Walter Barlow is throwing down the gauntlet with a challenge of finding some cool bikes for sale on the world wide web for $5k. This resonates strongly with me as I’ve always had “categories” of bikes you can filter with here on Bike-urious, and only one of them is price based: Less than 5k. So, what do you got?
Enjoy what Walter had to share below. And I’ll add a little something to it – leave your entry for the best $5k or less bike for sale right now in the comments and I’ll award my personal favorite a Bike-urious or Iconic Motorbikes t-shirt. My (admittedly subjective) judging criteria is:
1. actually looks like it will run
2. is interesting to me, meaning it’s a bike I’d actually buy for myself (good luck with that one)
Knowing that #2 is pointlessly subjective, I’ll extend the gift offer to my 2nd place choice as well…
Alright, here’s Walter!
Are you like me? Even when I’m not specifically looking to buy a bike, I’m pretty much always “looking”; if you know what I mean. Part of that is when I want to buy a bike, I’m almost always pretty certain of what I want: with very few exceptions. Like recently, in looking to downsize to a smaller adventure bike from my KTM 1190 Adventure, the only ones I considered were an Aprilia Tuareg or my eventual choice, a KTM 890 Adventure. It was close, but maybe ordained, because after taking the 890 out, I never even took the Tuareg for a test ride, as interested as I thought I was in it.
Anyway, back to the subject at hand. Notwithstanding my personal buying habits, I do enjoy motorcycle window shopping. And I admit that Facebook Marketplace is a pretty good place to do it. There are lots of ways to window shop sites – but my method of choice is to basically keep the search local to my zip code and not specify motorcycles – since I also “minor” in shopping other things as well.
Anyway, using that criteria and capping my window shopping at $5,000 or less (as the FM posting price): and just page through a dozen or so screens and see what piques my interest. Keep that in mind – these are bikes that I find interesting, not necessarily great bargains or deals.
Here’s what a day’s sampling found. I’ll include the link to it, but given time delays in writing and getting it to the site- you may be too late. Though, considering the rather soft sellers market, maybe not. I only included bikes that (according to the ad were said to be (or implied) to be ready to go. No “ran when parked”, “just needs carbs adjusted”, “just needs xx/oo be completed.”
First up – at $4,900 – a 2002 KTM Duke II: arguably the originator of the factory supermoto. I had an original 1996 Duke (aubergine), and it was a blast: sort of a sportbike you could take on dirt road and have just as much fun. Sold it when the 950 Supermoto came out. As I said when the first day I bought it – I don’t know how KTM made a 450 pound twin feel like a 350 pound single (except for more than doubling the power) – but they did.
This is a gen 2 version – though called a 640, actually 625cc iirc: mine was called a 620, but was 610cc or thereabouts. Other changes include mag wheels vs spokes on the earlier versions, and a mild restyle featuring stacked headlights. And yes, they vibrated – all the LC4s did, but to various degrees. I’ve owned a few LC4s and ridden all the models: I found Dukes generally the smoothest, Enduros generally a bit more vibey (noticeable on highways specifically, then various 690s, and the worst ones were 640 Adventures. Vibes aside, they are rock solid bikes that are an absolute hoot to ride.
What the hell, here is the one I had lol:
2006 Honda VFR800 – $2,800.
Time seems to have passed the VFR by. Or maybe it’s passed by a lot of the folks that used to buy them. From the early ’90s to about 2015, Gen 2 to Gen 6 VFRs were near the top of the list for a lot of folks who wanted a first class sport-tourer. Reviewers generally loved it – despite not having top tier suspension or brakes: the magic of that V4 combined with the superlative chassis dynamics and the outstanding human-machine touch points to captivate many who rode it. In my opinion, the 2nd iteration of Gen 6 (where they raised the VTEC parameters) is the best one. Maybe the Gen 8 is better, but I think Honda made the ergos too sporty for the target audience. But they’re all pretty great bikes – I’ve owned 13 VF/VFRs going back to 1983.
Speaking of missing – many current (and increasingly, former) VFR owners think Honda absolutely missed the boat with the Gen 7 VFR1200. Pretty much every VFR owner I’ve ever spoken with prior to 2010 wanted any new VFR Honda produced to have a 1,000cc V4 with high quality adjustable suspension and great brakes; while keeping all the generic VFR secret sauce. What Honda gave us was a bike that, while pretty good in isolation, tried to be too many things to too many people, or seemed confused about what it was supposed to be. And that, combined with some pretty damn good sport touring bikes other manufacturers were building, doomed it to mediocre sales.
BTW, here is an “excellent condition” Gen 5 VFR for $2,900 – which many people (but not me) say is the best.
1985 Honda VF1100S Sabre V65 – $1,900. This seems like a great price for an 80’s performance (straight line version lol) icon. I’ve never ridden an 1100, but have ridden a couple of 750 versions and they were pretty nice. Handled ok as well for the times.
Cycle World really likes it. Their summary says: “The Sabre is one of a kind now. All the other factories make full-fairing touring bikes and sports-fairing racer replicas and Milwaukee-styled muscle bikes. But only Honda makes a big, strong, comfortable bike that doesn’t depend on a niche.”
As an aside, here’s a different one that looks nicer and has some nice mods for a bit more.
2005 Suzuki SV1000 – $3,300
A bike I’ve never ridden; but I have ridden both TL versions (S & R) as well as a V-Strom, and the engine, as everybody says, is a gem. I think the design has aged well and they are pretty rare – which may appeal to you. Reliability should not be an issue at all. Reviews were generally positive. That’s a pretty good price for a not so old and reasonably distinctive bike.
1998 Kawasaki ZX-11 – $4,000
Bikes hardly get more legendary than ZX-11s. BTW, he has the lowers off for painting. And the seller also says it’s in “like new” condition.
2003 Ducati ST4S ABS – $4,500
Duc STs are really nice bikes – I did my 2nd Iron Butt ride on one, followed by a track day at Pocono (where it scared me half to death on my 3rd lap when the brake heat boiled the fluid and the lever came all the way back to the grip). Notwithstanding that (I flushed and changed the fluid trackside and it was ok after that) I loved the bike. It was both fast and quick, handled very well, and did it while keeping me comfortable. Plus decent luggage! The 4 had the 4 valve 916 motor (the 2 had the 2 valve 900 motor). At that time, a lot of folks just didn’t get a Ducati sport-touring bike; and and/or were possibly scared off by reliability concerns (which were unwarranted) and valve adjustment/maintenance costs (legit concern). This one has relatively low mileage and some nice upgrades and apparent real good maintenance history.
1993 Ducati 900 Super Sport SP – $5,000
Right at the limit – I had one that I used for over 40,000 miles and it was one of my 5 favorite bikes I’ve owned. This looks like a very nice and well cared for bike that has been recently serviced. There were some systemic issues on some, so check that out (FWIW, mine only had a frozen chain adjustment bolt).
You know your inner Hunter Thompson wants you to sing its song.
2007 Aprilia Tuono – $4,500
Tuonos, like pretty much every Aprilia, are outstanding bikes. I have a lot of V-Twin Rotax-engined Aprilia experience across all of the models that used it, and they are all among the best bikes in their categories. While they are all stylish, great performers in all aspects, and are reliable with excellent build quality: in my mind they excel in the rider-machine interface experience. I’m pretty sure I did the first Aprilia V-Twin review in the US (a Falco) and I gave it a very high compliment – I wrote that the human-machine interface was as good as Honda: in fact, I wrote that it could just as well have been an Italian Honda – which would be the best of both worlds.
The Tuono is all that, and arguably ushered in the era of the naked (or semi-naked) close to full-on sportbike: which has blossomed over time into the rich market for them we have today (where, BTW, I think the V4 Tuono reigns supreme).
2013 Honda CB1100 – $5,000
I included this because they are such nice bikes – sort of the Tom Hanks of motorcycling. No other reason.
1975 Yamaha RD350 – $3,000
I was always a little too large to consider owning an RD or any other variant of Yamaha’s legendary two stroke But I did get to ride a TZ350 at Bridgehampton in the 70’s. Made me glad I was too big to consider getting one LOL. If you’re the right size person and are gimlet eyed enough, you’ll strike fear into all the posers at Bike Nights when you pull up and they hear those chambers poppin’. It’s been sitting for a couple years, but they are very easy to get running, so I made a slight exception for both a bike I’d buy as well as being ready to ride.
2001 KTM 640 – $2,900
I’ve had one and thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s what all the Japanese 650 singles want to be when they grow up. Strong motor, excellent suspension, and terrific chassis dynamics (typical KTM secret sauce). They are rock solid platforms and there is a great user community and farkle support for them. Yes, they do vibrate: but OTOH they’re so fast off pavement that you’ll be so scared you won’t notice it LOL.
2006 KTM Super Enduro – $4,500
This one pressed close against my “ready to ride”, as the ad says it needs some maintenance- but damn! The King Kong of dirt ready big bikes for under $5k has to be included. Another bike I had (I should say survived lol) for 45,000 miles that was always thrilling to ride. If you live for off pavement adrenaline rush – this is your two wheeled crack!
Those are Walter’s entries that inspired this challenge – what do you have to share?