Any concerns about buying this bike?

[Festus]

There's a 2014 on FB for sale. I have a family member looking for a FJR.

Here's the ad :

For sale is my 2014 FJR1300A with 8,500 miles. Clean title. $6500 Firm. Great bike but with new additions to the family my wife has said no to riding any longer. Bike has been down on the left side but it had Canyon Cages on it so the only damage is the left mirror was scratched and the front forks (which I had the forks replaced at a Yamaha Dealer). Bike is located in Northern Virginia. I'll have more pictures up next week. Bike has an extended warranty through 9-27-2020. It has the following upgrades.

-Canyon Cages (front and rear)

-Delkevic Exhaust (Have the factory)

-Mirror Extenders

-Cell phone mount

-Touring Windshield (And factory)

-Radiator guard

-Extra set of new tires


I contacted him and he gave me his phone number so I called him. He said he moved out of the area and it's been sitting in storage for 2 years. Last time it was ridden was the summer of 2017. The battery is dead, and he suspects the tires might have flat spots from sitting so he's got new tires for it. I asked him about the wreck that caused the forks to be replaced, I think he said he went down and the tire caught the curb which bent the forks. The local Yamaha dealer replaced the forks. The mirror, canyon cage, and saddle bag have some scratches on them.

Anything throw up a red flag for anyone here? He's coming back into town next week and we'll go look at it. I'll take some fresh gas and a battery.

The replaced forks concern me a little. Makes me wonder if there's any hidden damage. Any thoughts on this? He doesn't have any recent photos with him, since he now lives in another state, he can't send the photos until he comes back into town next week.

[jwilly]

I saw this ad as well, the fork replacement scares me a little bit. My two-cents is to keep looking. There are plenty of low mileage FJR's out there. Definitely try to figure out if the front stay is broken from the drop. Good luck

[Red]

Festus,

Look in the air filter for a rodent nest, before you start the engine. Maybe under the seats, also. Rodents can cause costly damage to the wiring. If the old gas has separated, you will want all of that junk out of the tank before adding any fresh gas. Check the oil and coolant levels. I would want to see pictures of the crash damage, before repairs. If the mirrors seem "loose," the (expensive) mirror support frame may be broken. Get good estimates on repairs to the saddle bag and mirror. Put the bike on the centerstand and spin the wheels, to see if the wheels or brake rotors got bent. Others here may have better advice to add.
.

[Hppants]

The front stay is torqued. Just assume it.

The throttle bodies and the gas tank have 2 year old gas in them. Assume that as well.

Both of these issues are relatively easy to fix.

The wildcard is whether the accident cracked the steering head or other frame damage. That would be a deal breaker for sure, IMO.

[raYzerman]

Bent forks a concern, I'd want to know bent how much. The steering head and frame are pretty robust, but worth checking alignment before you buy... I'd want to see pics of the damage before repairs. If the dealer replaced the forks, they must have decided the frame was OK?????????? But, don't assume. Mirror stay is a $200 part plus a good day's labour. Saddlebag paint $100 each. The bike is lipstick pink, so perhaps time for a colour change, LOL. I've never seen an FJR in burnt Sienna, hint hint...
The price is almost right, several 2013's just went around the $7k mark... you have to spend at least $1000 perhaps more to restore this bike... yes to all the necessary cleanup due to being in storage 2years.. . A recent '14 went for I think $8k. Jes sayin' it's no real bargain without being another $1k cheaper..... if you are not comfy with the fork situation, walk away now, there's always another deal out there and why have that on your mine. '13's and 15's are nicer lookin' in my opinion and money won't be much different in the end.

[Festus]

I'm with you, but when I sent him the picture, he loved the red. He can't have a '13. I won't allow it. 15's are ugly and '16s are still out of his price range.

We'll see. Supposed to see it in person Wednesday night.

[silverback]

Is it an ES or an A? From visual inspection, the higher moment of inertia is toward the top of the forks on the ES model which would require higher bending moment to cause yield in the forks. All that extra force has to be balanced elsewhere in the bike. I have not bent the forks on my ES (yet?) and suspect that doing so would take quite an event. I don't recall correctly if the Gen 3 A models had inverted forks or not. But first and second gen had the spindly part at the top of the forks which would possibly take less moment to bend them, saving some damage elsewhere.

The next question is: were they bent or just tweaked? Seems the Gen 1 was pretty easy to tweak out of alignment. Faculty just loved to back into motorcycles in the university parking lot. Tweaked was fixed by jacking up the front and loosening everything up, relaxing the front end, and tightening everything back up from bottom to top. If that was the case and an unscrupulous dealership went for replacement rather than repair, it may be a fresh set of new forks could pushed a rebuild farther down the line instead of bent forks causing other damage from the crash.

All the advice about a bike sitting for two years in previous replies is good.

The advice about color isn't. The factory name for the color is "Give me another fukin ticket red". But, it's a misnomer as I haven't gotten a ticket on mine yet...

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