Another 03 Voyager

[razorback13]

Ok found another 03 Voyager , this one is super clean less than 5,000 miles and one owner . After my death wobble incident with my last one I've been a little leary of buying another but boy this one is nice .

[cranky]

.. be hard to pass that one up!!!

[Nails]

Hard to say without price and condition. With <350 mi/yr, I wouldn't expect much recent maintenance. I bet it'd have leaks and rotten rubber bits crop up about every ride for the first year. Surely serviceable, but maybe more hassle than sorting that wobble would've been. These old bikes require some patience any way you cut it.

[razorback13]

It's $2250 bike is imaculate was just fully serviced with new tires , battery , fork seals , oil change . It's is nice !

[razorback13]

I think as close to new as you will find one .

[Nails]

Go for it. When issues come up, consider it an opportunity to customize or update to make it even better. The front suspension is one such opportunity -- if that crops up again.

[cranky]

OUTSTANDING!!!! Enjoy your beauty!!!!!

It's $2250 bike is imaculate was just fully serviced with new tires , battery , fork seals , oil change . It's is nice !

[cranky]

Run a full
+ dose of Seafoam thru the first -5- tanks of gas!!!! It's been sitting too much!!
You need to clean out the fuel system!!!! It will run much better! JM2C

[SgtSlag]

In 2006, I bought a 1979 Honda CB750K, with 9,600 miles on it. I went through it, as needed, but not much. In 2009, my wife and I rode that bike around Lake Superior, two up, full saddle bags, full trunk, each of us wearing full gear: bike was 30 years old(!), 1,935 miles, over nine days. Only issue we had was the throttle grip came off in my hand, in Thunder Bay, Ontario. We stopped in the local Harley shop, got a rag with solvent, and a tube of grip glue from them (no charge!), and in 20 minutes, we were back on the road. It was just the two of us, no group, no friends, no back-up vehicle following us. It was our first, real bike tour, as well. Had some touch and go, moments, but what a ride! We would do it again, in a heartbeat, same equipment, same weather, same scary moments. You just can't make up the things that happened to us, on that trip.

The weather in Canada, the entire time we were there, was raining, high of 57 F, low of ??? That bike ran flawlessly! The idea that older bikes are dry-rotting, has some merit, but I think we tend to assume the worst, too often. When I sold that bike in 2012, it had 22,000 miles on it, and it still ran flawlessly. It developed a slow seal/gasket leak in the engine, right before I sold it. I miss that bike. The XII has been exceptional for us, as well, a 1993. Have not had major issues with the XII yet, and it is 26 years old; worst issue so far, is a failed fuel pump, a couple of years ago.

The newest vehicle I own, currently, is a 2015. I'm accustomed to riding/driving older vehicles. I like the newer technology, but I also enjoy the older stuff, too. I really enjoy my 2000, 4x4 truck, in rear-wheel mode, in the winter... Love to 'square the corners' (slide the rear end while turning, until it executes a perfect 90-degree turn, whereupon I slowly accelerate away). Regular fish-tailing is also a blast, as long as you do not get caught... Cheers!

[Nails]

SgtSlag, totally agree. My newest vehicles are the bikes in my profile; and yesterday I got soaked by a deluge on my XII (42 degrees). It's all good. (And I also had a 1979 Honda CB750K, with stories!) My daily driver is an '86 GMC pickup.

(Mr. Jensee, that '06 Mini Cooper, 240K miles, that we drove across the country is really my wife's. Priya had too much crap to schlep on the XII.)

My XII still has less than 30K, but I've had to deal with a bunch of gaskets, brake lines, o-rings, hoses, &etc. Definitely fixable, but my point is that 8K on the clock doesn't make it new. I'm arguing that a higher mileage "daily driver" can be a better deal than the lowest mileage you can find, especially since XII's tend to age well. It depends.

Either way, any XII likely will require a "bunch of gaskets, brake lines, o-rings, hoses, &etc." Old vehicles generally require fussing. They have "character", some of which can benefit from upgrading, especially the things we routinely tell new inmates here.

I'm under the impression that Razorback is looking for something with less of a maintenance commitment, given how quickly he seemed to give up on his last XII. Maybe his "death wobble" really needed to go, but many of us have dealt with a similar issue. It's maybe the biggest fly in the XII ointment; AFAIK it's eminently fixable; and it's a most gainful upgrade, wobble or not.

This subject XII does sound like a great deal -- likely better than his last one. If I were buying something like that, I'd still order some parts to upgrade the front suspension at first opportunity, anyway. (Does it have original oil in the shocks, as mine did?) I'd order a bunch of gaskets and similar parts right off the bat because I'd need them soon enough, and they're just getting scarcer. Might as well plan on some wrenching.

But if I had found a deal like that (my budget was $2K) ... my bike would still be mostly original like almost every other XII. I like my customizations, most of which I wouldn't have done if it wasn't already apart and already somewhat less than pristine. (A bit like reminiscing happy CB750K fails.) I wouldn't trade my now leak-free XII for another with only 8K; and I wouldn't willingly trade away my customizations and upgrades. Even though so far I've spent about as much time wrenching as riding (retired and have the time) -- but it's now totally ready for a really long ride!

Not to mention that I'm just hard-headed that way.

[razorback13]

Had my last Voyager for sale before the death wobble happened . I love working on bikes I buy them fix them up and sell them . I was riding the bike to meet the future buyer when the death wobble happened . He was coming from 4 hours away I messaged him and explained what happened . He still bought the bike . In my experience a low milage bike is a better buy than one with higher milage .

[Nails]

Thx. I had assumed you wanted a keeper. That all makes sense. My bike would be difficult to sell.

I think XII generally are undervalued, so cheap to buy but difficult to sell. I'm surprised to hear that you can find enough headroom to flip them. I've certainly got a lot of time in mine to write off.

[razorback13]

Finally had a chance to test ride the 03 today after a good ride of 10 miles and one good long stretch I came to the conclusion the front end didn't feel quite right on this bike either . It has brand new Metzler tires and under 5000 miles . I've did a lot of research on this and it seems common .

[ekap1200]

Finally had a chance to test ride the 03 today after a good ride of 10 miles and one good long stretch I came to the conclusion the front end didn't feel quite right on this bike either . It has brand new Metzler tires and under 5000 miles . I've did a lot of research on this and it seems common .

There are not many issues to fix this. Just read up on the AVA forum and go over the front end , frame, wheels, tire's ...as we tell you to do. You will find the cause and cure it. But you must be prepared to do all that is listed as some things as the upper right frame bolts require digging in deep and removeing the plastic. Or it could be as simple as the fork brace is not secure, or a cable or harness has been missrouted . Keep in mind many owners do not work as paid mechanics. So there could be things that may not have kept up on or done in the right manner.
Some items are not listed in the repair manual such as the fork brace inserts. They only last the life of one front tire. And how do you know if the metzler was even seated or balanced properly. If you have researched this issue, make up a check list and go at it.
Gene Kap

[razorback13]

Haven't bought the bike yet not sure I'm going to .