04-15-2019, 10:24 AM
I had the xs650 bug for about a year and bought a couple, a '77 and an '83. The first one wasn't that great, paid $900, changed the oil, rode it a few months, realized it needed a lot more work than I was ready to put into it, sold it for $850. Bought another one with only 6k miles on it, in really nice shape and paid 1850 for it. Changed oil on it, changed tires, and it was so fun to kick over and pleasing to ride. Put about 1500 miles on it and realized I still wasn't really ready to do anything to it, and it would have eventually needed some work beyond what I was willing to learn how to do...so I sold it for 1800. I guess I was out $100 between the two bikes, plus another 250 for tires and this and that to get the bikes working decently. But it was fun at the time.
That's when I saw the Honda CB1100, and I thought to myself, "why old retro when I can go modern retro?"
I suppose the question is what do you want the XS850 for? Do you want one to work on (and you will need to surely), putt about town (will it be reliable for any distance?), or just because...in which case you don't need to think more if it's rare or not...who cares?
Now I do think the $2,000 could be a bit high unless it just really runs nice and everything works and chain / tires are in good condition. But look carefully at the tires...if they are shot or or old, you're gonna want to replace them before any serious riding...now you're at 2200. Give the bike a really good looking over--ask questions and look for what might need replacing right away and what you could live with. Then ask yourself again why you want that bike.
With any luck, somebody will buy it before you do, and then you'll go out and ride the cb1100 and wonder why you wanted the xs850 in the first place.
: )
Good luck! Could be a fun project.
That's when I saw the Honda CB1100, and I thought to myself, "why old retro when I can go modern retro?"
I suppose the question is what do you want the XS850 for? Do you want one to work on (and you will need to surely), putt about town (will it be reliable for any distance?), or just because...in which case you don't need to think more if it's rare or not...who cares?
Now I do think the $2,000 could be a bit high unless it just really runs nice and everything works and chain / tires are in good condition. But look carefully at the tires...if they are shot or or old, you're gonna want to replace them before any serious riding...now you're at 2200. Give the bike a really good looking over--ask questions and look for what might need replacing right away and what you could live with. Then ask yourself again why you want that bike.
With any luck, somebody will buy it before you do, and then you'll go out and ride the cb1100 and wonder why you wanted the xs850 in the first place.
: )
Good luck! Could be a fun project.