New Rider, New/Used Bike Yamaha Virago XV700

[:-)]

Hello,
I'm a new rider and just bought a used 1985 Virago XV700. The person selling it said that the carbs were replaced 1 1/2 years ago and had riden it up until Fall of 2010 when he bought a new bike. His claims about the condition of the bike were as follows:

The starter is notorious for not grabbing the gears on the first go. Yamaha apparently deemed it within acceptable tolerance if the starter grabbed the second time around.

The fork seals need replacing. He said the previous owner had not taken good care of the forks and he ended up buying the oil and seals but never replaced them. I have those on hand for replacement, the forks were sanded down before purchase.

The seller claimed there is a leak in the crankcase at the seal. He says he believes the seal is bad based on watching oil drip from the seal. I have yet to see evidence of oil dripping but I'm also not riding the bike, yet.

The bike stutters and hesitates, he was unsure the specific cause but believes it is possible there is some trash in the main jets. He states he never got it to idle, I have. However, once I got it to idle I heard a crisp sound of air (for lack of better description) popping here and there. It would continue until I turned the bike off. I believe that to be electrical but it is hard to say.

The bike itself was $750, the repair estimate in his driveway repair guy opinion is about $500 with parts and labor. I am taking it in tonight to have it looked at but what is concerning is that I called another shop dedicated to working on American-made bikes. The owner of the shop said to stay away from the bike. I'm not real sure this advice was given based on the fact that I called yesterday and was told they did not possess tools to work on Japanese bikes and to ask the owner if I can bring it by, or if this is their honest assessment. Would anyone be willing to tell me if what I've described is a complete red flag?

While I purchased the bike I have an out. Of course I could get duped and would wind up in court, but as it stands, I have a 14-day return window. That gives me time to return the bike to the owner for a full refund if the repairs exceed what I believe the worth of the bike to be. In my opinion, if I'm told the cost of repair is $700 or less, I'd likely keep the bike.

I realize this is a very long first post, so I appreciate anyone who has read it.

[dondeere]

Hi New Rider
Take it back and buy something that runs good! Old owner was smart and bought a new one.

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You're right. I took it into a mechanic last night and he said that if the bike were a true classic then the repairs would probably be worth it. However, the repairs will exceed the cost of another bike, same model and year with far less mileage. This one has 25k miles, that is about the time you can expect the Viragos to show their cards as far as known issues; the main one being the starter clutch and flywheel. Hoping that I can find another bike soon but one that runs well, or at least is advertised to run well.

Other issues discovered were possible rust in the tank, that would need to be dealt with before the carbs are cleaned because otherwise, it's pointless to clean the carbs out and the gasket probably has a leak. The cost of all repairs exceed $1,000.00.

[eldiogomes]

I have a 1985 Virago 700 with 29000 miles, for me is has been a great bike. It is true that this bike has a problem from the factory with the starter, but after you learn how to use the stater you can deal with the problem. Yamaha knows about this problem but the prefer not to get involved because otherwise they would have to recall these bikes. In your case it was a smart decision not keep the bike.