Author Topic: Advice needed on a used Classic 500 (Read 11208 times)

Mike in Oz · **on:** December 19, 2018, 09:04:24 am

G'day guys,

I'm looking at getting a used classic 500 from a mate, its a 2013 model and has 99600 kms on the clock.

Yes you read that right it 4k short of a 100k.

Now this will be my first enfield so have at it internet, what should I look out for in the way of potential dramas!

wildbill · **Reply #1 on:** December 19, 2018, 11:36:22 am

id play this one smart.....what price are we taking here $1000 max if more forget it!
that bike will cost you long term ...lets say bigger $$$ down the track
I actually know a guy selling a pegasus if your in the position fund wise to do the deal...just barely 200 klm on the clock
it will last you for many years rather than look at what your thinking of now which could end in many tears.....
just a thought...what if its one of my old bikes.....there out there everywhere...LOL

Mike in Oz · **Reply #2 on:** December 19, 2018, 12:53:05 pm

Quote from: wildbill on December 19, 2018, 11:36:22 am

id play this one smart.....what price are we taking here $1000 max if more forget it!
that bike will cost you long term ...lets say bigger $$$ down the track
I actually know a guy selling a pegasus if your in the position fund wise to do the deal...just barely 200 klm on the clock
it will last you for many years rather than look at what your thinking of now which could end in many tears.....
just a thought...what if its one of my old bikes.....there out there everywhere...LOL

Hey buddy,

I'm willing to spend $1000 AUD on the purchase (subject to tyre kicking and test ride) but I just want a cheap runaround and this bike apparently is rock solid.

A pegasus would be amazeballs but I'm 99% sure I can't afford it unless you have a brain snap and literally give it away!

wildbill · **Reply #3 on:** December 19, 2018, 01:24:33 pm

well if you can get it pretty cheap you might as well take the risk and see what happens.
either way once you start riding it I am sure you will have a bit of fun.
that Pegasus is serious $$$ so it looks like that unit is out of the question.
should you go ahead your best move is run say 100 pages back through these threads and look into 013 plated bike issues -that way you are partly prepared for the unexpected.

GlennF · **Reply #4 on:** December 20, 2018, 02:24:11 am

That is a lot of km for a 500cc single.

The viability of the bike will depend on a lot of factors including whether the engine is original or rebuilt and whether you are able to do basic maintenance (chain, oil change, fork oil air filters etc) yourself or will be relying on a dealer.

gizzo · **Reply #5 on:** December 20, 2018, 03:14:49 am

I'd jump on it. If it was going to break down it would have done it by now (my philosophy behind driving a 500,000km commodore) so it's probably bombproof. Just be sure to get it cheap.

Mike in Oz · **Reply #6 on:** December 20, 2018, 11:35:45 am

Thanks guys,

I'm pretty happy to be able to do the basic maintenance stuff and to be honest I quite like that sort of thing.

Gizzo has the right of it I think, if it was going to kark it, I think it would have done so already....

I'll update more after I get a look at it.

Bilgemaster · **Reply #7 on:** December 20, 2018, 02:54:36 pm

All I'll say is that it sounds MUCH better in American English: a five year old bike with about 60,000 miles for 700 bucks.

That's close to "Parts Bike" money around here. If it runs and stops and shifts...

mattsz · **Reply #8 on:** December 20, 2018, 04:14:00 pm

As long as you understand and accept that "2013 classic 500" and "rock solid" aren't often written together... but Bilgemaster has added some useful (I think) perspective...

Stanley · **Reply #9 on:** December 20, 2018, 07:04:30 pm

I paid $1700 for my barely running Bullet and it's become a truly pleasant exasperation.
$700 is close to free!

wildbill · **Reply #10 on:** December 20, 2018, 11:25:10 pm

see how you go on the inspection. if you decide it's not for you and the seller is in NSW just tell him I will buy the bike sight unseen and have some-one call and collect.
I could then for just plain curiosity sakes do a shoot out comparison 2018 model with 1000 miles against a 2013 with 60,000

Mike in Oz · **Reply #11 on:** December 26, 2018, 01:47:20 pm

lol thanks for the input guys, I will be duly cautious and expect a ongoing fixer upper project.

The seller is in WA so I think I'll grab it and just see what happens.

I'll post some pics of the saga as it unfolds, I'm just hoping its not a rusted lump of crap after six months under a tarp!

Bilgemaster · **Reply #12 on:** December 26, 2018, 05:18:58 pm

A little surface rust just gives it "vintage character," and the worst of it should polish right out. Just change all its fluids and filter to put it on notice that a kinder gentler new master's at the helm, and enjoy that beast. Most all of my rides have been "rescue dogs", and I've seldom been disappointed. Best of luck go with you, and yes, let's see some before and after pics, yeah?

wildbill · **Reply #13 on:** December 26, 2018, 11:29:38 pm

price is good especially if local. no good for any-one interstate as the transport cost and re- rego would sour up a great deal on a cheap bike.
you are in the right place at the right time.

gizzo · **Reply #14 on:** December 27, 2018, 03:47:07 am

too right, Bill. Bike prices are usually less in WA, i guess it's the transport cost and small pool of local buyers keeps the cost down. A mate bought a SV1000 from Bunbury (I think ) a few years ago for an absolute steal but ended up costing over a grand to have it delivered to Adelaide. First transport Bunbury-Perth then Perth-ADL + extra for spares.

dickim · **Reply #15 on:** December 27, 2018, 05:18:27 am

Somebody is ripping us off on transport / carriage in Australia! $1000 to get a boxed quad from Sydey to Perth. $600 to get boxed Trike kit from U.K to Perth and the trike crate is bigger & heavier!!!
For. US colleagues Sydney is East coast, perth is west.

GlennF · **Reply #16 on:** December 29, 2018, 12:02:32 am

Quote from: Bilgemaster on December 26, 2018, 05:18:58 pm

A little surface rust just gives it "vintage character," and the worst of it should polish right out.

Generally the surface rust on older bullets is on easily replaceable stuff like headlight rims and mirrors that can be picked for a few bucks from India based ebay sellers.

Kevin Mahoney · **Reply #17 on:** January 01, 2019, 09:27:26 pm

I have many great customers from Australia for my sidecar parts. I will say that shipping to Australia is very expensive.

dickim · **Reply #18 on:** January 02, 2019, 09:25:47 am

Agreed Kevin - I was lucky that the time difference meant that when you had a black Friday sale and the site was in "meltdown" when it settled down I was able to grab the whole muffler, pwr cmdr & filter meaning that the transport was nearly as much......

jvb · **Reply #19 on:** January 02, 2019, 09:20:50 pm

Quote from: Kevin Mahoney on January 01, 2019, 09:27:26 pm

I have many great customers from Australia for my sidecar parts. I will say that shipping to Australia is very expensive.

I'd love to understand why that is

Bilgemaster · **Reply #20 on:** January 02, 2019, 11:54:04 pm

Quote from: jvb on January 02, 2019, 09:20:50 pm

I'd love to understand why that is

In Australia they get you on the domestic carrier side, from port to door, as it were. But then, you know how hard it is to train marsupials to get a house number right? And their labor union, The Brotherhood of Furry Letter, Package and Virus Carriers, makes The Teamsters look like Sunday School teachers...

By the way, "Tony" from the Local Brotherhood 808 is here to discuss that new "Benefits Package"...

wildbill · **Reply #21 on:** January 10, 2019, 12:08:02 am

corner that old red bustard and if he gets nasty and turns on you- you'll get the shit kicked out of you for sure!...LOL

mattsz · **Reply #22 on:** January 10, 2019, 12:17:18 am

Hey! Where'd Tony go?

wildbill · **Reply #23 on:** January 10, 2019, 12:26:39 am

not easy to get $1000 here!

Bilgemaster · **Reply #24 on:** January 10, 2019, 04:28:15 pm

Quote from: wildbill on January 10, 2019, 12:08:02 am

corner that old red bustard and if he gets nasty and turns on you- you'll get the shit kicked out of you for sure!...LOL

At very least, I think it's safe to say that Tony don't wait in line at Starbucks for his latte and ALWAYS gets waved through at the clubs. If you could do that dead-eyed stare, you would too.

But even Tony stands aside when Hop Chop, the Shaolin Wu-Shu Master and "Kung Foo 'Roo", enters the room for his Chai Latte, as shown here demonstrating the ancient and deadly Fan Dance of a Thousand Purple Nurples form...

gizzo · **Reply #25 on:** January 10, 2019, 06:08:41 pm

Quote from: Kevin Mahoney on January 01, 2019, 09:27:26 pm

I will say that shipping to Australia is very expensive.

Yes. It's cheaper to pay extra to buy stuff from Europe and not get reamed on postage.

Bilgemaster · **Reply #26 on:** January 10, 2019, 09:36:58 pm

Say, I wonder if Mike ever got that Bullet down there? I'd be curious to see some pictures or maybe a video of what $1,000 Australian gets a fellow nowadays...

GlennF · **Reply #27 on:** January 10, 2019, 11:35:40 pm

Quote from: Bilgemaster on January 10, 2019, 09:36:58 pm

Say, I wonder if Mike ever got that Bullet down there? I'd be curious to see some pictures or maybe a video of what $1,000 Australian gets a fellow nowadays...

This lot ...

https://www.bikesales.com.au/bikes/road/under-1000/

Arizoni · **Reply #28 on:** January 12, 2019, 01:58:54 am

A 2008 Sachs Madass 125?
Now, that's a hell of a name for a little motorcycle if I say so.

I wonder if it makes a mad ass because the seat resembles a new Triumph Bonneville? The one I test rode had a seat that was as hard as an ironing board.

wildbill · **Reply #29 on:** March 02, 2019, 03:28:11 am

I always said -you cant buy a enfield for $1000 in Australia and expect t to be any good. I actually paid $10K and mine has a stuffed fuel filler cap. I cant put gas in -I cant get the cap off!

I am not taking it back to the dealer and leave it and come back and then take it back for the 10000 service. so what choice do I have?
id say sell it and try again...lol

spoke too soon ..its up on sale now...lol

Narada · **Reply #30 on:** March 02, 2019, 04:51:15 am

I can't believe that bike turned out to be such a piece of crap!

I hope the chrome ones are better...

wildbill · **Reply #31 on:** March 02, 2019, 11:20:37 pm

one can only hope...lol well overall it really is a pretty good bike and I can't say nothing bad about it apart from the gas cap lid which I cant open. if I do get it open I may change my mind...lol that will depend upon the locksmith tomorrow.
if you are a c5 owner and thinking interceptor...id still highly recommend the bike.
I was actually pretty disappointed when this cap incident happened as I was putting it in a bike show locally and that stopped that idea.

mike_bike_kite · **Reply #32 on:** March 04, 2019, 10:50:25 am

So did you get the old bike? do we get to see a picture? I was fairly impressed by the mileage in such a short space of time.

Richard230 · **Reply #33 on:** March 04, 2019, 02:02:01 pm

I had another thought for anyone who experiences this problem in the wild, with no other options: I bet you could jam a screwdriver into the key slot and use a pair of pliers on the handle for leverage to turn the screwdriver and break the lock tumblers so that the cap can be removed. Beats walking to the nearest locksmith.

(I know a lot about how to break things when trying to repair them.

)

Dalmatian man · **Reply #34 on:** March 04, 2019, 02:31:53 pm

Remove fuel tank
Invert
Remove fuel pump
Fill with fuel
Reverse steps 4 to 1
No problem

Alan France · **Reply #35 on:** March 14, 2019, 09:29:14 am

The 500 cc engine fitted to the bullet, classic and thunderbird is good for 200,000km if properly serviced ie oil changes. In India a lot of the touring bikes hired out have accumulated that sort of mileage. At over 100,000 km the fuel pump and the ecu are the things which fail. The answer is to convert to a carb. Hitchcocks do a conversion. I have one just in case but havent fitted it yet. The fuel injection is scrapped and the ignition side of the ecu is kept for the spark.

wildbill · **Reply #36 on:** March 17, 2019, 10:46:05 am

I once did 10,000 klm on one bike and it ran well so I thought I got a pretty good run out of it!

ringoism · **Reply #37 on:** March 17, 2019, 05:22:08 pm

200,000km's???!!! Well, living here in an Indian rental hub, I'm gonna call that assertion astonishing. Local dealership owner himself told me 40,000km's IF properly maintained. Granted the crankpins may have improved more recently but it's still an air-cooled engine of modest materials spec. Operators here are in the process of selling off everything 2014 and older now (new max-five-year-old state law for rentals), so 4-5 riding seasons, 25-30,000km's and I see a lot of oily tailpipes. I suppose that 2015-up could've been almost miraculously upgraded, but who's got one that new with a documented 100-200k on it??? Wait, this was a joke I missed, right? Oh, and fuel pumps (on Indian bikes at least) regularly, sometimes repeatedly crap out very early on, many, many bikes have been converted within a few years. To be honest I've never seen / heard of a bike up here with 100k but I've known of a fair number of pump failures.

But what happened to our poster? Was it "solid" or not, bought or not?

mike_bike_kite · **Reply #38 on:** March 17, 2019, 09:18:34 pm

The fuel pumps are cooled by the fuel they sit in. If you let the fuel run low then the pump doesn't get any cooling and subsequently burns out. I guess it happens in India more often than in the rest of the world simply because it's hotter there and perhaps folk don't mind letting the fuel levels run a little low before refilling.

gizzo · **Reply #39 on:** March 17, 2019, 10:44:27 pm

Quote from: wildbill on March 17, 2019, 10:46:05 am

I once did 10,000 klm on one bike and it ran well so I thought I got a pretty good run out of it!

Really? Which one, and why'd you sell it?
(I did 4500km on my bike last week. Big week but fun).

wildbill · **Reply #40 on:** March 17, 2019, 10:54:30 pm

I actually did 10,000 on a tan c5 I had till one day I was out riding with a guy on a Harley and he walked over and looked at the bike and said-it looks like it has an oil leak in the lower cylinder head-which it had and I hadn't noticed it.
so rather than take it back to the shop to get fixed I sold it and bought another new one and unfortunately that was a mistake as it was a very good very low vibration free bike...lol
unlike the next purchase ...lol

gizzo · **Reply #41 on:** March 17, 2019, 11:23:08 pm

Sigh...
I had a go on a mate's new interceptor the other day.. I reckon that could be a bike for life, if it's reliable. Damn the motor is smooth.

wildbill · **Reply #42 on:** March 18, 2019, 02:41:09 am

could just be...lol if at a later date I decide to go back I might still go a chrome. hard to say there! at the moment I been thinking. I thought about a Himalayan for a few days but that was about it and decided I wont take the risk of being caught down a back road and having to do a walk out.
any day now I think I will buy a new 019 Kawasaki x300 versys or Yamaha xt 250
not sure which bike yet but I do know I will be buying something soon.
I want a bike if I strike a problem I can just go locally to the shop and say can you fix this! not one I have to decide what to do about it and the only choice is a 500 klm cart off in the van for the fix
lucky for me the c5 is running fine....lol

Warwick · **Reply #43 on:** March 18, 2019, 06:45:53 am

Wildbill. The new Triumph Speed twin looks the goods and with the Thruxton engine it should go too. If you want low seat height the Indian scout is also a nice bike. What about a Suzuki bandit of similar?

GlennF · **Reply #44 on:** March 19, 2019, 02:51:51 am

Quote from: gizzo on March 17, 2019, 11:23:08 pm

Sigh...
I had a go on a mate's new interceptor the other day.. I reckon that could be a bike for life, if it's reliable. Damn the motor is smooth.

I had my shaft drive XJ900 for 26 years. Only got rid of it because the tank rusted out and it was impossible to replace.

gizzo · **Reply #45 on:** March 19, 2019, 05:58:23 am

Too bad. I've had that experience recently myself. My wife's Monster's tank rusted out very badly. That took a lot of repairing. I was going to throw it in the bin and replace it but same as you, couldn't buy one for her model.
I've had my pantah for 27 years so far....

mike_bike_kite · **Reply #46 on:** March 20, 2019, 11:18:32 pm

When I got married my wife and I had been living in various countries and she wanted to stay in the UK for the honeymoon. I naturally decided on a motorbike camping trip round Scotland on my XJ900. It pissed down. I think it was nearly divorce by day 3. Hey ho.