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**Steve Linderman** · 05-25-2004, 03:18 AM

Another XS?

Ben,
If the bike weighs 1050lbs...then he has TWO of them...the FACTORY Spec sheet lists the 1979 SF (Special) at 252kg...or 556 lbs. So for it to weigh that much..it'd nearly be TWO XS 1100's.

The best method of buying ANYTHING is to arrive with CASH$$$

Then look the bike over carefully...mumble alot to yourself...say things like "yea my friend went 147mph on his XS 1100, and he's never been the same since"
Then say "would you want the death of some stupid kid on your conscience"
Then FLASH

your CASH! along with some 'sad story' about your crippled grandmother always wanted a Yamaha XS 1100 and you've been saving up your money for years...and since she's getting older & weaker by the day...you wanted to get her this one (and fix it) so she could enjoy it before her passing...

HEY...it might help...
You can always say..."I'd be doing you a favor by saving you the trouble of pushing it around any more"
Good luck with it...start with say 20, Twenty dollar bills ($400.00) that will make it a "big wad"
Iron the money (yea, with an Iron) , and put it in an envelope when you're done talkin' and ready to 'make your offer' just open the envelope and say "this is ALL I got" DON'T say how much!
just 'FAN' the (now crisp) bills out, and say 'here, it's ALL yours" When he asks 'how much is there?" you say (while holding the money out)
"four hundred"
If he balks...start cryin' (he'll think you're crazy) then try rollin' around on the ground...and say "I'm not leaving without that motorcycle"
"I don't care what my Psycotherapist told me!"
If he still says "NO!"...ask him if he'll trade for some 'Magic beans'
tell him you found them in your brother Jacks' room when he came back from the market!
Then say that you're in a hurry as you need to get home and help your Mom look for the Family cow...
I GUARANTEE that he'll the help you load it in your truck!!!
And if you get 'lucky' he may even forget to ask you for the money!

"singing in the sunshine, laughing in the rain"
(LED ZEPPLIN cir 1973)

**chevy45412001** · 05-25-2004, 05:04 AM

or

dancing days are here again!

**Underdog** · 05-25-2004, 06:03 AM

2X2= 1000lbs???

I'd say the fact that this guy isn't exactly a genuis at math could work in your favor. Sounds like he went to the Jethro Bodine school of G'Zintas. You could try tell'n tell him that since the bike really weighs 500lbs & he thinks it's a 1000 then here's 400bucks ...times it by 2 & pretend you really got your 800!

Or say "look buddy this thing's scrap" "I'll give ya 45 cents a pound" I looked at a Mignight here locally & the young fella with it also said it weighted a thousand lbs. Wonder where these guys get their info?

Seriously though, Steve probably has the best advise....Money Talks and .....well you know the rest. One last thought, you might try showing him a printout of the NADA price guide. May bring him back to reality long enough for you to score it.

**jetmechmarty** · 05-25-2004, 06:51 AM

I went with a friend of mine to buy a boat under similar circumstances. We carried a sack of tools. We pulled plugs, did compression test, etc. etc. It was a bit intimidating to the owner.

When or inspection was complete, by friend fanned the cash and we towed the boat home. He got a bargain on the boat.

Make sure you're willing to walk away. This bike doesn't even run. You'll get it cheap or keep your money.

**DEmily** · 05-25-2004, 10:08 AM

I agree with Marty. That is how I got my wife's KAW and almost nothing. The guy dropped the price from 600 to 250 by the time I was done with Compression checks and such. Not screwing the compression tester in all the way helped a bit since I did not get a true compression reading.

**Shuriken** · 05-25-2004, 11:13 AM

hahaha! These are great...

Keep 'em coming. I have until 5pm my time before I go haggle.

Ben

**Steve Linderman** · 05-25-2004, 11:22 AM

Another XS !

Hey Guys...
There are a BUNCHA' guys who'll tell you this bike is a thousand pounder.
With a machine that can leak gas into the crankcase, or airbox & lose it's fuses (without warning)& pull its' wires from the pick-up coils in the advance plate & has a 'hidden fuse' & kill switch that can go haywire ETC...

Some guys end up pushin' them around (sometimes alot)
And if you've ever pushed one of these cantankerous beasts around...(for more that a few feet)...You'll swear it weighs a THOUSAND POUNDS (or more)
A statement like that...usually means the person has "tried to move the Mountain"
The way to really blow their minds is to tell them..."if it had a fairing & bags it would weigh nearly 1500lbs..."

"If I had a Hammer...I'd piss off the neighbors"
(Steve Linderman cir-last weekend)

**Underdog** · 05-25-2004, 12:20 PM

That's good Steve but you forgot the most important aspect of pushing these things...the brakes are usually stuck too!! Took three of us to push mine up into the truck & we were backed up to a hillside makeing it almost level. Good part was I didn't have to worry about it get'n away from me when it came time to unload.

If women don't find you handsome they should at least find you handy. Red Green

**Doyle** · 05-25-2004, 12:35 PM

another XS

Hey Ben, Run the low blue book price on the Kelly web site, print it out to show the guy, including the paragraph that states "this amount is minus needed repairs and restoration". I've done this for many motorcycles and it works well...also the comment "I have $450 cash(display the $ then put it back in your pocket)here is my phone #, call me if you decide to sell it to me later". One time I did that and there were 3 messages from the guiy wanting to do the deal asap. Most times they just say,"ok, let's do it". Good luck dude, make sure you let us all know what happens! Doyle

**Pat Kelly** · 05-25-2004, 04:55 PM

I think they believe it's a thousand pounds because they looked at the ID badge that states "gross vehicle weight 1050 lbs" (1090 lbs on my standard).
Before Big Is Deuce I weighed my bike with a full tank of gas and all the bags, trunk, fairing compartments empty. 695 lbs.

**Shuriken** · 05-25-2004, 05:11 PM

Okay - keep 'em coming. The guy called and couldn't make the appointment tonight because he is moving stuff and was sick.

I'm like a vulture circling overhead. He told me he wants to move to Alaska - don't think he's going to want to ship that bike there. In fact, it looks like he doesn't have time/interest/money for it anyway by the fact it has not run for a couple of years and the weathering and neglect.

I'm hoping I can help him repent for the neglect he caused it by taking it off of his hands to a good home.

I looked on nadaguides.com today - don't go there if you want to sell your bike. Unless they are in fair or good condition, they are not worth selling.

According to NADA, the most his bike would be worth would be $425 - if it ran. Since it does not run, it is between poor and fair condition, so the price should be somewhere between no value and $425 if it ran.

Of course, if it were my bike, I'd try to get what I could out of it, but I've never ripped anyone off selling my bikes to them, and I hate it when people try and gouge me.

At the worst, I make my offer and it's not good enough. He keeps his bike he'll never fix because nobody else will give him that much money either.

At best, I give him a max of $400 bucks - which is too much to me but demonstrates I'm not trying to rip him off either - he gets rid of a "moving problem" he wasn't going to fix anyway and I get a 20k motor.

I only see XS's in So. Utah once every couple of years. They are always trashed. I would love to score one with a tight motor.

Ben

**Deano62** · 05-25-2004, 05:13 PM

I agree with Pat. The 1050 is most likely the gvwr, which many people don't know is the max weight the designers think it can handle (inclucing dry bike weight).

Now, remember, advice is worth what you pay for it, so here's mine... unless you really enjoy stressful nights in the garage, I wouldn't even bother. But if you're really into reconstructs, best of luck.

**Shuriken** · 05-25-2004, 05:28 PM

I'm sure that's what he was referring to. (gvwr)

I don't mind reconstructs, now. When I didn't know jack about the XS (before I discovered xs11.com) things were a pain in the butt. Now I know what to look for, what goes wrong on these bikes, what kind of work will be required, etc.

What I'm looking for is the "pull" that everyone else gets from their bikes. My bike has low compression, smokes, etc., and is still fairly fast. But after riding a Special with only 20k miles, I got a small taste of what these XS bikes should really do. That's what I want out of my XS.

Even if this bike needed some work, it has twice as few miles to begin with as does my current XS. I would rather do a rebuild on a bike with 20k miles than one with 45k+ miles I suppose.

For those of you who read all of that, I should apologize and sum up this entire thread: Ben's Addiction

Ben

**desert1** · 05-25-2004, 08:13 PM

$100. Bucks

Offer him a $100. or nothin.......leave your #. He ll call.

Bruce

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Discovered another XS!

Discovered another XS!

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