Triumphrat

Janos

Hey Guys,

First time poster but long time Daytona admirer here. I'm 36 years old, and have just recently acquired my motorcycle license. I've been looking at lots of different bikes, and have fallen in love with the Daytona. I think they're as cool as you can get...

Anyway, I have the opportunity to purchase a yellow 1999 955i w/11k miles for $3k. The bike needs nothing, and is in great shape. It has frame sliders installed, and has only been dropped once at low speed (it's been completely repaired). It comes with the maintenance records...

Now, a couple of quick questions from a newby - is this a good deal? What do you guys think of this bike for someone whose somewhere between a novice & semi-experienced rider? Any idea what something like this will cost to insure with someone with a clean driving record, but no motor-cycle experience (I have a call in now to the agent, but am curious to hear opinions).

Thanks!

Redslope

Hey Janos,

I can't speak to whether or not $3000 is a good deal for that bike or not, but as for the insurance question, I can say that the low insurance cost for my Daytona is one of the main reasons that I bought it, and have kept it for 6 years.
When I bought it, I insured it with a carrier that the dealer hooked me up with, and it was somenting like $200.00 per year for full coverage. I know that younger guys with Japanese liter bikes can pay up to 10 times that.
Unfortunately that good deal was too good to be true, that insurance company lost their shirt, and stopped covering bikes within a few years.
I pay about $700 per year now for full coverage with Progressive, in Los Angeles where bikes get crashed and stolen all the time. This is still a half or third what Japanese literbike owners pay, and the reason is that the Daytona (the older ones, at least) is considered to be a "touring" bike, not a "sport" bike.
FWIW, you should take the bike to a mechanic and have them look it over before you buy it. Even if the crash was low-speed, 550 lbs of bike and rider hitting something at the wrong angle can tweek the frame, and a couple of degrees of misalignment can show up in the wrong way at 100+ MPH.

Good luck!

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bradtx

Janos, Of the litre class sport bikes, the D955i is a good choice for a new rider. You can get your feet wet puttering around between 2-4K with the user friendly engine. Remember, the throttle works both ways!

Pricewise, sounds fair. The bike is coming up on valve adjustment time (12K). Have the dealer look it over for any peace of mind items. Most other items are easily dealt with by the owner.

Brad

HiDesert

That sounds like a good price, but that's very much an off-the-cuff opinion. As for a liter bike being your first bike, I don't like that idea. At all. I know some 36 year olds who would be fine, but I know others of at least that age who would stand a good chance of killing themselves in short order.

Start small, light, and cheap.

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fivehundo

In California, that would be a smokin' deal.

The only price I've seen on a Daytona in the last two years that even had a "3" as the first number was a 98 T595 with 40k miles. That being said, I haven't really been looking that hard so the prices may have dropped significanly.

I was looking at a 1999 Daytona for a while (but the dealer pi$$ed me off) and the asking price was $4500. Seems like a smokin' hot deal to me.

I do have some concerns though: What are your dimensions? (height, weight)

The 955 is a really fast bike!!! If you're a beginning rider, consider a Daytona 600, 650 or a TT600. I'm not trying to say you can't handle the 955i, I just think it might be better to transition into one after getting used to a smaller bike.

If you're over 6' tall and around 200lbs though, please disregard the last paragraph and buy that sucker because it sounds like a steal to me.

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triumphtimes

I don't know if the 99's were like the 00 and 01's, but have a compression check and leak down test done. I dropped my 00 RS at low speed on the left side and the left cylinder on those years had a way of filling the cylinder with oil and causing some serious problems with rings and even rods and cranks being bent. My experience is two motors 00, 01 both dropped left side, both have super high compression on the left cylinder oil blow by and it has caused me serious grief. Another guy I know of that had a speed 3 same era actually had a bent rod and crank from a left side drop. A simple COMPRESSION CHECK and leak down test will reveal a lot of hidden problems that don't appear while riding the bike normally. Some symptoms of this are starting is hard and once fired the bike barely fires and idles very low or extremely high. Listen for a burbbling in the exhaust while riding. You can hear a bad cylinder that isn't running quit right and there would be a certain amount of power loss on top end as though the bike just stops gaining speed. I don't mean to be an alarmist, just that I've been through a couple bad motors and it ain't much fun after spending a lot of time and money on a bike and then a bad replacement motor. Personally I'd go with a bike that has never been down and spend a little more.

soonerfan85

Take the bike to a mechanic for pre purchase inspection including the aforementioned compression check. If the seller won't agree to this, on your dime of course, then I'd walk away. If you are serious about buying the bike and it has been properly maintained as presented by the seller, then he shouldn't balk too much.

Is $3K is a good deal? Well, two months ago I paid $3,600 for a black '98 Daytona with 15K miles, a PowerMax undertail exhaust and a less than complete service records. It did come with a rear side stand and a box of misc. extra parts and supplies. Even though I've had to buy 2 new tires and still will have to spring for the 12K mile service, I don't think it was a bad deal. If I were in the market for another Daytona and came across a yeller '99 for $3K I wouldn't waste any time in making a deal if the mechanicals checked out OK. Where was it you said this bike was located?

Now as to a new rider buying a 955cc bike, you should know that it will be quite the handfull. Many Daytonas tend to run a little rough below 3K rpms as well as being a little tall, so they're not great bikes for beginners to putt around town and learn to ride on. IF you are VERY careful, are a quick learner and don't do anything stupid, you should be comfortable riding the bike after 3-4 months or so. Or you could pick up a 750cc bike and start enjoying riding in a week or two. Like most first time buyers, myself and probably most of the other member of this board included, you are going to do what you want. So when you buy the Daytona, PLEASE take the MSF beginning rider safety course and give her the respect she deserves. Best of luck.

[ This message was edited by: soonerfan85 on 2006-10-01 06:39 ]

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