Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Found my BA.Little advice needed from you experts.

I've found the BA I've been looking for.Wow,are'nt they hard to find!Anyway,I've got a hundred quid down on it,pending a test ride ride on Friday,just a couple little niggles I wanna pass over you guys.She's done 15500 miles,2003 model,seems to be pretty good,but I've noticed some rust/missing chrome at the exhaust downpipes near the heads,is this normal?Anything else to look for would be much appreciated.Cheers,Steve.

It's a bike that's been ridden in this country in the winter. The pipes on mine are the same. And I rode all winter.

If that's all you can find on it....I'd take their hand off!

15500 miles is about right for a 3 year old.

Where you at in the East Mids??

And welcome!

Ta Gina.I'm in Long Eaton,near Nottingham.The chrome on the front rim looks like it may have been well polished with Autosol,but the general state of the chrome doesn't seem bad.It's got full service history from the dealer I'm getting it from,so I'm not too worried.

If you like it, buy it. You can always replace the pipes.

Welcome to the club.

Hi steve welcome to the forum.. Most of us do meets or rallies and the big one next year will be held in sweden, so hopefully meet up with you sometime..

Hiya Steve
Welcome aboard.
Get the bike and come out to play!

is there is rust only on exhaust that is normal take it !!!!!

Really Gina!Did you know that Pidcocks have opened a Triumph dealership in LE near the Royal Oak? Small world eh.

And Adey,I work in Burton loads,round the brewers and the Marmite factory.

Welcome Steve!- you have forgotten an important point to look for- what colour is it?...<here we go>

Quote:

---

you have forgotten an important point to look for- what colour is it?

---

Trouble maker

hope its RED

I'll be honest with you mate, once you ride it, you will buy it, even if it's ready for the knackers.
The pipes are not a big problem, there is an aftermarket company that sells stainless steel pipes that will never rust. Can't remember who it was, but you might be able to find mention of them if you use the search engine on this site. As long as the frame is not rusting and it runs well, the bike will be alright.
Another bit of advice, plan the longest possible route home incase you do decide to buy. You are not going to want to get off it any sooner than you have too.

To all you colour conscious types it's blue,I've just had the call that they've fitted a new tyre,and it's ready for test ride tomorrow.Whoo-hoo!

Blue???
That will make, I think, 5 blue bikes in UK hands on this site!!

Get it, you know it makes sense!

You'll find the blue owners show a little more class than the others ....

(blue touch paper has been lit and I'm retiring 10 yards ... )

... OK, with the exception of me ...

Does that include Blue Thruxton Riders...?

Oh ... go on then.
We'll let you in ... while you have it.

Naturally, none of us would dare disagree with Adey, he is a Viscount after all, so he must be right about those Blues!!

Steve, I've got an '03 with 25,000+ on her, sounds good from the description, and mileage is LOW (by my standards(grin)...

Would you Brits just let me know what you think to the price,£3800,I know it's a little high,but then it's from a dealer and I get a years warranty on it.I've been and had another poke round it,and it's better than my first impression,ie the pipes aren't that rusty,the only real thing is a scrape on the rear mudguard at the bottom that's been rather poorly touched up.It's a 52 reg,I think he said it was registered in early 2003.And it's got a sissy bar and a screen.There just isn't many around to choose from.Mucho appreciado.

Shake his hand off!!! Really!

I wouldn't say the price was too high. I paid £5000 for mine - an 03, with 3500 on the clock.

If you don't shake their hand off and don't buy it let me know where it is - I may be in the market for one in a couple of weeks...

Sounds OK to me.
If it didn't have them and you bought them seperately, the screen and sissy bar are worth a few hundred new.

That's it then.Looks like I'll be having it.

do it ...do it ...do it- im sure you will be happy!

Miles.

Steve - just a word of caution re the mileage. I've recently part exchanged a 2 year old bike with 8000 miles (yeah, I know that's nothing, and a lot of guys on here do a lot more than that), but having gone around a few dealers they all told me that the mileage was high. They expect about 3000 a year on these bikes as average.

That's absolutely no reason not to buy the bike, especially as it's reflected in the price, and I'm sure the engine will be good for another umpteen thousand, but might just be worth bearing in mind the likely value in a year or two if you're expecting to do a big mileage yourself and then sell it on.

Might be woth confriming that the valve clearances have been checked (due every 10k miles I think), as I understand that this can be quite expensive if a dealer does it. Also check the service history in general, especially oil and filter changes (due every 6k miles, but better to do every 3K IME)

BTW, I hope your test ride is OK. I'm sat not many miles from Long Eaton at 11.30am on Friday and there's a thunderstorm raging outside

Parkers says the price should be more than you're paying, but I assume they're looking at a lower mileage. Still looks a good price though:

http://www.parkers.co.uk/pricing/used_bike/valuation.aspx?deriv=5351&plate=71

Thanks guys.Good test ride.Sorted some insurance from Bennets.Pick it up in the mornin.You see that blue streak on the A38 Adey?

Could be me!

Did you notice the new speed camera towards Lichfield?

Let me know if you want a meet - I'll PM you my mobile number.