buying new xs1100

[james454]

hi i am looking at buy 1981 midnight special but it has 50,000mi on it how long do you think the 2nd gear will last .ps its in mint he,s asking $2000.00

[mason79]

if you have time, take pics, the more records he has the more valuable, representing care, take it for a ride and give it the shake down, if it need 2nd gear the price goes down,

if it is unmolested and shiny 50k miles is fine, mine has 50 or so and run like a bat outa hell,

you may do a compression check to see what the engine is doing,

i'm sure there may be more suggestions coming, but don't rush into it just yet, take your time, i would like a midnight myself one day.

[Snow]

If it was well kept, 2nd gear might never be a problem - or it could go out tomorrow - it's hard to tell without a good test ride (let the owner do a nice 2nd gear hard roll on) or without pulling the tranny apart.

[midnight1980]

Originally posted by Snow
If it was well kept, 2nd gear might never be a problem - or it could go out tomorrow - it's hard to tell without a good test ride (let the owner do a nice 2nd gear hard roll on) or without pulling the tranny apart.

my midnight has no problem with the 2nd gear but the forth slips some times??

[Pat Kelly]

My MNS has 65,000 and 2nd gear is fine (so far). It was fine cosmeticlly for having sat outside for a year or two. Seat cover was badly torn but mostly it just needed a good cleaning. Mechanically, it smoked. The filter that cover the drain in the airbox was missing so who knows how long it's been sucking unfiltered air. Also the valve stem seals were worn.
I paid $500 for it at 60,000 miles. With the bigbore kit and related work I probably have $1,500 in it.
If it's cosmetically and mechanically perfect then $2,000 sound reasonable to me.
My E had 25,000 miles on it when 2nd gear became problematic.