On the fence about buying a NC30

[vfrnoob]

Hi all,

Just signed up after reading a lot of the buyers guides and forum posts on here. Not sure if the VFR is for me and if the one example I've seen is worth buying. Appreciate any owners' views on the following...

I currently ride a Ninja 250 which I love. Great to ride in the city (80% of my mileage is commuting) and fun enough on rides out. I've put 11k on it in the last 3 years and it's been ultra reliable too.

Considering buying a CBR/VFR 400 because I like the idea of something similar in size to my Ninja with more power. VFR 400 NC30 feels great to sit on too for my height/build.

I went to see one that I quite like (import). Fairings look original (i.e. panel gaps similar in size to my Ninja and colours are one of the 8 standard paint job types) but has aftermarket exhaust and indicators.

There are some things I was unsure about:

1) It has only done 4,000 miles in the last 6 years under this owners ownership. Should I be worried about gummy/unbalanced carbs and how much should I budget for them to be fixed?

2) The bike creaks when I sit on it. Is this going to be a rear suspension replacement job or something else? Any estimates on ££ to fix would be great.

3) Picture of both rads are below. I have no idea what they should look like in working order:

[vfrman]

Welcome to the site and possible NC ownership. Check out the document library. There is a bunch of great info in there.

1) How mechanically inclined are you? If the carbs need work, it isn't too hard to remove them and give them a cleaning with nothing more than common hand tools.

2) Creaks when you sit on it? That sounds like a bearing in either the swingarm or rear shock mount/linkages. It could also be a front wheel or rear axle bearing. Not sure on how much it is to repair this. It depends on which bearing is checking out.

3) From looking at these pics, it looks like the radiator guards are a tad rusty. More important than the guards are the radiator fins. Are they straight? Do they leak? Are they full of crud? The rads can look visually tatty but if they are clean and leak free, then they should work just fine.

You might consider finding a knowledgeable third party and take them along to look at the bike.

[manicguitarist]

All I can give is my experience. I have an NC35. I've been riding for 24+yrs. My previous bike was an R1 which I had for 17yrs. This is the most fun I've ever had on a bike. I love it. That said, I have a car for commuting - if I was commuting I'd be looking for a ZZR600 or modern equivalent.

M

[vfrnoob]

Thanks vrfman and manicguitarist.

My mechanical skills - I can follow clear instructions for simple jobs (i.e. i've previously changed brake discs on a car).

I'm leaning towards avoiding this particular example then. Rads + anything except the front bearing would easily run into £500 based on the Rick Oliver price list doc that I found here.

[manicguitarist]

Front wheel bearing replacement cost me £30 by my tame mechanic.

[Neosophist]

Thanks vrfman and manicguitarist.

My mechanical skills - I can follow clear instructions for simple jobs (i.e. i've previously changed brake discs on a car).

I'm leaning towards avoiding this particular example then. Rads + anything except the front bearing would easily run into £500 based on the Rick Oliver price list doc that I found here.

the things you posted really would be the last of my worries about buying the bike you put up. that bike looks ok to me, but your thinking about buying a classic 30 year old bike for a high milage commuter?

apart from it might be a little uncomfortable depedning on body size and age they are old now, so things can and will go wrong, bearings here and there will probably need replacing, tired suspension will need over-hauling, problems in wiring might show up.

The more miles you put on one the more often they are likely to show up, don't expect to go buy any old 400 and use it daily without shelling out a fair few extra quid into a repair pot for unexpected things unless the bike has had a complete rebuild including bearings.

Deosn't matter which 400 you go for if you do as they are all built in a time of high quality and reliablity but its mainly age, plus most of them were owned years ago by learners who thrased them to an inch of their lives and had no maintanace money (testament to their strong build)

but if you're buying something now and expect to use it everyday set set at least and extra 500-1000 gbp to account for unexepcted things failing once you start putting some miles on it

once all the old age and abuse has been sorted they should be reliable as anything else but dont buy one with clean rads and expect no other hidden things to pop out on something over 1/4 of a century.

personnaly if i wasnt so mechanicallly inclined and was wanting to do heavy commuting id get something more modern but if you have time and money / tools then dont be put off

[VtypeV4]

Another thing to consider is whether your commute involves alot of town work and / or stop-start sections? The NC30 has a very tall first gear and as such is quite hard on it's clutch. Allied to that, it can be become tiresome revving the bike and riding the clutch lots if it becomes impossible to filter through. An NC30 loves a winding A or B road (or track!) best where the pace can be kept up and the bike worked from curve to straight to curve..

Secondly as mentioned, running an old bike: All my bikes are old - my Yamaha is a '92 and has done nearly 100,000 miles - but I keep it tidy and mechanically in good shape as a safe-gurad against breakdowns. Touch wood, the bike has never broke down of left me stranded in the 55,000 miles I've done on it but I put that down to lookiing after it to the best of my ability.

My NC30 hasn't done nearly that kind of distance (42,000 Km) and has only ever let me down once when either the battery fried the reg-rec or vice-versa but i replaced both as I had a full electrical shut down.

Moral of the story is, iron the gremlins out and keep on top of it and it'll be fine. And as ever, buy the best example you can find to start with.