What are some common issues to look for before buying?
>>28906220They're good bikes, to my knowledge there aren't any shadow specific major common failure points. So the more common universal checks like fork seals, brakes, head stock, tires, cold starting, fluid leaks, would be where to look. Depending on the age of the bike they were either chain or shaft, if it's a chain then look at the condition of it, how far back on the adjuster the rear wheel is, and if the rear wheel is aligned. Check with the owner how frequently they did oil changes and what repairs or maintenance items they've done.
>>28906220>what are thosethe bike
>>28906220No title, no buy
My '99 I had there was an issue with the regulator rectifier burning up the wires at the plug underneath the seat.
>>28906220Most comon failure point is not buying honda, sounds like you already sorted that out, buy away. i recommend you try a vtx1800 first. You can buy it cheap and re sell if you dont like it
>>28906220>What are some common issues to look for before buying?anoneither buy new or face the possibility of diagnosing some random failure that wont let it start or run nice
>>28906220Depends a ton on the model. Most people grab the shaft drives which are crazy reliable. They'll require someone who knows about them to work on them though so make sure if you're buying an older gal you get it ran over so you don't die
>>28906220Don't buy any 80s models. Pretty much any unmolested Honda regardless of age is good, but surprisingly even Honda gets it wrong occasionally, and they did back then. The 750 got a "mid-cycle refresh" sometime in the 2000s where they moved the radiator in line with the frame downtubes. In my opinion this looks better but I think they made some other minor improvements at the same time. I'd get one of those. Either that or one of the 600s. I had a 600 briefly and while it was pretty slow by my standards, it was an excellent bike.And take anything TJ says with a grain of salt. If he truly knew what he was doing at this point, he would at minimum put up dyno numbers for his performance kits.
>>2890622025k miles on a bike is like 100k miles on a car.Sure you can squeeze 400k out of a Camry if it was properly maintained over the years but you dont have any guarantee of that.If its over 50k miles just walk away and find something else.
>>28907998>25k miles on a bike is like 100k miles on a car.This completely depends on the type of motorcycle but even then is more of a meme than anything.
>>28906220The only Shadow worth buying is the 1100, the vtx isn't a technically a Shadow and even then, the vtx 1300 sucks compared to the Shadow 1100, the 1800 is a beast though but the VTX isn't a Shadow. The Shadow 750 is lame because underpowered single pin crank but the Shadow VLX 600 is based. The 1100 is the best because it's about the same size and weight as the 750 but has a lot more balls if it's a dual pin 1100, dual pin vt1100 have more horsepower than the single pin vtx 1300 and weighs like 50lb less. Common problems with the 1100 first is stator wires melting because of shit stock voltage regulator, second is the design needs a fucking fuel pump that likes to fail randomly, and third normies will call it a Harley and Harley/Indian bikers will be triggered by it because the 1100 is more American and Made in USA. Also the dual pin 1100 is special because it's a USDM specific bike and only the single pin was imported to Japan and other countries. The firing interval of the dual pin is a unique 495°-225°Also, the 8:1 compression and fuel pump are flaws until you realize it's a prime platform for a turbo bike build. It's even better when you learn the Mitsubishi TD025 from the 0.9L Fiat TwinAir fits the flow rate of of the vt1100, that means turboing the vt1100 is just a carburetor mod and exhaust/intake piping away
>>28907998That applies to most bikes mostly because most bikes need spin high rpm to daily ride. The vt1100 is different for a bike, it has peak torque at 2700rpm and has a redline about 6500rpm (peak power at 5000) that means this bike gets around using the same rpm range as a car. On top of that, this bike uses a shaft drive and it has hydraulic zero lash cam adjusters, meaning no valve clearance for the whole life of the vehicle. VT1100s have been known to hit 200k miles
Buy the 20 year old HarleyThank me later
>>28907881lol what? I found my dad a 1983 VT500C and it seems to be running fine. I put new fork seals on it and freshened up the oil last year. It's also a shaft drive like my 1983 CB1000C so you don't have to fuck around with rear axle alignment. The guy who owned it thought it was a good idea to tear the baffles out of the pipes to make it louder, but it just looks like shit. I also think it messes with how it runs, because when you fuck with the exhaust back pressure you sometimes have to re-jet the carbs to work properly.I don't think there's a way to fix the baffles, so I might have to scrounge up some exhausts from somewhere.
