Quote:
Originally Posted by kirbo7106
Welcome to the site! Keep us posted on what you finally end up buying. I have a standard Hawk. I’m probably a 80/20 street/off-road rider trying to be a 60/40!
I live in the Tampa Bay Area of Florida, so there’s not a huge dual sport community. When I was shopping around all I could find was decent bikes priced like new bikes or bikes in my price range that needed a total rebuild.
If I could do it again, I would go with CSC just because of the great customer support!
Enjoy the Ride!
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I appreciate the suggestion, several have commented on the superior customer service at CSC. The used bike market is unquestionably INSANE right now. Knowing what it takes to refurb a used machine, registration (upwards of $300) and a few mods has relegated the used bike market to mostly collectors and those that own bike shops. To get a bargain on a used bike that doesn't cost 70% of new on the current market, right now, is hard to do. I'm still not convinced that buying Chinese is the best avenue for me. Too many shortcuts and oversights in construction that I see as being potentially dangerous and would require a lot of the same work replacing parts as if I had bought a vintage bike. Cheap wheels, all of the bearings and races are soft steel, undersized spokes, no rim locks on the back wheel (really?). The rear brake assembly looks like it was just globbed on below the frame as an afterthought. I live in a heavily wooded area and log hopping is a must, without CLEAR clearance, I may as well walk the trails. There are Chinese bikes that don't have these glaring shortcomings but, they are almost twice the money and they still have quality issues related to material selection and to make them street legal is another $700.
Buying new is $7,000. Buying used is $5,000. Buying Chinese is $4,000. I need to critically asses the value of the money saved over the value of my time and satisfaction with my purchase. It's not as easy as I had hoped.