Buying a new bike: Newer/needs help vs. older/looks good

[Croz]

OK. As I continue my quest for a new bike, I'm coming up against options that need to be considered. I'm on a fairly tight budget for this initial purchase, but can fit in upgrades/fixes in the future. I purposely left brands out so that wouldn't be the driving issue in the discussion.


Here's the latest conundrum: Newer/lower miles/needs some cosmetic help vs. Older/higher miles/looks good now.

Examples:

A 2004 cruiser, with about 15,000 miles. Mechanically flawless, but the owner kept it under a cover full time here in Florida and has some things that need replacing due to oxidation, such as turn signals, and some chrome. Also has some scratches on the tank.

vs:

A 1994 cruiser, with about 35-40,000 miles. Mechanically sound, and looks great with the exception of the normal wear for a 16 year old bike.

If both were in your budget, which way would you go?

[bagobones]

Go for low miles.

Bones and I had a high mileage CX650 blow up on us on a road trip.

My first goldwing (81) blew up just short of 80K (far short of what a GL1100 should reach).

Now my 81 Virago has a mysterious knock at 22K. I haven't yet gotten to opening the engine up to figure out what broke. Anybody got a spare Virago engine?

Point is, with old high mile bikes there is no way to know how the engine was treated, or if oil changes were made regularly, or at all.

Oxidized aluminum or rusty chrome can be replaced (or embraced!). Go for the bike that is more mechanically sound, every time.

My $.02, offered for free.

 

[mrbones]

I can only agree with that statement.

[dt]

Oxidized aluminum or rusty chrome can be replaced (or embraced!). Go for the bike that is more mechanically sound, every time.

+1

One thing I took away from two big vintage events this year was those enthusiasts appeared much more interested in sound mechanics than they did aesthetics. Doesn’t mean they were riding around on rat bikes, but clearly they weren’t replacing the tarnished parts and just scrubbing the rust off where that appeared. Yet the bikes sure sounded like they were running good.