It seems the CX500 was outgrown rapidly ( at about 6000 total miles ridden) and that was somewhat expected anyway. It was that reason that found my son cruising the internet on Craigslist and tripping over an ad for a 1980 Goldwing. It seems the owner was using it to commute daily into the city from his home in the crowded suburbs and was tiring of dodging traffic with a large touring bike. He was seeking to sell the Goldwing, and find a smaller more nimble bike that would deliver excellent fuel economy as well as reliability and maneuverability. The CX fits that bill remarkably as the courier services knew in the lat 70's and early 80's as this was eventually the primary use of this bike.
After several exploratory e-mails were traded, my son asked me to go look at this bike he was thinking about trading his CX for...(he owned the CX even though is was registered to both of us in order to reduce insurance costs). I asked to read his e-mail exchange and found that not only did this deal look legit, it was a guy I knew from the Goldwing club going back several years.
So we went to look at this bike -
Trade made, and registration complete, we started into the task of making this bike as up to date and reliable as possible. During this phase of riding and testing we soon discovered that the overall maintenance on the bike had fallen woefully behind.
Simple things like brake fluid levels, coolant, and brake pads were neglected. The clutch cable need replacing, and adjustment, and the valve tappets had not been adjusted for some time. The tires needed replacing , but we knew that going in, but the other more simple things are the ones that I worried about. It is more about the lack of caring, and not so much about the expense of caring that I worry about. If these bikes are neglected and just ridden hard and put away, they tend to break down rather sooner than later.
So - I was relegated to doing ALL the maintenance that had been forgotten or ignored for some time in an effort to at least create a time line base for our regular intervals going forward.
Here is where the costs come in and a dose of reality appears. I am convinced the previous owner was not so concerned about the riding the bike , as much as the cost of maintaining the bike going forward . He had reached a precipice of potential debt as one looks at all the things that needed doing. And if his financial situation was not liquid, it would be back breaking. Here are the things we have decided to do and the approximate costs so far... bear in mind I have not factored in any LABOR hours as I do all this work myself...
Clutch Cable - $20
Oil change - $20
Radiator flush & fill - $20
Rear final drive flush & fill - $10
New brake pads (3 sets) & Master cylinder rebuild kits (2 sets Front & rear) & caliper rebuild kits (3 sets) - $250
Tires (pending spring) - $175
Final Drive Moly - $10
Brake fluid flush & fills - $10
Clutch cable adjustments - $0 but several hours
New battery - $100 (in spring)
Add - ons -
LED lights - TBD
Handlebar CB Radio - $0.00 - we already owned it at about $300
So in total a little over $600 to get it road worthy and dependable again...
That is the hidden cost of an older motorcycle. These costs are static across any bike one may own however these maintenance items come up at differing intervals if you already own the bike and the costs are not so apparent. And if one is tight on cash as many are recently due to the economic downturn suffered these past few years these items can be shuffled into the future. But they can not be ignored forever, and I think that is the hurdle the previous owner faced, and did not want to deal with, when he traded off his much more valuable bike for a cheaper model.
Considering the actual investment coast of both bikes at this point it seems we have the better end of the deal... The CX represents a total investment of about $1200 so that becomes the base cost of the GL. Add on the $600 and we are into the GL for under $1900 and the real worth of it in the spring sellers market would be $2200 approximately. The added benefit is that my son gets to ride a bigger, better smoother bike when we travel together next summer, and probably increase his ability to go farther in any one day without testing the limits of his endurance.
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| Ergonmic comparison CX500 Custom vs GL1100 Interstate |
