any advice would be good, pretty new to this cheers
Amen, Brother, you and I are both new to this scene... I was shocked to discover what a monumental comeback these little bikes are making up here in the States, I now see ads for 'em just about every day on C/L. Never noticed 'em before I picked up this one, and I know the whole scene is much bigger in The Land of Oz. Moi, I bought mine after one ride outside the seller's house, rode up and down the long curved street about a dozen times, came back and broke out my wallet, LOL. Didn't even haggle that much, never was much good at that... if I want something, I'll pay fair market value for it, and the guy DID put some work into it.
Later, once I got home and started tearing into the bike, I found some hidden problems which the seller had failed to mention, LOL, but I reckon that happens with just about any used dirt bike, except for the really-clean and well-maintained ones, which of course cost more. Caveat emptor, and all that, aye??? I reckon by the time I have the bike dialed in the way I want it, it'll have cost me $1400 or thereabouts, including some new seals and O-rings all around, new rear shocks and maybe some new fork springs and bushings. The forks springs on there now are tolerable, but the rear shocks are shot... before I swap 'em out, they'll be nothin' but busted springs and struts, LOL.
As for the overall cost, I don't care, I have a little money set aside for this project, and every time I ride the little offroad thrasher it pays in spades. Hope ya find a good bike at a decent cost, I suppose one of these Stateside bikes on C/L would cost a fortune to ship, even by sea. I'm just glad I found a forum where the riders are actually thrashing in the dirt, not just posers pulling "museum-grade restorations" for resale on C/L, or at auction... seems to be a lot of that up here, not as much hardcore riding and trick riding as I see here at this site. That's a compliment to y'all, LOL... I also noticed by scanning some threads that more of ya do the BMX, skateboarding, and everything else I routinely did in my youth, which is why I feel that I've found a new home.
I'm sorely tempted to start REALLY tricking out my bike, and I may do that later, but then the cost would skyrocket... I'm beginning to see that these blasted monkeybikes are freakin' money pits, LOL. Make that "monkey pits"---might as well dig a big ol' hole with my rear wheel, throttle wide open and front brake clamped down like that one bloke in "MAD MAX", then start dumping C-notes into it. Ah, well, I've caught the bug for real, I think, but for now I'll keep the bike small enough to fit in the back seat of the mighty Camry dirt bike transporter. New rear shocks and fork springs will make a BIG difference too, the poor little bike took a beating on Bear Valley Road last time out, so shocks are priority. Alright, that's enough o' my monkeybike spiel, I'm a long-winded b@stard once I get started, LOL.
Looking forward to seeing what you eventually buy, I'm curious about the market down there. Is the currency there stronger than the USD, or is it about the same??? Could a serious investor make any money crating up these Stateside numbers and shipping 'em in bulk to Australia??? I suppose there are so many other newer minis and pit bikes down there that the proposition wouldn't pay. Seems as if I'm seeing more and more of these older little bikes on our market, some people looking to capitalize, some trying to recapture their youth in this $hithouse economy. Hell, that's why I bought MINE... just trying to recapture some of that freedom I experienced in years and decades past. Harder and harder to do that nowadays, it seems, but I'm gonna try my best, and just getting out there on the trail is a good start. Cheers...
