Co-worker offloading ‘06 VFR800 for cheap. Good deal or no?

Enable me? A co-worker has a high-mileage ‘06 VFR800 ABS that used to be his baby. His motorcycle riding has tapered down over the past year or two, and he’s reached the point of talking about selling. Earlier this winter it was, “maybe take her to a shop for fork seals and a check-over before listing it.” Yesterday he told me, “I’m at the point where if someone offered me $2k as it sits, I’d probably take it.” He said it is mechanically really good and rode great as of late summer. I don’t think it is listed anywhere yet.

The bike has 80-some thousand miles, but he is the meticulous type, if not the handyman DIY type. Every vehicle of his I’ve seen has always been spotless and he is always dressed sharp, FWIW. He once chastised me when he spotted my tires *nearing* the minimum tread depth for not having replaced them already. I haven’t seen the bike lately, but it is hard for me to imagine it being a clapped-out pile.

Pearl white, full titanium Leo Vince exhaust, maybe an aftermarket screen if my memory serves. I don’t think he has bags/luggage for it.

Am I crazy to think about scooping it up, doing any minor rehab needed, ride it for a season or two, and then flip it? I haven’t found any with comparable mileage advertised for sale, but the others I’ve seen listed online seem to be in a $3500-$6000 asking range. Even if this one is at the low end of that and I have to leave some negotiating room, it is hard to envision losing money on it. I’m not looking to make money on it, but I do enjoy the idea of trying out a sport touring bike for a bit without a big financial commitment.

Any thoughts?

If it's been well cared for $2k is "definitely go for it" money.  Those v-4s sound great & the exhaust is probably worth at least half of the buy in... :)

I had a Y2k VFR & loved it...

I got a few more details, and I'm going to find a time to go look at it in person. He had a mutual friend replace the water pump and battery recently. Fork seals have been sourced, but not installed. It might need new front brake pads, which he may or may not have. It hasn't been down, but one side of the front fairing has a minor crack from being bumped into in storage.

Go for it, probably- you can just flip it if you're not a fan.  I personally really hate the linked brakes on them at low speeds, but if that setup doesn't bother you they're good bikes.

If it’s not the VTEC version I’d say go for it. 

Even if its V-tec and linked brakes, go for it. You can get an easy $1,500+ over what you'll be paying if you don't like it.

Just keep in mind that adjusting the valves on a VTEC one takes on the short side of forever. 

Nope, ugly, slow, stupid, walk away.  What's his phone number though? 

Yeah definitely run and post any identifying information you have so we can be sure to avoid this deal if it ends up on Clist.  Phone, email, location those kinds of things just to be careful. 

They are great bikes but the mileage is where you have an issue. It's not that the bike cant easily handle another 80k mi easily but it really dissuades potential buyers for an easy flip.

If you are buying for yourself to ride and keep until it wont run $2k is a nice entry point especially with the already completed maintenance.

If you are buying to flip: I'd look for a better candidate. In perfect condition and fully stock with those miles high retail would be like $3k, private sale would be less. If... you can do the fork seals and find a fairing and likely tires all under 1k you might break even.

Dealing with the brakes on that bike is not fun. 2k is a decent price, but it's not exactly a "drop everything and buy it" price unless it's the anniversary listed above.  Or, you have 2k and just really want the bike in question, which sounds like the case, ha.

Cool bike for sure though, buddy of mine had the anniversary that he let me ride a few times. I was riding a fully-farkled DR650 with sumo wheels and the way that VFR rode was eye-opening.  At 6'4" it was a tight fit—not sure what size you have to be to really tour comfortably on one—but ultimately it's what pushed me into a more modern motorcycle. You could absolutely do worse.

I'm 6'4" and touring was made better with the following changes to my 6th gen VFR; 

Aftermarket seat (stock seat is garbage on these)(wish I had custom ordered the seat to keep it at stock height, most seem to drop some amount vs. the stock seat)

Bar spacers to lift the bars about an inch

Peg lowering blocks (partially negated by the aftermarket seat I got being nearly an inch lower than stock)

Aftermarket screen that I ended up cutting down lower than stock to move air blast to mid-chest vs. mid-neck

I put nearly 60k miles on mine including a couple multi-thousand mile road trips.  Went through two stators, a bunch of rubber cooling lines, and I ended up basically giving it away after electrical work on it got away from me.  Not my proudest moment. 

I bet his bike sounds insanely good with that exhaust system on it, and that white paint job looks outstanding.  Mine was not an ABS but this version (and all later VFR's) use linked brakes which are not hard to deal with at all.  

I replaced my 6th gen with a Z900rs which seems nice enough (hardly any time to ride it and weather has been awful since purchase late last year) but I sometimes wonder if I should have gone looking for a 5th gen VFR instead.  Same goofy cooling system, same frame/ergo's, but no VTEC 2/4 valve nonsense, gear driven cams, and just a bit more simple bikes.  It's hard walking away from the engine in the VFR.

^This!!

For 2k and owner is meticulous, I would buy it and ride the crap out of it.

I own a ratty 98 (5th gen) and love the hell out it!

Stock

Exhaust

After a multi-year slumber

Those do sound HOT when they wind up.

Over 80K mi on on a motorcycle is pretty high when you own it.


It is incredibly high when you try to sell it.

Used Sport bikes are hard to sell.  Even with low miles they are hard to sell.  Also the potential buyers (who will all want to ride it) are usually not paragons of virtue.  Buy to enjoy.  Don’t buy to flip.

Thanks for all the input so far! Figured I’d give you guys an update. It doesn’t need front brake pads, but it does need one out of two low beam headlight bulbs. Stator was replaced a while ago, and valves have been checked/adjusted fairly regularly, but probably wouldn’t hurt to check again in the next year or so. I scooped it up for $1800 with soft bags plus near top-of-line Dainese boots and two pair of high-end Dainese gloves. I figure I could have done worse, and the main plan is to do minor fixes, ride, and enjoy. At that price, I feel it is tough to go wrong because I really can’t lose much on it if I don’t love it.

Now that I have my grubby mitts on it; here’s the actual bike in question, at work and in the garage at home. You can see the crack in the upper fairing if you look closely.

Looks like a good score. The cracked fairing should be an easy fix. I'm pretty sure that's an ABS fairing. Some ABS cement applied on the back side and a little spot putty on the front and it will disappear.

Looking good. I'd probably try to see if I could find secondhand panels in the same colour rather than trying to repair the damage, might work out cheaper or at least better cosmetically.

There are places that do plastic welding that could fix it up, or you can buy your own kit do DIY it (I think Harbor Freight sells one.)