It apears that the laws in Laos prohibit bikes over 250cc being imported, however recently I have seen some new 750 Hondas registered. Anyway did some research and seems that there are at least 3 Harleys that are road registered. Know a guy who has a Shovelhead but that is the only info I had. My mate finally got hold of him the other day and he is short on cash and is looking to sell.
At this stage I have no details on the bike other than it is a Shovel, what he paid for it when he purchased it and how much he has spent on it. I will be catching up with him on Sunday and want to make an offer. Looking for some guidance from gurus here on what I need to be checking before buying!!!
Thanks
Shovelhead US, THE forum for shovel related questions, a lot of the shovellers on here are on it. Remember to do an intro before posting, all really good guys from around the world with very good tech info.
bike papers are only for temporary registration - so have my first barrier before I even consider mechanical aspect...... have to see if the bike can still be registered with current paperwork and at what cost.
temporary papers were issues in 1998
after investigation seems that I will be able to get the bike registered..... but will have to pay for rego from '90 to '10 ... plus some
but will be deducting that from the price we settle on well that's my intention anyway
will be over at the guys place Sunday to look at the bike and if it's worth it, then sort a price.............. from what I understand it may have been built from bits and pieces and it has not been run in the last couple years . More next week.
When I got back from Oz thought it was time to get back in touch with the guy wanting to sell his '78 shovel.... anyway to cut a long story short apparently he was less than impressed with my coments and thought they were insulting..... thought I would let you guys judge for yourself. He said he paid $US4K for the bike in '98 and had spend more than a grand since then plus new rubber wanted $US4K+ , but his misses wants $US6K+
he claims that the bike was running rough when last ran a couple years ago..... anyway I stated the following:
-------------------------------------------------------
I have a number of concerns:-
- To be honest I was disappointed with what I saw... looks like ‘barn-find’ quality. Obvious points are missing fender bolts; plugs; no air box; no speedo; and a number of non genuine parts, plus paintwork, chrome.
- Whilst it will cost some money, it seems that I should be able to get the bike registered, but don’t have a watertight guarantee so there is some risk albeit I am told not huge.
- Would have liked to have seen the bike run... and was therefore pretty disappointed that I was not even able to get compression after you indicated it was running a couple of years ago. Seeing the bike run would provide at least some hint as to the status of the bore and valves. There could be any number of reasons for this. Further investigation would obviously be required.
- Whilst the numbers match, they are non standard so the bike basically cannot leave Laos. Have yet to investigate the possibility of a border pass, but seems unlikely at this stage.
Given the standard of the paint job and the quality of the aftermarket chrome, the bike would require a complete rework which may well involve thousands of dollars and a lot of time and effort. There is also a risk in stripping an old motor.
........ his reply was: Let us call it off. I understand it is too much to be done to get the bike going.
yet he said to my mate that he was upset with my coments!!!!!
--------------------------------------------------------
here is a couple of pics......
remember to read the first post... it explains issues with getting big bikes registered. Cost to 'doctor' the paperwork for this bike which has temporary papers is around $US500-$US1,000. Temporary papers are dated 1998, but that is easily fixed.
Look at the enviroment around the bike, nothing but broken ,unmaintained crap, the guy who`s selling the bike is a collector and trader of shit, walk away and don`t look back unless you have $10.,000 plus for a rebuild and would not care if it gets refused rego and gets confiscated. $4k US tell him he`s dreaming its no more than a swap meet special.
thanks for the input guys... and especially Dave for all his input via PM.... appreciated. Because you just cannot get these types of bikes in at the moment I was prepared to do a deal with him, but seems he was pretty upset at my comments that he now refuses to talk with me... therefore the decision has been made for me!!! The deal I was looking at was $US3K to buy the bike and a further $1K once I got it running, and providing any work to bore/valves wasn't more than $US2K.....
Oh and because I can be a bastard too, he will now find it all but impossible to get it registered
Back to the drawing board.... and to investigate how a guy recently got a KTM990 registered
