fmx650

[Magnum PI]

Im thing of bying a fmx650 as a second bike to my @t i like the look of them and a fan of air cooled bikes having had a xr250 and 400 .Could any one give me any advice on what to pay second hand and what to look out for mechanically also how much are they new.Any advice would be appreciated .

[metamorph67]

Hi, they have a dry sump and the oil reservoir is in the front of frame, this means that low oil levels are over looked and that leads to head gear wear,
confused? I,m trying my best - listen to the engine, preferably with the original exhausts ( which is rare!) You need to listen for noises in the headgear like clattering sounds or single clanging sounds which could indicate cam follower damage (usually exhaust rocker) Now you will already know about the normal rattles of the cam chain with its crap tensioner system having owned previous XL range, well in actual fact this engine has a better design and it's not the end of the world if there is a bit of wear in the head, the bikes will run on and on as long as they have the oil! Another noise you may hear is a clanking as the revs are picked up in neutral, this isn't much to worry about, it is either the crankshaft slightly out of balance (they all are!) or just general vibration from the mighty single! All in all it's a bullet proof engine having served the Dominator and SLR, the trouble comes when owners soon get pissed off with the 37BHP and try and rev the ******** of them (fruitlessly) and the usual half cocked modifications such as Arrow exhausts without the Dyno Jet (causing weak mixture) Mine has a REMUS which even on its own makes the bike perkier and more responsive (but annoys the neighbors - although they're always so sweet to me!)

The engine is very tunable - Look on the EGU website, they do a kit ( bloody expensive) that takes the bike up to nearly 700cc and between 55-60 BHP giving alot of the super motard's an embarrassing second place! HaHa! All the best -PS - I love my FMX and it is such a forgiving ride with hilarious cornering from its high centre of gravity, a little underpowered though! All the best - metamorph67

[Magnum PI]

thanks for the advise metamph67 any idear on price?

[metamorph67]

Well i got Tucked up when i bought mine, i bought it from the main dealer one owner 8000 miles 05 plate, it did come with loads of extras like great bars, whole REMUS exhaust system, the designer chain-guard, but payed £2100 with years ticket, now forget i said all that as they finished making them in 08, they weren't the hit Honda dreamt they would be and dealers offloaded the last few for around £3700 (they were originally £4600) I saw one the other day in an Eastbourne paper, 2000 miles 08 superb nick £2000 or nr offer, which gutted me as you can imagine, so you need to look at a nice low milage at around 6000miles on 07/08 for under £2000, that is not to say that you may find someone in this climate bite your hand of for £1500, but if its in great con and low milage you won't have done bad at £2000, they are a great bike around town and for slow jams they balance superb weaving in an out of cars! They have great low down grunt and will quickly take you to 80MPH after that they will wind up to 90MPH (if you don't run out of road!) 100MPH has been known, but i am a bit heavy having dunked to many biscuits on a munchy session every night for years!

By the way i just found a brand new engine 2100 miles and bought it complete with carb an all ancillaries for £600, it's for my own pet tuning project, when i get some more money together i,m gonna go the whole hog, but it was worth it just for the spares (starter, carb, generator etc)

All the best - metamorph67

[Magnum PI]

cheers again . if you hear of one for sale at the right price could via the forum let me no as where i live they are quite rare. thanks again for the advise

[IgorVigor]

Hi Magnum.

I noticed you are in Devon.

Where abouts?

GT Motorcycles in St Austell (Cornwall) have got an FMX
2007 07 Reg*HONDA FMX 650 644cc*

Looks stock and in good condition. Bit higher price though

I think GT Motorcycles will ship the bikes to their other showrooms (Plymouth and Torbay) but dont hold me to that.

Good luck,

IV

[Magnum PI]

cheers for that i might have a run down on the @t on sat and have a look. looked at a 08 in bridge exeter today as i was pasing it had 1500 on the clock looked like it had been in the harbour it was that rusty . afe they prone to rust ? .

[IgorVigor]

They are built to a budget...

but they shouldnt be in too bad a condition

My vigor was a 51 plate and most of the rust spots were from paint chips....

10 minutes with a bit of emery paper and paint and its all good

[metamorph67]

It sounds like that one in exeter had been rescued from the briny, i live on the coast with all the salt and my FMX has seen competition action and dirt racing in the country, it has some very little rust where the stones hit the swing arm and at the linkages for the mono-shock suspension but all is good everywhere else!

When you look at the Yamaha XT's of the same age and the rusty spokes and 'everywhere a cable rubbed' LOL -

[IgorVigor]

Sunny Cornwall is one of the worst places for salt... :P

Probably because in is far from coast to coast...

And they local council hear of a bad weather warning so pour even more salt (! :S) on the damn roads.....

you know they over did the salt when its forming a small pile at the side of the road for several miles :O

Good luck with the search though magnum...
I will keep my eye open for any others for sale...