What's my bike worth?

[Strommer]

Not for sale yet - but this will depend on what I will get for it.

Black K5-650, 26,000 miles.

Good points:
- Full service history.
- New chain and sprockets.
- New Michelin PR3 tyres (less than 1k on them)
- Puncturesafe in tyres
- New rear disc and sprocket bearings
- Oxford heated grips
- Front connector blocks all removed and wires soldered
- Motobatt sealed battery (1 yr old)
- New clutch cable
- Taxed till November
- MOT till September

Less Good Points:
- Throws up FI errors...
- Some drop marks on both sides (nothing terrible as engine bars were fitted)
- Cracked handguards
- Left front fairing has been resprayed by a previous owner

Accessories that may be sold on the bike (subject to offers) - or may be taken onto the new bike...:
- SW Motech centre stand
- Monokey plate
- Front light accessory bar
- Pair of Rigid Dually aux lights
- Aprilia Tuono Mirrors
- Givi Crash bars - heavily scratched

[Juvecu]

First feeling for me is that I would pay around £1500-1700 for it, considering cosmetic damage and the Fault Indicator cause is unknown. I personally don't put much value in extras, I'm probably not in the minority so you should consider selling them separately.

[thebigcheese]

Be interested in the auxiliary lights and bar if u were to sell the bike. what u think of the rigid industry lights?

[Strommer]

Lights are great they do cast a substantial beam.  Not as waterproof as they claim but I'll improve that when I get a moment - basically the cable into them is poorly secured so it pulls out and the seal with it.

[Strommer]

£1500 is the nightmare price really, as it makes a new one (at £5.5k) £4k, which is pushing it.  It runs fine with the FI errors it's just taking the joy out of ownership.  If it was summer I'd strip the bike and fix the problem (probably) but life issues (and weather) mean that I just don't have the time to do this.

If the back brake gets sorted today then I may start phoning around for an ex-demo L2...

[Juvecu]

Once you have it fixed you'll be back in love with it, just a case of getting it done. If it was my bike and it irritated me enough to think of selling it I'd give myself a kick up the arse, book a few days off work and sort it. Like my old man used to say: "It doesn't have a mum or dad! It doesn't have any will! It does what I want it to do!" That was usually around the time when the hammer came out to 'fix' it properly

Fixed up without any FI warnings and in good running condition you'd get £2000 at best, I'd say. It's better to ride it into the ground and then buy new in a year or two when prices for the Wee2 have dropped considerably.

[Strommer]

You're quite right of course.  But I've taken days off already so I don't want to waste anymore weekends.

I suspect that once the brake is sorted it'll run fine till the 28k service at which time I'll know about redundancy and other issues that I need to concentrate on.  Company is moving oop North and it's my job to sack all my friends in London ending with myself....not much fun    

If I do keep it then it needs new brake lines and the 28k service is due in October.  I'll probably look to upgrade the rear brake as it seems pretty unreliable.

[Juvecu]

Hoses are less than £80 for a custom made set. A lot of bikes use the same calipers as the Strom and they all have a few niggles to some degree or another in the type of weather we have, particularly if you ride on salty roads. Even if you upgrade, the new calipers will be subjected to the same conditions and will give problems after a while too. Good maintenance is the real answer, but you already knew I would say that

[Strommer]

All sorted £90 all in.  

There was a crossed thread on one of the bolts so the pads were hitting the disc at a wonky angle.  

They have always worn at a strange angle (since the Honda dealer service a year ago... ) and it was replacing the rear disc that made it show.  

This is the same dealer that stuck copper grease on the pins....

I couldn't have re-tapped it myself so I'm happy now.

The 28k service is a biggie so I'll get a Suzuki dealer to do the hoses along with the usuals.  I guess buying steel lines myself and getting them to fit them will help keep the cost down.

[Juvecu]

Or buy them and give them to the dealer to fit during the service, takes 20 minutes for someone used to doing it (bleeding included )

[Strommer]

Indeed.  I think my tinkering days are over but I will ensure than my weekly regime now includes "Wash out brake calipers and wipe a cotton bud of red grease on the pistons"

The shop (Bill Bunn) said the FI errors would be fine at MOT.  

[MartinW]

Company is moving oop North and it's my job to sack all my friends in London ending with myself....not much fun    .

Been there. Sacking people I have known for 20 years, some of who started before I was born and some who trained me on my first day. It's f'kin hard to do. Most of them were accepting that it was the end of the road, wasn't my decision and I was just the messenger. But it still hurt.

The best stress reliever I got was going out for a ride. Just pushing the thing out the garage cheered me up and kept me sane. So keep the bike, fix it and thrash it till you feel better !!

[Strommer]

Ta, that does help.  As does the bike now working better (rear brake sorted).

My game plan is to sell at May 2013 as it won't lose any money between now and then.  Whether I get another will depend on where I'm working at that time.