86 Suzuki Calvalcade advice

[Phoneman1981]

Hello: A regional owner has a 1986 Suzuki Calvalcade 1400 CC. $57k miles. New tires. Runa but won't Idle. Asking $1500. A friend is interested in it. Just asking my buddies what you think. My friend thought about offering $1000.

[cowpuc]

I LOVE those great big ol V-4 motored Suzy's, they were so far ahead of the game back in the day that it wasnt even funny!! Running sons a guns with every option known to man.. They did however have one small issue that if not addressed, could create problems..

There is a plug in the end of a shaft that is internal of the forward bevel gear that liked to pop out (it was just a "cap" from the factory) causing the forward bevel gear case to loose its lube contents and run dry. Problem was that it leaked internally and no sign of the cap coming loose was noticable externally and, because of this, most times by the time it was found it was to late to spare some expensive damages.. The fix was machining a small plug out of aluminum just a few thou larger the shaft I.D. - tearing the forward bevel apart - popping the orginal cover before it failed and driving the new plug into the shaft.. SOunds radical but this is the surest fix.. They were not around long enough for any form of recall to be established (that I know of) and therefore, there is no real way of knowing whether or not the bike you are speaking of has had the malady addressed..

Not knowing whether or not that has been taken care of and KNOWING from experience how difficult it can be to find parts for those gorgeous old scoots should you ever need to replace tired things like intake manifolds, or stator, or fuel pump, or igntion trigger coil, or rebuild a caliper or on and on (those scoots were only made a couple years) I would advise shying away from it... Of course,, please know that I am TOTALLY understanding if your friend doesnt take that advice because, well because I could never shy away from such a great adventure either..

[Great White]

If it's in decent shape and 1000-1500 bucks it sounds like a decent deal.

 

Parts will probably be a bit of an issue if it breaks, but at 1000 bucks i would think it could be parted out and the purchase money recouped if henran into a part he needed not being available.

 

If he's OK with that, I would say grab it. At a 1000 bucks purchase, even if he only gets a year or two of riding out of it the bike will owe him nothing.

 

I've never owned one, but I seem to remember them being BIG bikes.he might want to try wrangling it around a little bit or test driving it if the owner is OK with that.

 

Also try all the little gadgets. Any that don't work are likely to not be fixable on such a short run model, or he'll have to get creative with fixing/replacing bits. I think it was only made for a few years. Parts issues again.

[cecdoo]

Ol' Puc is rite on the money about the secondary plug problem, but there are guys out there that can help you with the fix, its not a big deal once fixed. There are also a great bunch of guys to help with any parts you need, most can still be found if you look hard enough. If he buys it, check that secondary oil level rite away it only takes 5mins. its behind the small cover on the lower left side down by the shifter. They are great bikes with a bullet proof motor.

Craig

[Great White]

I can turn you out an aluminum plug if you want, as long as its not too big I should be able to turn it out some leftovers.

 

Get the dimensions and shipping and its yours (or his as it were).

[Phoneman1981]

Thanks everyone. I passed the info along.

[cecdoo]

http://www.shermanpool.com/Cade/issues.html

 

Info on Plug

[uncledj]

A good buddy was looking for a big bike, and I found a 87 Cavalcade that I forwarded to him, suggesting that he shy away from it and wait for a Venture or a Goldwing in his price range . ($2500). He ended up buying it and has had pretty good luck with it so far. He rode it up to the WNY Rally last year with us. I'd still be a little leary, but he seems to like it. It IS a HUGE bike. Trunk and saddle bag compartments are about the biggest I've seen. One think I must say is it's kinda cool to have such a rare bike.