I certainly didn’t wake up yesterday planning to buy another motorcycle, but when I saw the ad on craigslist I simply had to go take a look.

I enjoy working on bikes, but I can’t stand not being sure the bike is going to start. I’ve gotten really tired of getting my FJ600 running smoothly, thinking everything is fine, going out somewhere, and having to abandon my bike for a couple of days until I can come back with tools. It’s just too stressful. My bike needs to be a reliable form of transportation, not just a mechanical hobby.

So why not just buy a newer bike? Well…. the motorcycle market spent a good 15 years solidly divided between cruisers and sportbikes, and the standard / naked / upright style I like has only come back into vogue in the last 5 or 6 years. The newer bikes I like cost more than I want to spend, and the newer bikes I can afford just… don’t excite me.

The ad, then, grabbed my attention: a 1986 Suzuki VS700, with the engine from a 2003 VS800! Oh my. A classic ’80s standard, just a hint of cruiser style, and a modern engine? A bike I can afford with only 10,000 miles on the powertrain? Too good to be true!

So Ava and I drove up to Lake Stevens, I took it out for a wandering, drizzly test ride, and then I rode it home. It is still a project bike, of course – but at least the work it needs is only cosmetic. The engine starts right up, pulls hard, and idles smoothly. It’s a shaft-drive machine, so there’s no chain maintenance to worry about (huzzah!). Brakes are in good condition, all the electrical systems work, and the tires are nice and fresh. All I need to do is re-upholster the seat and adjust the handlebars / levers etc to fit me.

This leaves me with two bikes I need to sell, of course. The new bike is just as stylish as my old Maxim, so it’s going to be much easier to let go of that machine now; and the FJ600, while cranky, does run and is in pretty decent condition aside from needing a new carburetor, so I think I should be able to sell it pretty easily.