advise required

[cxgaz]

hi all

I am a new member on this forum so i would just like to say hi and ask a few questions if I may. I currently own a very nice Honda CX 650 Turbo and I live in Portsmouth.

I used to own an early Africa Twin a few years ago and the one metre seat height suited me perfectly (I am six foot three). I loved the bike but i had to sell it because the output shaft was f*cked where the previous owner had welded the front sprocket on. It had obviously worn and to make a quick sale he bodged it.

So now I am looking for another one (if you have one for sale please contact me). I am a little nervous of them now in case i have a repetition of this same issue. Is replacing the output shaft a big job? do they wear often or was my case a rare one-off?

What should i look for when buying a used AT?

Any advice gratefully recieved.

stay safe

Gaz

[Steve C]

Hello Gaz

No idea why your post got overlooked - must be the sudden turn to good weather!
Anyway, hang on in there and some replies should start to trickle in... and have a look on the site forums - I think you can put a wanted notice up somewhere.

All of the following are completely fixable but should affect price.

A few of the things/issues to look out for that I've seen listed here are:

Them front sprocket covers can hide a sin or two, eh? an over tight chain so easily does some damage... and that's one of the AT weaknesses as it's easier to have the chain too tight than too loose, or so it seems. And as you saw, it can soon take the output shaft with it... majorly expensive to fix.

If the bike's old, rear shock might be near the end of its life.

Has it had a new fuel pump? If it hasn't, it's only a matter of time but cheap to fix using the Facet sold here on this site - search for fuel pump to read all the stories and fixes.

Are the wheels (rims and spokes) in good nick? Take the time to spin and ping.

Older bikes have what has here (on the forum) been described as chocolate callipers on the front. Check 'em for corrosion as the dust seals are so near the edge they are soon b£^^ered. Again, replaceable (search on this site and you'll find listed the Honda bikes that use the same callipers).

What's the plastic like (a price thing - don't pay near full book price for a bike with shot plastic believing you can replace it for a song... mostly you can't and there's roughly a thousand quids worth of plastic on these lovelies).

The trip meters give up the ghost pretty easily too and are about £400+ to replace. But when it's died, there's a lovely spot for your satnav of choice so again, probably only 'what price to pay for the bike' issue. When negotiating, have a close look at the rubber buttons, they crack and split.

In the meantime, I'm sure you know already that everything that might be an issue on any s/h/ bike would still be an issue with an AT - like bearings, straight/bent frame, etc. Always worth running a check to see if it was in a bad accident anywhere in its life.
I personally would want a full service history, but if the seller is a competent technical type and has their own service history, I'd be happy with that so long as the bike wasn't my only or first transport or I knew the seller really well.

Good luck and welcome back to the fold

[DaveS]

Welcome and when you're ready post a wanted ad in the for sale / wanted forum.

[Chad]

output shaft is a total engine strip down thats why the previous owner welded it on ....the reason it get fooked is because the chain has been adjusted too tight ..the twin must have aprox 60mm of play in the chain vertically to the underside of the swing arm... if you have the time when you look at a bike whip off the frontsprocket cover and check for play in the shaft dont fret about the spocket moving around on the shaft as they are supposed to have some play in them

good luck in your search as dave says check out the FS section there are a few in there at the mo

[chronyx]

Good advice as always, good luck in your hunt for an AT.