Picking up a bike from Italy...

[Remoulay]

Ok, so I have the opportunity to pick up a 1983 Suzuki GSX750ES from Milan in early September. Why?...

-> Guy from Australia bought it here to do some touring around Europe and will finish in Milan. It will cost him too much to send it back to Australia (apparently £1000+) so he would rather sell it cheap at £500 to me. If I pick it up from Milan...

-> He bought it for £1100. It's in really good cosmetic condition, and it's got things like totally new exhaust pipes and loooooads of bolts have been replaced too (so clean looking ). He's going to tour on it. So can I rightly assume the bike is ok to come back on and ride, provided it isn't dead by the time I (potentially) pick it up?

-> I am 19 and in Uni (I start up again end of September). The prospect of travelling to Italy and riding the bike back seems exciting, but I'm obviously incredibly inexperienced for such a big trip. I can handle the bike, it's not too heavy & was very smooth when I rode it earlier . ZZR400 is dead so I would like a nice capable bike again.

Any advice?
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You've had too much to think, now you need a wife..!

[P.addy]

500 quid gets you a bandit. No need to travel. I'd go as far as to say that it's more reliable also.

[1198]

Sounds like a monster faff in my eyes - it wouldn't be cheap either. I suspect you would struggle to insure a bike too If it's not on a UK plate?
And that's before the whole 'fun' of registering it with dvla!
If and only if it's on a UK reg' would I consider it personally. I'd enjoy the adventure and traveling back, but from what Paddy says about values I think it'd not save me much if anything.

[Albigularis]

Add on £150-£200 for the fuel to get back and it doesn't look so good...
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Biking history so far-
Aprilia RS125 - Kawasaki ZXR400 - Triumph Street Triple R - Suzuki GSXR1000 L3 - BMW R1200GS - Kawasaki Z1000 - Kawasaki ZX10R C1H - Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Touring - Suzuki Hayabusa

[Ste]

If it were free, it'd still be questionable.

[Supermoto_Fan]

[c_dug]

If it's genuinely worth over £1000, as in you could sell it the day you get back for £1000 or more, then I'd do it. It's basically a free tour of Europe as long as you can get it back to the UK for less than £500 including flights and accommodation.

Firstly though, do you have £1000 that you could burn today and live without? If you don't then forget about it, if it suffers some sort of catastrophic failure on the way home you'll basically have to write off what you've spent.

Also sell it as soon as you get back and buy something better for a grand.
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I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[BillyJ]

Not worth it, get a bike that isn't in another country
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Had: '06 CBR125R + '01 GSF600 + '07 SPRINT ST 1050 + '80 CB250 RSA + '93 Ducati 900SS
Have: '13 GSXR-1000 + '01 CB500S
"The aryan confuser"

[hellkat]

I'd do it.
Fly out to Milan, cheapy cheapy on Ryanair or something, pick up bike, have adventures on the way home.

Cool opportunity.
No sense of adventure, you lot.
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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[Shaft]

As others have said, you have to factor in your transport costs, not only the petrol, but motorway tolls, hotels and food on the way back, plus a trip to Milan to begin with; then there's figuring out the logistics of taking everything you need for the trip back and how you fix it to the bike, without having the bike to work with.

It's going to end up owing you a grand, by the time you get home and you could buy a decent one here for that, as your Aussie mate has proved.

But you won't have had the adventure and that could be priceless.

As for the bike, they're OK - bomb proof (if not especially powerful, but reckoned to be the smoothest of the family) motor, Katana-lite styling and a good all round ride.

Not everyone likes the 16" front wheel and the way they fall into corners, but if you've ridden it, you'll know that.

If you have the time and a sense of adventure, I'd say go for it, but make sure you have good breakdown cover, in case it all goes the way of the pear.
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[Remoulay]

It is a UK reg, imported I don't know when and where from... sometime in the eighties... can't believe it's so old 12yrs my senior

It just sounds like such a fun thing to do! But I don't think I could cope with another bike breaking down, this time on a mountain somewhere flights are indeed fairly cheap which helps. I do think it's defo worth over a grand.

PS, boyfriend has a bandit... NEVER
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You've had too much to think, now you need a wife..!

[Remoulay]

[Shaft]

[chickenstrip]

[Shaft]

[chickenstrip]

I bought a bike from a chap in Guernsey. Took a day off, took a train to Weymouth, ferry over. The bike was a good 'un fortunately - it might not have been. Rode it back in pissing rain and a howling gale, got home at stupid o'clock, and had to go into work that day. A mini adventure if you like. But train journeys are boring - in my view, so are flights - and mixed with the anticipation, was worry that I was wasting my time and money.

But a) it was very cheap for what it was (the seller wrote me, on previous agreement, a receipt for less than I actually paid, so I didn't get stung too hard for VAT when I got it UK registered - so it still worked out cheap), b)it was the model and condition I was looking for. So at the end of it, I had a bike that I was still happy with, even after the trip was over.

I definitely wouldn't go to the other end of Europe for a bike that's not even particularly great in the first instance, not even my first choice of bike (I'm assuming this GSX isn't the OP's first choice of bike - it just happens to be available if she wants to go and get it). I think if it were exactly what the OP wanted at a good price, or something special, a rare bike perhaps, it would make all the difference.

But otherwise, if you want to do a trip abroad on a bike, why not do it on something you know you're going to be happy with? And do the trip that you really want to, rather than one dictated, at least to a degree, by circumstances? It'd still be an adventure if it's not something you've done before.
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[wr6133]

[P.addy]

You can have my ZZR for the £500 you are willing to buy that bike for, its newer, yeah it needs a fork seal and a chain but at most thats £80-£100 and you'd have a faster comfy bike that you can tour with.

I'd not do it, purely because if it turns out to be shit, its a waste of your time. Time = money.

[Rogerborg]

[hellkat]

Money isn't everything.

Time also experience.
Experience = fun times and madventures

Which, as we all know, is priceless.
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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[hellkat]

[Pie-Roe]

If you don't do it, put me in contact and I will. I'm not interested in the bike, just the journey.
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Previous: GSF600, FZR600 x2, ZXR750, XT600 Tenere, CB125, CZ125, ETZ 250, ER5, CCM R30, DRZ400, RF600x4, RF900x2, GS500, VTR1000F, 640 SMC, CB250 NIGHTHAWK, GT550x3, GPX750 TE610, CB500, X11x2, SV650, ZING 125, TL1000R,CB250 Superdream, CBR1100XX

[Matt B]

Have you toured long distances in Europe before?

If no then think twice before doing this. We just rode back from Italy as part of the Eurojolly and it was hard work. 42 degrees down in Como last week, it saps your energy very fast, you dehydrate quickly and concentration drops, it becomes easy to make mistakes. Add to this the Italians are probably the worst drivers in Europe and have the crappiest traffic systems with no reasoning behind traffic light sequences and it just becomes very hard work.

We did it in a group and that helps. You can stop, have a rest, chat, drink gallons. When you do it on your own I think the need to just 'push on' overtakes and you do more than you should. You have nobody to keep an eye on you, help you navigate or keep you going other than yourself.

I was leading, my satnav fried and died in the heat. Luckily there were a few other satnavs in the group and we sorted it and carried on. On your own you need to make sure you can keep going.

What you are proposing is not something I would recommend to somebody with little or no touring experience. If you are determined to do it then go for it but just check it all out first. If you haven't seen it take a look at Matt's trip report from the Eurojolly (link in my sig). It will give you a good idea of what to expect
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[cormac83]

I'm in Milan from 14th - 17th of September.
If you don't pick it up let me know and I will....
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Suzuki GSX750 Inazuma

[Remoulay]

Thanks for the advice everyone

I've been thinking about it a bit more... and realistically, I'd need to get it restricted to be riding it legally (A2 death). And then there's the insurance paper thing that Rogerborg brought up. Don't get me wrong, sometimes I'm just silly enough to go for things without thinking it through properly, but it's not my ideal bike. If it was an '09 Gladius, it would be the best. trip. ever. But, it's an old bike that has value but not necessarily 'me'.

I will ponder for a short bit longer... but if you guys really want it, pm me and I'll send you some pics and put you in contact... I might have to come with you though
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You've had too much to think, now you need a wife..!