Found (ANOTHER) RVF on ebay

[Christoph]

Ok so the good bike on ebay, I went to view it, and it was lovely, well maintained, some very minor scratches, but otherwise perfect. Unfortunatly it went for £2450, £50 over my already very stretched budget!

So, last night another RVF poped up on autotrader, an hours drive away. It's newer and done less miles! up for £2750ono, sounds good - I thought I'd check it out. So today I did, and cosmetically it was perfect, truly immaculate. However, the guy had owned it 2 years and not serviced it once and didnt have any service history newer than the year 2000. I said "Right... it'll need a service then!!" ... "well, not really, it runs fine". At this point I had already decided I didnt want it.

On the RVF I saw on saterday the revs just shot straight up at the flick of the throttle, this one was sluggish in comparison. I also noticed a small oil leak from the engine somewhere.

I asked him what price he was after, I think testing the water he said 'i wont want to take any less that 2750'. But that was all the excuse I needed to walk away :)

So, not a totally wasted journey, I think I'm learning more and more what to look for (and never buy the first one you see! - except in this case where I should have done! )

[Drunkn Munky]

How about this one http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Honda-RVF400-NC35 ... 19bcd8e9d4

A steel at £2k, maxton front and rear. its local to me, might have it myself

Paintwork isnt original tho so could be fiberglass

[Christoph]

Hmm that's weird... how have I not found that one already? is it listed incorrectly or something?

[Christoph]

Paintwork isnt original tho so could be fiberglass

That is my concern. Tatty due to a lot of track use perhaps?

[ibby4585]

It says in the listing that the panels are original but have been resprayed.

I think you need to make a choice. either you keep saving and buy a totally mint bike for near 3grand or even more !!. Or you buy a 2grand bike that needs a few bits, I think you have got to be prepared that a lot of these bikes are gong to have few negative parts to them they are over 15 years old!!, also quite a lot of these bikes are going to be raced on a track too.

Personally id go for a very good NC30 for 1500quid and spend a few bob on it or a 2grand NC35 and do the same!!
Bodywork condition isnt everything, as long as they are original, secured with the lugs in place, you can make it look really good with a bit of elbow grease!!!

Kris

[Christoph]

How much does it cost to get pannels re-painted?

[ibby4585]

Id say 400 quid and upwards over a grand if panels need repairing!, but 1500quid for a solid bike then say 800quid for a pukka spray job your sorted!!!

Kris

[Drunkn Munky]

The first RVF i brought was just like the one i posted the ebay link for, it had original panels but had been resprayed at some point. The tell tale signs were the mid panels were painted to a point instead of a curve. It never bothered me at first and the bike always got good comments but i knew it was wrong.

Its worth noting that original panels are not painted, they use decals so the panels are mainly painted just one colour with decals applied over the top so if you can get the decals its actually very easy to put right. Or if it doesnt bother you just leave it, the average punter will never notice.

If you view the bike it should be pretty easy to tell if its a ex race bike, i wouldnt write it off just yet. For the money its a step on the ladder to owning a RVF if you really must have one over the NC30.

[HondaSan]

Having recently bought my first V4, albeit an NC30 rather than NC35, I think the advice from Kris is spot on. You really do have to remember that these bikes are 15 years old at least and do have to accept that even the most careful owners have mishaps.

I started looking at cheaper bikes but ended up spending more than I originally planned in order to secure a very nice example from a member on here. Personally I'd always spend a few hundred more on something straight. I think as someone else said you also have to judge bike and seller before taking the plunge

It also depends upon where your skills lie too -- if you're handy with the spanners you may prefer to buy a bike with new panels etc in the knowledge that you can fix the mechanicals yourself or vice versa. As has been said paint jobs can be expensive and they aren't something most of us can do ourselves

The good new is that there is always plenty of advice and wisdom to be had on here.
(I didn't realise until reading this thread that the original paint jobs used stickers either to create the two tone "paint work").

[Christoph]

I've decided that I'm gonna wait till I can find one thats in good condition for a good price. All the bikes for sale at the moment have pros and cons. The one I wanted that got away was only £50 over my budget, so I'll hold out.