This 17K Thundercat.

I went to look at it today.

It's been stood for a bit, did most of its miles before the last two
years. Dealer didn't know 'how long we've had it'. Where do they hide
the vin numbers on these things?

Wouldn't start, which is not really odd with a battery at 0.3V. It's got
a 'meta alarm' which possibly ate all the electrons... are they hard to
remove? Once jumped, it sounded ok... couldn't hear any rattles or
whines or anything else. Exhaust seems to be sound. Tons of tread on
the tyres, which don't look half as square in the daylight.

Several MOTs, evidence that it's been into the same garage for 'stuff'
over the years. it's not as clean as I'd anticipated and it's NOT had
the 16K service, which is possibly a good thing since taking it to bits
and greasing it might be a good idea. It's been over gently at some
point, no sign of mashed lock stops, but a mildly bent lh lever and
receipts for a mirror and a number plate.

very very slow, but big res piccies of bits I took interest in are here:
http://cub.kicks-ass.org/bike/

I'd appreciate being told if it's a dog, or if imperfections on metal
parts are just 'it's not new', I think it possibly needs a new chain and
sprockets too. I'm tempted to ask if they can do the 16K service and
meet them somewhere in the middle on price, but that's the 'it felt nice
to sit on and it's blue' feeling.

If they plonk a new battery in it and let me have a test ride, I'll know
a bit more about it, brakes and handling wise.

 

Usually stamped on the frame, somewhere near the headstock.

 

It does, not only corroded but the link at 1 o clock has a piece
missing. Looks tatty in general and my instinct would be avoid, and
get something cleaner even it it meant spending more. Pretend there
were no shiny plastics - it'd look a bit ragged.

Also, what did the header pipes look like? They're not stainless on
the thundercat so could be a pricey replacement if they're corroding.

 

Walk away. That corrosion looks nasty even by Yamaha standards, I have
a feeling that the 16k service may be a big one and you can be *sure*
that if they can't even be arsed to have the thing in decent saleable
condition on the showroom floor, then they won't do it properly. Oil
change, maybe air filter if you're lucky.

Why bother asking "Can you do this, do that, sort out the other?" when
you can buy a decent bike in the first place?

 

I got my head as far into the plastic as I could get, and they looked
clean and shiny.

I should possibly think about renting a bike/car locally which I can use
to GET to bikes further away. This public transport thing is a crock.

 

Thanks TOG.

Annoyingly that means I need to start looking round again, and I won't
be back on the road this week. Arse.

 

And it was crap.

This one looks nicer, but is in wolverhampton. http://tinyurl.com/ydv22sk

 

Run away, that is one untidy pile of ratshit.

--


Nige,

BMW K1200S
Honda Transalp XL600V
Yamaha R1
Range Rover Vogue

 

Heh, let me know if you're unloading anything that might fit.

They may already have realised that I'm not to be fleeced tooooo easily,
since I looked at stuff and knew when the service was due. They've not
bothered to call me back. I wonder if I can get my deposit back.

 

How much is it up for and what year is it?

 

51 plate, £2299 on the ticket, which was always 'too much'.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, cat

WTF did you put a deposit down?

 

Jesus, you can get a scrappy litrebike for that money.

 

Looks like a shed, whatever year it is... and a dealer who tries to
sell something in that state?

You can imagine what the 'warranty' would pan out like. ;-)

Tis a shame you didn't have my 'cat off me really - whilst it was a
bit older and had done more miles, there wasn't anything up with it at
all when I sold it, bar two small cracks in the front mudguard, and
IIRC, a scuff on one engine casing.

 

Transalp might be back up for grabs...

--


Nige,

BMW K1200S
Honda Transalp XL600V
Yamaha R1
Range Rover Vogue

 

Being lazy. They wouldn't move it from Sussex to the shop down the road
without a bit of cash to make sure i 'turned up to look'. They assured
me it was 100% refundable so long as I looked at the thing.

 

AOL

Look for bikes down this way, in other words Kent (or reasonably
nearby), and I'll pop along and give them the once over for you if you
like.

Will need a bit of notice is all - weekends are best for me.

 

Can't insure it so cheaply though... I'm a noob with on street parking
in London.

 

I would have ripped your arm off had it been blue.

 

Aye, well... only the later ones are 'bloo fings'.

The buyer was very happy with it, anyway.