garider Posted July 31, 2009 #1 Posted July 31, 2009 First off, I'm a newbie considering the purchase of a 1st gen. Venture. I am glad to have found this site! I've been lurking for a week or so and it's well worth the effort to become a member. So...... No doubt this has been covered before, but I couldn't find it by a search. I'm looking at a 1987 Venture that is in Great condition. 30k miles and everything works including the radio and CB. It is a very nice bike. If I could get it for $2,200, would that be a fair price?
E-Fishin-C Posted July 31, 2009 #2 Posted July 31, 2009 If you can get it for that Price ..Its a Steal:thumbsup2:
SilvrT Posted July 31, 2009 #3 Posted July 31, 2009 Sounds like a good deal to me... I sold my '87 for $3800 Canadian and it had almost 100k miles on it and I thought I was taking a "hit" but to be honest, it went to a good home and I wanted to sell it so both me & the buyer were happy.
99silver Posted July 31, 2009 #4 Posted July 31, 2009 Sounds like a fair price to me, if its clean you should take ownership quickly.
RTR Posted July 31, 2009 #6 Posted July 31, 2009 buy it !!! if you don't , give me a call!!! you'll be glad you bought it. good luck... bob:12101:
Wrongway Posted July 31, 2009 #7 Posted July 31, 2009 If you can get it at that price, you stole it. When I sold my '90, it had over 150,000 miles on it and I got $2800 and felt I gave it away.
ctraylor Posted July 31, 2009 #8 Posted July 31, 2009 I gave $3200.00 for my 86 with 24,000 miles on the clock and never regreted it. This is one great bike. I now have 55,000 on the clock trouble free.
Condor Posted July 31, 2009 #9 Posted July 31, 2009 If I could get it for $2,200, would that be a fair price? YES!!!!!
Squidley Posted July 31, 2009 #11 Posted July 31, 2009 Thats a fair price, I just bought my '89 about a month ago with 101K on the clock for $1900....you better grab it.
garider Posted July 31, 2009 Author #12 Posted July 31, 2009 Going by today to get a hands on look and ride, if the rain will subside.
Scooter Posted July 31, 2009 #13 Posted July 31, 2009 Gee Whiz, Everybody's saying, "Jump on it, or let me buy it"! There are deals out there. I've got my Blonde '83 listed in the classifieds with just over 30k miles on it. Ronda says I can't get anything new until I get this one sold, :buttkick:so I've got it priced to make room in the garage. http://www.venturerider.org/classifieds/showproduct.php/product/2242
SilvrT Posted July 31, 2009 #14 Posted July 31, 2009 I said it before and I'll say it again... it just blows me away to hear about these bikes ('83 - '89) with such low mileage. 30k on a 26 yr old bike? ... that's almost unbelievable! What would concern me about buying anything that old is, is it 30k or 130k ... there's no "real" way of being certain that I'm aware of so, when one is advertised as having 30k, I am always skeptical about that. Having said that, I guess it would apply to any scoot or vehicle that does not show the 6th digit on the odo. Unless a guy has owned the scoot since day one and has documented all the maintenance, showing the mileage readings and dates, how could anyone actually prove it. On the other hand, and in self defence I guess, if it's in premium condition, then who really cares if it's 30k or 130k? It would still have tons of life left.
Scooter Posted July 31, 2009 #15 Posted July 31, 2009 30 thousand miles on a 26 year old bike? Yes, believe it. One of the reasons that I don't have more miles on it than it does is that I need to travel on gravel roads quite often and since the Venture isn't in it's element on gravel, I usually take the pickup. I'm wanting to get a bike that will do gravel and pavement. I've got BMW GS1200 taste with a Suzuki VStrom budget, or something similar.
Guest seuadr Posted July 31, 2009 #16 Posted July 31, 2009 I said it before and I'll say it again... it just blows me away to hear about these bikes ('83 - '89) with such low mileage. 30k on a 26 yr old bike? ... that's almost unbelievable! What would concern me about buying anything that old is, is it 30k or 130k ... there's no "real" way of being certain that I'm aware of so, when one is advertised as having 30k, I am always skeptical about that. Having said that, I guess it would apply to any scoot or vehicle that does not show the 6th digit on the odo. Unless a guy has owned the scoot since day one and has documented all the maintenance, showing the mileage readings and dates, how could anyone actually prove it. On the other hand, and in self defence I guess, if it's in premium condition, then who really cares if it's 30k or 130k? It would still have tons of life left. you would think it's odd, i agree. but i have not one, not two, but three bikes that are sub 50k bikes from the 80's. I've got a 79 kz400 that has belonged to people i know since it was bought new in 80 with only 23k on it. i've got an 82 gs1100G that had been sitting in a garage since 89, and had 14k documented miles. and now i'm getting an 87 venture that i'll be the third owner of, with under 50k miles on it ( i think it's 32, but i don't remember offhand, waiting on the goverment to finally send me my home tax credit so i can go pick it up! ) which also has a ton of documents comming with it. these things get ridden some and stuffed in a garage. I have a friend with an 82 goldwing that he puts around 1500 miles a year on. he keeps it mainteneced properly, and nice and clean, but he just can't get out and ride alot with his family and work.
garider Posted July 31, 2009 Author #17 Posted July 31, 2009 No disrespect to anyone, but I've been riding for over 30 years and I have no doubt that one can discern between 30K and 130K miles on a bike. It would take a LOT of parts replacing, painting, and so on to fool a seasoned rider. You just can't escape the normal, unavoidable road rash of 130,000 miles on asphalt. Of course 20 years will do it's damage alone, even in a thermally controlled environment. By the way Scooter, ironically the bike I am going to look at this evening is the exact same color as yours - 2-tone "Blonde". Wish you were closer, I'd come over and see it too!
SilvrT Posted July 31, 2009 #18 Posted July 31, 2009 No disrespect to anyone, but I've been riding for over 30 years and I have no doubt that one can discern between 30K and 130K miles on a bike. It would take a LOT of parts replacing, painting, and so on to fool a seasoned rider. You just can't escape the normal, unavoidable road rash of 130,000 miles on asphalt. Of course 20 years will do it's damage alone, even in a thermally controlled environment. By the way Scooter, ironically the bike I am going to look at this evening is the exact same color as yours - 2-tone "Blonde". Wish you were closer, I'd come over and see it too! I'm sorry and, meaning no disrespect --- I am in disagreement. I have been riding for over 40 years (not that it means anything) and a bike with 130k on it, meticulously maintained can look just as good as a bike with 30k and in fact, imroperly maintained, ridden, and stored, etc, 30k means nothing IMHO ... further, without having some history of the bike, something with 30k on it could mean more trouble than one with 130k. Personally, I would not buy a bike in excess of 20 yrs old with only 30k on it UNLESS the seller could provide proof of it's maintenance, how it was ridden, length of times it was in storage, what was done while it was in storage and what was done when it was taken out of storage. Case in point, my '87 had 57k KILOMETERS on it when I sold it. It was a very clean bike and it ran very good. Other than a paint job (different color), It would be hard to tell if it was 57k or 157k. In fact, it had 157k. btw, welcome to the site and I hope my comments aren't taken badly as they aren't intended to be ... I just like to express my opinion's strongly sometimes LOL ... and I do hope this '87 you're getting (note, I said "getting") is as good as it appears coz that's a good buy if it is.
Squidley Posted July 31, 2009 #19 Posted July 31, 2009 Just for grins, and not knowing that I stated the miles above. Just by looking at my bike from these pics, how many miles would you think are on it
SilvrT Posted July 31, 2009 #20 Posted July 31, 2009 Just for grins, and not knowing that I stated the miles above. Just by looking at my bike from these pics, how many miles would you think are on it Pictures are worth a thousand words and are generally not a true indication of the actual object. In reality I would not even attempt a guess by looking at a picture. Having said that, I could "venture" a guess of 101k but one might think I cheated LOL Seriously tho, from the pics, I'd guess about 1/2 of that. (did I just contradict myself? LOL)
garider Posted July 31, 2009 Author #21 Posted July 31, 2009 (edited) Just for grins, and not knowing that I stated the miles above. Just by looking at my bike from these pics, how many miles would you think are on it I wouldn't dare guess by looking at photos only. IMO, pictures are not worth a thousand words. In reality, they are useless for judging mileage. They do however give a potential buyer an idea of a bikes condition if the photos are full sized and in full resolution. Most do not show enough detail to judge mileage. Barely enough to get a real idea of it's true cosmetic condition. I would take a guess however with a close up look in person. Either way, that is one clean looking bike! That is how I clean my bikes when I sell them. Take it apart, clean it, & polish it - spotless. SilvrT, No disrespect taken. We are similar in that we aren't afraid to voice our honest opinions. I am a member of many forums and I know how the clicks of a keyboard can be taken out of context. It's hard to get attitude and tone across without audio. Edited July 31, 2009 by garider
SilvrT Posted July 31, 2009 #22 Posted July 31, 2009 SilvrT, No disrespect taken. We are similar in that we aren't afraid to voice our honest opinions. I am a member of many forums and I know how the clicks of a keyboard can be taken out of context. It's hard to get attitude and tone across without audio. heh, it's probably a good thing there's no audio ... I have such a crappy "monotone" voice that oftentimes my spoken words are taken out of context and that isn't even mentioning my expressionless face and lack of body language LMAO!! ... and then there's my total lack of tact and diplomacy!
Venturous Randy Posted July 31, 2009 #23 Posted July 31, 2009 One thing that is sometimes a clue to me is rotors, especially on a MKI. If I saw a 30K mile bike with a lot of wear on the rotors, I would suspect 130K. I know that some pads like EBC HH are more severe on rotors, but I would also doubt that would be the wear factoron that bike. RandyA
garider Posted July 31, 2009 Author #24 Posted July 31, 2009 heh, it's probably a good thing there's no audio ... I have such a crappy "monotone" voice that oftentimes my spoken words are taken out of context and that isn't even mentioning my expressionless face and lack of body language LMAO!! ... and then there's my total lack of tact and diplomacy! Hey, that sounds like my wife!
SilvrT Posted July 31, 2009 #25 Posted July 31, 2009 Hey, that sounds like my wife! is she bald too? :sign20:
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