Triumphrat

06-22-2006

Hi everyone,

I stumbled onto the site after falling in love with a speed Triple I saw on the road,

I have since sold my old kawasaki vulcan and have been searching for a good deal on a bike <---going back to school

I found a 2001 Speed Triple on e-bay

13,701 miles

good price (sofar) 3500.

My question. (after having seen used the search function)

is still this.

1. is this a good deal as it is
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...e=STRK:MEWA:IT

and 2. apart from the oil change and such, what could I expect in costs of "service" for the bike ?

It looks like there are older bikes with the same amount of miles maybe high wear and tear on this blue one ?

(compared to this 98 model)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1998-...QQcmdZViewItem

or maybe you guys have other places that I can search for a bike... these are very rare around here in VA ...

Thanks guys for any info

[ This message was edited by: doncamino on 2006-06-22 21:01 ]

stmike · 06-23-2006

Looks like a very sweet bike, and 3500 would be a nice price in my opinion. Check the classifieds on this site as well, as some good deals come up frequently.

miker · 06-23-2006

I can't comment on the price, but if the auction has a few days to run, the price may go up a bit more yet.

As for the bike, it looks quite good from the pics, although I always worry about custom stuff and how well it was fitted by the previous owner. I'd rather do that myself, if I was into custom.

In general, the earlier S3s are great, really great. Not quite as punchy as the 1050, but in normal riding conditions, there isn't a lot in it. I've done almost 90,000kms on mine and only ever done the services and replaced one cooling fan, because it got some ***** in it that fried the fan motor.

I've done some 1,000 km weekends with a passenger and gear, plus I commute 50km each way every day, rain hail or shine. The only draw back in the commute is my dirt bike bars are a bit wider than I'd really like for safer lane splitting, if there is such a thing.

If it speaks to you, grip it with both knees, you'll love it.

Mick

2bugeyez · 06-23-2006

Don,
I've had my '01 since new--just turned 24k on it & it still thrills!
Great for canyon carving or commuting--it does it all! Sounds like a decent deal if the price doesn't climb higher. Check the cycle trader--there's usually good deals on it.

Captain_Rat · 06-23-2006

I would feel pretty good about buying that bike. First of all, that guy has dumped a lot of money into it. The aftermarket parts alone are worth a bunch. Secondly, I believe that guy probably took good care of it. If you look at his buying history in eBay you can see that he is virtually rebuilding an old 1972-73 Kawasaki. This guy is mechanically inclined. With his abilities and the types of parts he put on to make it look good, my sense is that you're looking at a well cared for bike.

If it stays at a price that fits your budget I give it a thumbs up.

I would second the www.cycletrader.com suggestion. That's another good place to shop and compare prices.

Good luck.

Capt.

[ This message was edited by: Captain_Rat on 2006-06-23 07:36 ]

dr_gallup · 06-23-2006

That bike looks sweet. My experience with eBay auctions is that everybody holds off until the last minute then the price shoots up. Hope you get it at a reasonable price.

Captain_Rat · 06-23-2006

You'd have a grin that couldn't be wiped off for a year when you ride this thing and compare it to your Vulcan 750.

I remember when I first got my S3. I used to hell into my helmet. Wooohooooo!!!!

Capt.

nyburner · 06-23-2006

Found my 2000 for $3400 w/ under 4K miles on craigslist.com
I'd say it is THE used motorcycle resource, over cycletrader [mostly dealerships] and ebay [not local].

Andhedrew · 06-23-2006

Not familiar with the value of the 2001 but recently purchased a 2003 off from Ebay after searching EXTENSIVELY for a few months. A few suggestions:

If you are going to use Ebay call the guy first and make sure everything is legit. If you decide to bid, wait until the last 30 seconds of the auction (down to 10 seconds if you can) and bid whatever is the most you are willing to pay. I got my bike this way... I bid $5,252 with about 16 seconds left and got it for $5,252 (the next highest bid was $5,200 and was placed with 3 seconds left). People were calling the guy the day the auction ended offering in the $6,000 range for him to reneg on his ebay deal with me. Luckily, the guy was stand-up and sold me a well taken care of bike for a grand less than one just like it sold on ebay a day earlier (and it was only 50 miles from his location). I should note that I had to make a 1,000 mile round trip to pick it up though.

Cycletrader.com is one to check daily.

Powersportsnetwork.com can be looked at but is usually dealers wanting top dollar for the used bikes.

Use the Yahoo! or Google search functions to search Craigslist. Basically just input "Craigslist" and "Speed Triple" and start going through the results.

Other than that it can be very frustrating doing online searches. I was able to find a small number of bikes through other forums but even finding the forums required a bit of luck.

Good luck in your search. These really are awesome bikes.