So this obese middle aged man buys a Daytona.........

Hello guys & gals! *waves*

Now then, as a middle aged, moderately overweight, slightly balding mongalong, I'm looking at buying a 2009 Daytona 675

WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG? I hear you all say whilst pointing & laughing at the same time.

Well, I've not even seen it yet but it's the right money and a cat D needing (so he says) a stepper motor, fork seals and the forks 'realigning'

Now seeing as I'm 6'2" and haven't ridden a bike for the past 17 years (my last bike was an EXUP RU) does anyone think this might not be my brightest idea? I suppose I need to see it in the flesh & see if I can physically fit on the thing first. I shall be disappointed if I don't

Are these little jobs easy or difficult, i.e. can I spanner it at home in the workshop or will it need to go to a dealer?

Any advice will be gratefully received (though some sensible suggestions may be ignored....)

 

I'm 6'2 love my Daytona, does feel small at times but I don't care. Most sportbikes are pretty small now anyway. If the tank was wider that would help but then if we were to say I'd prefer this and that your then looking at a different bike.
Hellibars help if it's a daily commuter.
Enjoy.

 

I think I've found myself a rival for the self deprecation crown. Wow, I'm impressed.

As as a self confessed mechanical numpty I know nuffinc about spannering, but I can say that you have damn good taste in bikes and a 675 is a perfect choice*

*I'm shortarsed and bias though.

 

Some might say I'm 'old enough to know better' Janey, and others may be of the opinion that 'you learn from your mistakes'

Unfortunately I seem to be mind numbingly immune to such things. Like "never ever EVER try to wake a car from a long slumber by pouring petrol down the carb....." Good advice I gave someone there, sadly I completely ignored it and nearly burned my workshop down with my hair on fire if it wasn't thanks to a closely situated hosepipe.... Oh how we all fell about laughing....

Y'see I've been doing stupid things with cars and bikes for far too long but never learn to appreciate my own mortality

For example if you find an old MZ in the woods many many years ago (we were about 12), you fix it up & get it running so you can hoon around the fields (until your bell bottoms get stuck in the chain) aaaand of course you take the handlebars off your mate's Raleigh Chopper & transplant them onto said MZ....It was such a good look except you could only turn left as the clutch cable wasn't long enough to allow right turns (well, until we relocated the clutch lever to the bottom flat bit of the bars but hey! We really couldn't be arsed to put a longer cable on it.....

I could go on

So you see, you really are dealing with an eejit here

Sensibly I think I shall have a couple of refresher lessons before being allowed out on the Queen's highway and killing myself to death in a spectactularly messy (and quick) manner

 

ahem when youre not on the 1299 i take

 

“Forks need realignment” would make me just a little nervous - how much of a bargain is this bike? You could easily spend a large amount of cash fixing it up and it’ll still be a Cat d (some folk on here have them with no issues, but less easy to sell on).

I’d price up the parts and labour for all the bits they’ve mentioned, factor in some hidden issues, even if it’s new pads/oil etc and then decide if it’s worth the hassle/you’ll save anything anyway. Daytona is easy to work on, but if the forks are bent...

I know where you could get a very nice 2009 Daytona in red, only 2 owners without any of the above issues for £4,200 and it’ll also have a quickshifter/carbon hugger and uprated springs in the forks.... other bikes are also available!

As for riding one - just build up your skills/reflexes again and wait for the decent weather before going too quick and don’t stick chopper handlebars on it!

 

Got to agree with what Frequent Flyer points out, cheapest is rarely the least expensive.
- Perhaps let us know more details about the bike, and we'll give you a ( probably varied ) but honest opinion of how worthwhile an option it may be.
Fwiw I'm another improbable survivor in spite of Darwinism. Even down to having done my own variation of a bodged up Cz175.

However I'm only about 5'11" & below 12 stone, so can't really help on how you'll feel on a D675.

 

Thanks folks, I'll be having a good gander at it on Saturday to see what it sounds/looks/rides like but in the pics he sent me the forks look fine (albeit with an oily line on each slider hence the probability of seal replacement) I wouldn't know how or why he's diagnosed the need for a stepper motor and I can't see any damage to the plastics. But then again it's less than £3K

I'd be doing the work/messing it up further myself, aided and abetted (hold my beer & watch this) by a mate of mine who's built & modified quite a few bikes in his time (expect an huge rake job and a hard tail then.....) so it's parts only and yes, it's a CatD but I've no problem with that - it'll be a little toy (and maybe if it knackers me out whilst riding it I might lose a few pounds/stone!) for high days and holidays. So basically constantly 'just nipping out for a loaf of bread' ;D

I fear I may have already mentally bought it.....god help us!

 

Nothing quite like a minter! and as has been said an immaculate history makes an easy sell on should you feel like a cricket riding it!

 

Id be paying alot of attention to those forks they could well be bent and buying another set could make it pointless buying a cat d.

 

http://www.trackdayriders.co.uk/TDR...ytona-cheap_topic70292_post853262.html#853262

 

Good news!

The forks look straight, needs a ns fork seal but the os one's fine. Problem is when the bars are straight the wheel's a tad off centre.....no twisting to the yokes or anything though. Strange

Oh, and we couldn't get it to start but seeing as it was blizzarding it down and it'd been in the shed for 7 weeks that doesn't surprise me Or could that have something to do with the stepper motor? What does the stepper motor do exactly?

Looking good (and Jeez Louise it LOOKS good! )

 

Slacken all the yokes off and spindle pinch bolts and give it a gentle bounce to settle it all, reset the fork pull through and tighten it up. If that fails the forks are bent!

 

Surely if you slacken all the yoke bolts off the forks are going to slip up though them until the wheel hits the radiator?

 

Welcome aboard and the 675 is fabulous bike,it really is.

I hope this bike is really, really cheap as I would have to think hard/twice before getting it?
You cannot tell if the forks are straight by looking at them, they need to be bench tested in a jig etc.
I live in Sweden and these bikes should start in the cold without issues, have you tried bumping it as that would rule out a few things?

 

It's cheap yes.

Had a good look around it this morning, reason for non starting is possibly due to a dead battery but I'll go up again on Monday.

It's really clean though a bit leggy. Can't see any evidence of it being down the road or any accident dams. Both tyres not scrubbed on the routers, crash brings fitted but no scar. Perfect plastics, wheels etc.

At first I thought it might've been a track bike but there's just no evidence of that, just looks like a real honest bike.

Just the steering & forks are doing my box in a bit.....

I've seen another in perfect condition but it's £900 more

 

If those forks give you issues though it could be £900 well spent, could the yokes be bent?

 

Yes, apologies should've written that a little better, slacken the yokes off first, re tighten, undo spindle and bounce, re-torque.