buying bikes...wins and losses.... (typing fest)

380 last one of those I rode (1st one as well) punted me clear over the bars and I landed in a nice soft bush thank Christ. took it back to the owner and said "nice bike".

how did you get over the bars??

did a Homer

Are we brothers?

I am notoriously frugal, owing to my Scottish and Welsh background, so I've had really good luck in the past. I buy with one rule, and one rule only.

Will I be able to get my money back if I have to sell it?

If yes, and I like the bike, I buy it. It helps that I'm a mechanic, and can judge a bike's mechanical quality fairly well, or fix it if I have to. But that's it, even if it's an orphan, emotional purchase, or some oddball creation.

Best deal? Bought a new old stock 04 RM125 in 07 for $2900. Raced it until I bought my Husky in 2013, let my son ride it for a year, then sold it for $2500. I've made money on some deals, but racing a bike for 6 years, spending almost nothing on it in that time, then getting most of my money back was a great deal.

happens all the the time. really wrecks stuff

how did you get over the bars??

I approached a good looking erosion control bump in 3rd gear and "gave it the berries" I was riding a old 200 at the time and I gave the 380 a 200 sized fist full. so it then launched like an Exocet missile and we landed well off the track in a big hole and the forces of nature overcame the forces of whitepower and the seat hit my arse at twice the speed of sound and I was converted from a muddabike rider to a human cannonball.

It all happened quite slowly and gently and I did a full somersault and was just commencing sault#2 when I hit a nice shrubby bush.

Best deal so far, drove 200 miles to look at a 1983 Husky 500CR. Had 1984 tank, seat and side panels on it. Said he bought it from the original owner who was too old to ride it anymore. Bike had seen so little use that it had an old Pirelli Sandcross rear tire that was chunking complete knobs off of it, along with a Trelleborg 544 on the front (this is in 2013). Fires up and runs, but when I go through the gears there are 6 instead of 4. Guy says original owner put a different transmission in it (6 speed). We make a deal for 1500 dollars. He then pulls out the original 1983 fuel tank, side panels and seat in perfect condition. Then comes a box with the original 4 speed gearset, along with a packet containing the owner's manual, warranty booklet and technical data sheet. I say, I don't suppose you have a title to this bike. Yes, signs me over a proper registered title.
Then he hands me his helmet and says, take this too, I don't need it anymore

What's a pumpkin 380?

KTM is the color of a pumpkin, so they have the nickname, it's a 380EXC
so pumpkin 380

I once, over ten years ago, had first dibs on a 1981 Maico 490 GS. I drove an hour to look at it. It was night time. The guy wanted $500. It didn't run and it needed a lot of work. I was thrown off as it was the enduro model. I contemplated hard as I didn't have much of any disposable income at the time, I did have two toddlers at home and I knew next to nothing about Maicos but I had always wanted a Mega II. After much turmoil and deliberation I decided to pass on the 490 (and I knew it would be sold within the next 24 hours) and while it was probably the right move at the time, I still, to a degree, regret not bringing that bike home with me.

The regulars are sick of reading this story I'm sure.
I bought my '85 WRX for $200.00. It had been listed on Craigslist, text only add "Mid-1980's Husqvarna for parts" long enough that the PO had dropped the price from $250 to $200. It had sat so long under this guy's lean-to/open air shed that all the plastic was rotted, the chain was frozen, the wheels didn't spin, etc, but the engine looked good, compression felt good, etc.
Took it home, started pulling stuff off, decided to give the engine a try. Cleaned the carb, pulled the plug. Bike had the wrong plug in it. Put in the correct plug, started right up.

Still spent better part of the last year on everything else, but the engine runs good and strong!

A few years back my old man was at a yard sale and there was a pile of Husqvarna with a for sale sine in the middle of it, $100. He bought it thinking it might be a good parts bike. I've gotten a few parts off of it, nothing particularly valuable, but I've got serious doubts about making it ever run again. It's fairly complete, but just about every part on it has a problem.

good win, cant beat that story....

Bought my 86/240 off ebay for $400 in a big box. My first husky. Every single thing on it was rooted but I'm stubborn and it ended up a ripper bike. My 400 I got for $200 complete and after fixing the cases and a tidy up it ended up a fantastic bike as well.
Just scored this for $600

Every TS Suzuki we purchased ran once we cleaned the carb. I sold them as fast as we got them running.

I love a "bike in a box "story, not something ive ever done.
the best one I ever saw was a clever bloke who used to work for a Bultaco dealer and moved locally. found out there was a big speedway meeting Boxing day nite, borrowed a slider frame, found a Pursang motor in a wooden crate under a blokes bench covered in dirt. 6 hrs later I was listening to the most crisp sounding alcohol fuelled 250 ive ever heard. man did it go. made a lot of later model sliders look positively slow.

love the 348, always thought they were a exceptionally pretty bike. Polish and clean with Mr Sheen and it will look sensational!

Buy high and sell low that's been my luck/story lol

What about buy low, Spend a bunch of $ on repairs and upgrades, then never sell the damn thing?

had one of those.....76 xl 350 with a 420 kit and waaay to big rear shox. clutch died, fork seals, throttle cable, rear brakes shoes, chain and sprockets....tyres then the motor started making loud knocking noises... took over 8 months to find a buyer while I waited for it to explode.

I may have known the PO of that bike JC!