Used bike advise needed

WiseB34R · Derestricted Danger Joined: 05 Mar 2015 Karma :

Hi guys and girls,
I finally passed my test and want to get a big bike.
I am looking for a cruiser and obviously buying used opens up more options within my budget.
I used to have 125cc Honda and I bought brand new.
I am not a diy kind of guy, spanners and grease dont excite me, they make me nervous and stressed, just being honest with myself here. Even chain adjustment procedure makes me angry. So I will not be working on my bike myself. But obviously I don't want to be stuck in garage.
Question is, how old of a bike is safe to buy so parts are easily available lets say for next 5-6 years (10 years ideally)?
Also what mileage is safe?
I will be definitely buying from a dealer, that is for sure. I know Harley fits the bill, but I want to look at Japanese and Euro manufacturers options as well, so model suggestions for cruiser 900cc yo 1250cc are welcome as well. Id love an 1800cc monster but I ride mostly in town, so will be wasting petrol on super big engine.
Thank you all so much in advance!!!
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Sincerely, WiseB34R .

Bhud · World Chat Champion Joined: 11 Oct 2018 Karma :

Hello

I'm currently working on a 44-year old project bike, Japanese, single cylinder, which has a piston that can be replaced with a known car piston, and which has standard parts for absolutely everything - the footpegs are the same as for 20 years' worth of bikes of all sizes, the seals and bearings are all standard sizes, etc. The only things that would need serious machining and remanufacturing if something went wrong would be the SOHC and the crank. Everything else has a solution. That's the real strength of old-school Japanese standard bikes.

However, not all of them were like that. Apparently, Yamaha Viragos have/had serious parts sourcing problems, as they kept changing the parts slightly during the production run. Some early 80s Hondas have the "chocolate cams" problem, etc.

I guess my point is that parts availability is more of a concern for older bikes. In the case of the Japanese big 4, they all used to design and manufacture most of the bike themselves, and the component dimensions and specs they used were the same between them, and they "borrowed" heavily from each others' designs. You mentioned a timeframe of about 5-6 years, or 10 years at best. That's a very short timeframe. Therefore, parts availability should not factor into your decision at all, provided you're looking at sensible mass production motorcycles from the big names. That's my opinion.

WiseB34R · Derestricted Danger Joined: 05 Mar 2015 Karma :

Zen Dog · World Chat Champion Joined: 11 Aug 2004 Karma :

WiseB34R · Derestricted Danger Joined: 05 Mar 2015 Karma :

PotatoHead202... · Scooby Slapper Joined: 10 Feb 2020 Karma :

You need to think very carefully about the style of bike for the majority of riding you do.

The bigger the bike the heavier, (generally) worse turning circle and ability to balance at lower speeds etc.

I almost never use my k1300 in town because of things like this. The 500 is light years better for this environment.
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Honda VFR1200F, Honda CBF500 ABS, CZ125 now CZ175

WiseB34R · Derestricted Danger Joined: 05 Mar 2015 Karma :

TravisBickle · Posted: 10:32 - 15 Nov 2020 Post subject:

TravisBickle · Posted: 10:33 - 15 Nov 2020 Post subject:

Anything Japanese with EFI should be bulletproof, generally...

Don't let mileage put you off, if well maintained no reason why most Jap bikes shouldn't do 100k plus, especially cruisers as they tend to have lazy under-stressed engines. My ex-police Fazer has done nearly 50k now and never missed a beat.
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2007 Yamaha FZ1 S Fazer
2021 Honda CMX500 Rebel S
2016 Triumph Tiger 1050 Sport