Opinions please?

[erithanis]

I am looking at a bike on craigslist and wanted to see what opinions here are on it. The price is kind of high, but I can probably talk that down. What should I look for / worry about?

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/i...d45dc11122.jpg

Only 24K, runs good all stock exp for 4 into one header. All new fluids. Has small dent in right side tank.....also needs a new seat cover...new rear brakes.....

Email Conversation Thus far:
ME:
You craigslist ad caught my eye. I wanted to see if you could send me some more pictures. In particular I wanted to see good ones of the engine, final drive and brakes.

What work has been done on the bike recently? How often is it being ridden? What other modifications have been made besides the 4-1 exhaust?

HIM:
I purchase the bike in November of last year. I replaceed all of the fuel lines. Change the engine oil one time and it's due for a change in 600 miles. I also change the middle case oil and final drive oil 2 times. I just checked the valve adjustment and it was all good. I put about 4K miles on it I ride it a lot. It gets about 42 MPG in the city and 48 MPG on the highway, but have not been on that long on the freeway so it may top 50 MPG. It's all stock exp for the exhaust and the rack the rack has a a backrest pad that you can put on and I have a king/Q seat for it but seat is not includeed in the price. the engine cases look good I buffed them out quite a bit. It hard for me to take anymore pictures of the things you want to look at because I can't download them because I only have a iPad. If you want to came look at it let me know. I have all the oil and filters for the next oil change. I replace the rear brakes and rebuilt the rear brake caliper when I got it frt brake are good. I also fixed one of the wires that go to the CDI pickup and that's about it, longest trip so far been about 160 miles in a day... Let me know if you want to look at it I know somewhat about these bikes this is number 3 of the same year.Just paid for new DMV tags so it's good till March of 2014.. Bill

[erithanis]

This is a 1980 XS 1100G

I sent him an email asking about why he's selling after only one year. Also showed him where he could install photobucket for his ipad...

I was just noticing some things:

1) "change the final drive oil 2 times" -- in one year? that seems odd. I'm going to check the maintenance schedule in my Clymer, but I dont' remember it being that often. It has been 5 years since I last had my XS though...
2) The mpg looks promising. This is what people on the forums are reporting for well-running bikes, correct? Unless he's running lean and burning pistons? How would I tell?

[natemoen]

Looks good in that one pic. All the hard to find bits seem to be there except the exhaust. I wouldn't be all that worried about the 2 final drive oil changes, I would do that on a new to me bike anyways.

The MPG's are high, most people get around mid 30's. A few have said low 40's on long hauls.

[CatatonicBug]

Yeah, that seems a bit high for MPGs. Mid 40's is about as high as I've ever heard of. Otherwise, it looks like a nice bike. What is he asking for it?

[erithanis]

I forgot to mention that huh. He's asking $2500 which strikes me as a bit high.

[natemoen]

It would have to be in pretty great condition to fetch that much.

If it ran absolutly spectacularly, and looks good and is very clean, maybe $1500.

[crazy steve]

I'll agree, that's a bit high. Although being California, you have less of a seasonal price change and bikes have more utility value.

Cash usually talks, and it is an 'asking price'....

[erithanis]

may have found a midnight special with less than 7k asking $1950 1.5hr away, but worth the drive I think. This person has been posting for at least a month with his price dropping lower each time. So I might walk away with a good deal. Certainly more likely than the stiff response I god from the guy up above.

My last bike was a 79 XS1100SF Is the midnight special simply a cosmetic change?

1981 Yamaha XS Eleven Midnight Special. 6734 original miles. Bike runs good and is in great shape. It shows normal cosmetic wear for its age. Shaft drive so no chain maintenance. Very fast with a lot of low end power. This is not a beginner bike. Clean title in hand. Vin#4W1000308. Registration paid to March 2013. Left side mirror is damaged but I still have the mirror. Easily repaired rips in seat. Pics tell the story. If this ad is still posted I still have the bike.

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/i...iles_e11rc.jpg

[erithanis]

ah well. He's apparently decided to jump the price up to $2900 and unwilling to negotiate. So out of my price range.

He changed to selling on ebay in case anyone is interested. Its a pretty looking bike.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Yamah...ht_1411wt_1182

[Schming]

ah well. He's apparently decided to jump the price up to $2900 and unwilling to negotiate. So out of my price range.

He changed to selling on ebay in case anyone is interested. Its a pretty looking bike.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Yamah...ht_1411wt_1182

He's out of everyones price range by a grand if not more, but hey it's "Cantaffordia"

[Rasputin]

Apparently some one told him that there were only 250 of these made so he upped the anti.
He wont get 2,000 on ebay either. He has some issues that are not quickly apparent...like the side covers have no holes so they have been done up in some way. Which begs the question as to what else is done to it.
The gold stuff on the gas cap and seat bar is done, so that would be the same for the carb tops and any other gold trim on the bike. Try to replace that gold trim and see what it will cost!!!!
The spare speedometer makes it look like something was not working or who knows how many times it has already been changed. If you get to have a chance to purchase this bike after it fails on ebay, do yourself a favour and check it out very carefully. On a bike with that low of mileage the brake pads will look good and the pedals will look like they are not worn etc.
There is a lot on that bike I do not like but if the price was lower I would be interested. Up here that bike may fetch as high as 2000 bucks without the things I mentioned. Your area may have differing numbers for sure.

[DCII]

It never ceases to amaze me how some of the owners of Midnight Specials must think it is real gold their bikes are plated with when they list them on ebay. I suppose some of the pricing could be due to the misconception that they are a super rare version of the XS1100, would be interesting to know exactly how many were built, I would venture a guess that it was in the thousands. Considering that there have been 4 listed for sale within a 50 mile radius of my house in just the last few months, they ranged in price from $800 to $1800 and had between 12k to 24k miles. The one that was listed for $800, an LG, had 12k miles and other than needing rear brake pads and the seat recovered was in great condition with the original exhaust and very good looking gold trim. I checked out the ebay listing on the one your looking at and so far there were no bids.

[erithanis]

And yea, he's been listing his bike places for at least the last month. Which is why I thought he's come down from the 1.9k price. Seems like he's got the mindset of the other person I was contacting. The bike isn't selling? I must be asking too little for it! o.0

His VIN is 4W1000308 so doesn't that mean at least 308 were produced that year?

[erithanis]

Finished an amusing email chain with the the first person above selling a 1980 x1100 standard. He described me in some rather colorful language when opened with a $1300 offer. After zero negotiation and telling me he wouldn't sell to me no mater what, he came back with a quote from http://www.nadaguides.com/Motorcycle...XS1100G/Values
Which I guess fits with his attention span--selling a bike after owning it five months--since that site describes prices to expect when a dealer sells you a bike and specifically states they are not representative of private sales. Though at least it might explain why I am seeing so many bloated prices--the other popular kbb quotes don't list for bikes this old.

Oh and he also decided to bump his price up to $3k from $2.5k after this

[Petersg_99]

KBB motorcycle does list the XS1100 bikes, here's the trade in value of the 1980 standard, as you can see it's only $810, retail is still only $1570. These values seem to be more in line with the general consensus of the XS11.com forum...

Trade in:
http://www.kbb.com/motorcycles/yamah...1100/trade-in/

Retail:
http://www.kbb.com/motorcycles/yamah...edretailvalue/

Finished an amusing email chain with the the first person above selling a 1980 x1100 standard. He described me in some rather colorful language when opened with a $1300 offer. After zero negotiation and telling me he wouldn't sell to me no mater what, he came back with a quote from http://www.nadaguides.com/Motorcycle...XS1100G/Values
Which I guess fits with his attention span--selling a bike after owning it five months--since that site describes prices to expect when a dealer sells you a bike and specifically states they are not representative of private sales. Though at least it might explain why I am seeing so many bloated prices--the other popular kbb quotes don't list for bikes this old.

Oh and he also decided to bump his price up to $3k from $2.5k after this