Thanks for the welcome. Of what I know of the history is that a gentleman bought it for his wife to learn on last year from a new neighbor who had it in front of their garage. He changed the plugs, and cleaned the carborator, replaced the battery and tires and thats about it. He had told me that the battery would not hold a charge and that he would have to charge it up before a ride. He was They put about 100 miles on it. In fact, let me repost the email that he sent me:
From previous owner: It would be a perfect bike to learn on, which is why I picked it out for my wife. She had never ridden a motorcycle in her life, and within a few days of practicing around our little town, she was out on the highway with it on a 60 mile trip with the group of Harley riders we ride with. It does need some work, but it can be ridden while being worked on. It is ugly, but we weren't going to spend any money at all on cosmetic stuff for a bike that someone is learning to ride on. Spills are inevitable. Why scratch up something nice?
I copied and pasted the following. I have had many inquiries on this. If you are still interested after seeing the pics of this thing, let me know and I will call you and answer any and all questions you might have. Thanks
Copied:
I bought this for my wife to learn on and she doesn't ride enough to justify having it around. It had been sitting for about a year when I bought it. I pulled off the carbs and cleaned them, put new gas in, bought a new battery and it fired right up. We live in a small town so I left the weather checked old tires on it while she learned to ride up and down our street. After she got pretty good, I bought 2 new tires and tubes for it. She rode the bike a couple of times after that, the longest trip being about 60 miles. I have ridden it a few times but that is it. It was an ugly green, so we spray painted the tank flat black to match my Harley. It is missing the side covers which can found pretty easily, but I wasn't going to spend a dime on cosmetics for a bike which she might dump at any time. The seat is shot. It is held together with duct tape. I am into rat rods, so I actually kind of dig it that way, but the wife hates it. It starts and runs good, but I don't think the charging system is working properly. I don't have a tester and haven't ridden it enough to know for sure what is going on. The battery was dead the last time I went to start it. It has a kickstart as well, so I was able to fire it up and it ran. I rode it around town with the headlight shut off, and when I got back, It still did not want to start with the electric starter. I charged the battery and now everything is fine but I haven't ridden it much. I can get you some pics later. It is ugly and kind of beat up, but definately has potential. I love the bike and think it is a blast to ride, but the wife hates it. She thinks it is ugly.
I'm 6' 1" and I fit fine, but I wouldn't want it to be any smaller. You would probably be fine considering it is something to start out on, but I don't think you would be happy with it long term. The good part is it is super cheap and you can ride it now while you work on it. Just so you know, here is a list of some of the things that are wrong with the bike. Granted, none of them are major and if your just riding around campus, none need addressed immediately, but if you were going to keep the bike long term or were going to ride it extensively out of town, these things need taken care of:
1) The charging system - I'm not sure if the bike is charging or not, but I don't think it is. It does have a kick start as well and you can turn off the headlight so I don't think it would ever strand you somewhere, but that should be fixed faily soon to make it really rideable every day. Of course, if you have a charger, you could just plug it in every couple days or so and probably get away with it.
2) The seat is shot. - Still works just fine but is crappy looking.
3) The pipes are not in good shape. - They still do the job and will for quite some time, but they have cracked in places and someone has just gooped JB Weld or something on them to fill in the holes. They look good from a distance, but up close they look crappy. Not a mechanical problem, just cosmetic.
4) The mirrors suck so I took them off, and it only had rear blinkers which I took off. - I have been riding bikes my whole life and am kind of a hard ass old school guy. I always take the mirrors and blinkers off my bikes. I usually even take off the front brake, but I left it on this one since the wife was riding it. The mirrors work but they are ugly. You would have to find some blinkers if you wanted them back on, any bike store stocks cheap blinkers that will work. I hate blinkers on a bike. You can't trust cars to seem them so I always signal with my arm anyways.
5) The front forks are rusty. - Again, nothing mechanical, they just look crappy. They make boots that go over them anyways, or you could always just paint them. I like the rusty look myself, but I like rat rods.
6) Missing side covers - No big deal, get them on e-bay or a bike shop. Not mechanical, just cosmetic.
7) Probably forgetting something.
I'm not trying to talk you out of the bike, I am just real honest. I obviously think it is a perfect first bike to ride, because it is what I picked out for my wife. It served her just fine. It is just beat up and old. But then again, it is pretty hard to find a bike that actually runs for under $500.00.
end of email.
I actually bought the bike for $400. The engine seems stong, I drove it home about 30 miles and it shifted fine. But he was right about the charging thingy. It stalled on me at a stop light and I couldnt get it started. I coasted it to a local autoshop where we charged the battery and it started up. I also put in some engine treatment and filled it with new gas. Speaking of gas, it leaks out of those overfill tubes after riding it...
Thats about as much of the history as I know.
Here are some pics that they had given me. Chick not included unfortunatly. I am some ugly dude..
http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m311/epm58313/bikes_001.jpghttp://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m311/epm58313/bikes_003.jpghttp://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m311/epm58313/bikes_007.jpghttp://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m311/epm58313/bikes_008.jpg
