Opinions on the 2008 I'm considering (and how much I should offer for it)?

[Jonnio]

FYI I offered $8000 out the door and they came back with $8750, (they dropped the pre-tax price to $8000 and got rid of most of their fees), I'm debating whether to take it or walk away.

If your in a hurry maybe try and get $8500 and they throw in your first valve check/adjustment? If your not in a hurry you can probably find a better deal later on.

 

[raitchison]

Soo I pulled the trigger and got the bike.

Was only a ~20 mile ride home but I was amazed at how much different (better) it was than my old bike.

I've ridden my intruder on the freeway lots of times, it's not that bad but the FJR is smooth as butter.

I'm going to take it up to Angeles Crest Highway this weekend and give it a proper shakedown.

 

[stevec677]

Good Luck with it. It is a great bike that will make the miles and your troubles melt away.

 

[wheatonFJR]

Congrats on the bike! :clapping:

NOW put some sliders on...NOW. Today.

Also, before you check out the highway, this class of bike is different than your previous bike...tomorrow, after you've installed the sliders...do some parking lot circles and figure 8s. This ain't no little machine.

This will help you get accustomed to your new bike in case you have some emergency reactions required on the Angeles Crest Highway.

 

[raitchison]

Thanks I just ordered a set of OES sliders.

I agree it's not small, it's WAY bigger and heavier than my little Intruder. I had to make extra space in the garage because the space where the Intruder parked was quite inadequate. Used to be able to get the bike in our out of the garage without moving the car, those days are over for sure.

 

[JamesW]

Thanks I just ordered a set of OES sliders.

I agree it's not small, it's WAY bigger and heavier than my little Intruder. I had to make extra space in the garage because the space where the Intruder parked was quite inadequate. Used to be able to get the bike in our out of the garage without moving the car, those days are over for sure.

Makes a big difference in the garage if you take bags off.

 

[russperry]

Looks like a good and clean bike. FYI, that's not the factory heated grips (not that it really matters), and the windscreen is aftermarket too. Looks like maybe a Cal-Sci.

I wouldn't worry about any problems, these bikes are rock solid. The 06's - 09's will have a recall soon for a electrical grounding problem, and that's really been the only problem on the Gen II's. There was also an ignition switch recall, and an ECU Altitude Fix recall which have been around for a while.

20k miles is pretty low miles for this bike too. Proof: https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=126374

In fact, the only problem I see with this bike is the price, and even that's not too far off from what I would consider a fair deal. I never compare tax & license costs as those vary greatly across the country. But the $8399 + $250 bringing the effective price to $8649 is too high for me in this market. I'd want that at no more than $8k...maybe even something around $7600 or so.

check out some of the classifieds on this board too. I know there's an '08 in Northern Colorado...could make a good fly 'n ride! If you'd like, I can offer to go up and take a look at the bike too, just to make sure it's as advertised (I'm sure it is, but just in case): https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showforum=54

I agree that their number is too high. I paid $7000 (+$700 tax to California) for a stock '08 with 7,000 miles on it earlier this year.

Smokin deal Russ !

Usually I see a 06 for 7k

a 07 for 8k

a 08 for 9K

Yeah - I jumped on it quickly when I saw it on Craigslist. Part of it was probably time of year - it was January and cold and not a lot of action on motorcycles at that time of year. Same thing has happened on sport bikes I've been keeping an eye on. I was looking for an '05 or '06 Kawi 636 and in the winter you could find pretty low mileage units for maybe $4500 - now that its riding time they're all higher - there's one on CL right now that listed at $7200! I think that guy's smokin' crack but the trend is clearly higher prices in summer.

On my deal you can probably imagine the story though - an older guy, lost his job right after he bought it, barely rode it, now needs to sell it to get out from the payments. Actually an unfortunate situation for him, but a good one for me. I probably could have saved even a few more bucks but it was in great shape, and I would have felt like I was stealing change from a beggar in the street if I tried to work the price lower.

 

[raitchison]

OK this is interesting. I got the owners manual with the bike. The original owner made lots of notes for himself in there.

He even taped the key tag into the appropriate page of the manual, which is good as I need to order another key as I only got one (based on the meticulousness of the manual I suspect the dealer lost the other)

The maintenance records are very complete, and provide a history of sorts of the bike.

The last maintenance entry was from July of 2010 but there are only a couple hundred more miles on it now than there were then. It looks like after riding ~10,000 miles for each for the first 2 years he abruptly stopped. Makes me wonder what happened.

 

[Dr. Bones]

congratulations! enjoy the bike!

 

[03HiYoSilver]

...after riding ~10,000 miles for each for the first 2 years he abruptly stopped. Makes me wonder what happened.

Raichison,

It is usually one of two things, Health reasons or the Wife would be suing for Divorce....she lost some time and attention. I would not be worried about the maint..... you got a great bike.

Enjoy your ride and Buy your Wife some Roses on a regular basis...good insurance!

 

[escapefjrtist]

Looks like you picked up a nice bike there. Congrats on the purchase!

Now the fun begins...making it your own $$$.

--G

 

[dsmack]

Congrats on the new bike... glad to read that you're in the process of adding a set of sliders. Don't ask me why I think that's a good idea!

Sounds like the original owner took excellent care of the bike, from the records you got with the bike.

One thing that comes to mind though: Are you familiar with the potential problem with the two little security type screws that hold the lockset in each side case?

Basically, you would be well served to check carefully to see if you can see any Blue Loctite residue around the head of each screw (used to prevent the screws working loose and allowing the locks/latches from coming apart and possibly losing a side bag).

If you can't tell by inspection, I'd recommend that you remove the screws (one at a time for ease of re-assembly), add a drop of BLUE Loctite to the treads and reinstall. Will prevent an expensive heartache later on

Don

 

[Jonnio]

Congrats - I am sure you will enjoy it tons in the months and years to come.

 

[raitchison]

AES Sliders arrived today (2 days after order), easiest mod (farkle) ever to install. :thumbsupsmiley:

 

[kolonial72]

IMHO, even $8k is a bit high. In 2008, I paid about $7k for my '05.