Yeller 05 vs orange 08

[Buster]

I totalled my black 05 over a month ago The situation is I still LOVE the S3 and can't think of any better roadbike out there.

I have my thoughts over these to options:

Orange 08 with fly screen and seat cowl new for almost 13K
Yeller 05 with 10.000 miles for 8K and keep 5K in the pocket

The only thing I am afreight of with a second hand bike is the lack of knowledge about history; accidents, hard landings eg cracks in frame?!

What would you do?
What the risk engine / framewise? what do you think?

[GDMOOD]

i reckon u should go the new one. the orange is hot! i think its a modern interpretation of the construction orange of the original S3 of '94 - '96. most ppl don't like the yella.

the new one has the brembos, upgraded ecu for better fuel economy. they've redesigned, upgraded and modded everything that most S3 owners do to customize their bikes.

if u wana do a second hand one, then i reckon go for a roulette green '07. apart from the cool colour this also has fixed the bugs of the '05 and '06.

[Dlanod]

I was at the dealer today and decided to go for a new 07 model simply because I don't really fancy any of the 08 colours - had a black one, not sure about white and orange is not my thing. So thankfully, there was a Roulette Green in stock - great colour! (and I got some goodies as well!)

[dblhelx]

new. Don't inherit another person's abuse. And you know these bikes are abused. I wheelie mine everyday, race it around town like a devil. You're gonna spend money, anyway, to modify it. The 2005 model had a couple of problems and you don't know if the previous person had it fixed (mushy breaks, less than perfect ECU). Get the new one, pay more towards it every month until you get the value down or just below to the low Kelly Blue Book value so if you need to sell it you can just walk away and pay off the loan.

[Mindonkman]

Go new--better brakes and ECU. I think the 05 is overpriced. A year ago I paid $8200 for an 06 with 1300 miles.

[BigRedandRiding]

I'm late in on this one but dont get the '05 when a new bike can be had for $1000 more. (8 grand for almost any three year old bike with 10K miles on it is way too high.)

Save yourself almost 3 grand off the '08 and get a new leftover '07 (or '06 if you can find it). It's basically November now, and in another two months dealers are gonna start heavily discounting their in stock '07's to make space for the '08's.

If you can wait until spring or the beginning of the year (Jan-Feb.), I would bet Triumph will also start up their $500-$1000 dollars in free accessories deal they have had for the last two years.

Good luck!

[lootyman]

Originally Posted by Mindonkman

Go new--better brakes and ECU. I think the 05 is overpriced. A year ago I paid $8200 for an 06 with 1300 miles.

sucker...i paid 7500 for a black 06 with 1100 and all the accessories, including the TORS :P


if you're concerned about frame and engine cracks, etc...you shouldn't be.
any bike with that kinda damage gets totaled...not traded in at the dealer.

the 08 improvements are probably worth paying for

[Buster]

8 grand for almost any three year old bike with 10K miles on it is way too high.

I happened to live in "euro" country.. where a new S3 is 12300 euros (yes around 17500 US$) and 8K is a good price for an 05!

[BigRedandRiding]

Originally Posted by Buster

I happened to live in "euro" country.. where a new S3 is 12300 euros (yes around 17500 US$) and 8K is a good price for an 05!

Mea culpa!
I failed to note where your were posting from and since you didn't mention it was 10K Euros, I just assumed you meant dollars. But regardless - at those prices, just buy one in the US, have someone hold it for six months so you can avoid the import duty and pay a few hundred dollars to have it shipped back to Amsterdam. :-)

[dr_gallup]

I wouldn't be afraid of an 05. These motors are pretty bullet proof. Make sure it has had the front brake piston upgrade done. However, if you could find a new or leftover 07 for a good price it does have the ECU upgrades. The styling changes on the 08 don't do anything for me and the only real performance improvement is the lighter wheels. Some people will swoon over the Brembo brakes but I doubt they are actually any better than a properly functioning set of Nissins.