depends. I don't think I would buy one from a team like the one that was listed. Those bikes may have been maintained, but also ridden extremely hard. I would rather find a bike that was maintained to the same degree (or close), that wasn't ridden hard. There are some C riders at the track that aren't fast but every time they pull up to the line their bikes looks like it just came off the showroom floor. Those are the bikes I'd search for. I know of a few right now for sale from kids I race with. They weren't ridden too hard and were very well maintained.

This is a decent deal in a used bike. Maybe not AS GOOD as a bike that has been idled or parked for it's entire life but close enough.

The point I am trying to make is that every part on a bike can flex 'X' number of times before it breaks. A bike that is ridden HARD has a bunch of parts that have been flexed HARD. Whoever buys that bike used may get a pristine looking bike that was well taken care of but there are still components that are ready to fail and will fail. A bike that was used gently doesn't have this issue.

This thread comes up every now and then and it seems like a lot of guys think that every part last forever and believe that an old race bike is a good deal because it's got lots of bling and had plenty of oil changes. This is simply not true. And if you think about it, it's OBVIOUSLY not true.

Raced bikes CONSUME parts. This is why pro racers do full rebuilds every race.

Will you get a chance to buy a factory bike that has all brand new parts? Probably not. You'll get to buy a pro's practice bike which is on its last legs or an amateur's worn out race machine. Both of them are for sale for a reason, dumbass! They're clapped out.

There are a whole lot of reasons to buy neither. Save your money for a garage queen. They are out there and they aren't even hard to find.

[cgirouard423]

This is a decent deal in a used bike. Maybe not AS GOOD as a bike that has been idled or parked for it's entire life but close enough.

The point I am trying to make is that every part on a bike can flex 'X' number of times before it breaks. A bike that is ridden HARD has a bunch of parts that have been flexed HARD. Whoever buys that bike used may get a pristine looking bike that was well taken care of but there are still components that are ready to fail and will fail. A bike that was used gently doesn't have this issue.

This thread comes up every now and then and it seems like a lot of guys think that every part last forever and believe that an old race bike is a good deal because it's got lots of bling and had plenty of oil changes. This is simply not true. And if you think about it, it's OBVIOUSLY not true.

Raced bikes CONSUME parts. This is why pro racers do full rebuilds every race.

Will you get a chance to buy a factory bike that has all brand new parts? Probably not. You'll get to buy a pro's practice bike which is on its last legs or an amateur's worn out race machine. Both of them are for sale for a reason, dumbass! They're clapped out.

There are a whole lot of reasons to buy neither. Save your money for a garage queen. They are out there and they aren't even hard to find.

 

I agree. Although an old race bike is better than the 250f that the redneck ripped around in the sand pit on, there are even better options. I would buy a well taken care of race bike from a C class rider or vet rider. It's the B and A class riders bikes that I would be hesitant on. When I'm looking for a bike, I look for the well taken care of bikes that HAVE NOT been beaten to snot. They are out there, just have to find them. It would be hard for me to buy a used 4 stroke anyway. I went new with my current 250f and don't think I will ever buy a used thumper. A used 2 stroke though, I would consider.

[motojunkiedan]

I would have to personally know the rider and have an idea of how many hours on the bike to even consider a pro race bike. It would have to be less than 20 hours or I would skip it.

[dan az]

i wouldnt buy a used 250f for 5k. I would definetly buy a used race bike though. like everyone else already stated they get better maintanance than play riders. I just bought a rm85 for my wife, and unfortunately for me it was not a used race bike. for example the right fork leg pisses oil out the seal, although I think it is genuinely from having sat untouched for over a year. But I also found the compression adjuster on the shock and forks were turned all the way in and the rebound on the shock was almost there as well. The kids dad told me his son bought it from a friend in high school, that made me very afraid right there, but its a clean bike and it was cheap.

[motojunkiedan]

i wouldnt buy a used 250f for 5k. I would definetly buy a used race bike though. like everyone else already stated they get better maintanance than play riders. I just bought a rm85 for my wife, and unfortunately for me it was not a used race bike. for example the right fork leg pisses oil out the seal, although I think it is genuinely from having sat untouched for over a year. But I also found the compression adjuster on the shock and forks were turned all the way in and the rebound on the shock was almost there as well. The kids dad told me his son bought it from a friend in high school, that made me very afraid right there, but its a clean bike and it was cheap.

so you fix the seal and turn the clickers and got a great clean bike? Oh no! And it was cheap too! Oh my! If it was a super nice looking race bike and the bottom end went out in 6 months that would have been a much better deal. You got screwed. LOL!

[orangyktmthing]

I think that I would rather buy a vet owned bike. These guys have the expendable income to have toys and take care of them. Another one group that I consider is the "Dad with kids, purchased bikes and kids don't want to ride" group. These groups have the money to drop on a bike, some nice add ons, get ridden and then they move on to more expensive hobbies and the bikes either are replaced with the "latest model" or they just sit in the garage until a wife tells them to get it out of there.