ex0r

Although i fixed the electrical problem, I passed on the bike. He was having trouble getting it started the second time I went to take a look at it, and it was backfiring really bad. Sounded like gun shots.

I would generally agree, except I saw him attempt to ride the 600, and it's just too much bike for him. Riding it, I found no problems with it. It shifted expectedly, started right up, drove straight and I went quite a distance with it. The problem is just the electrical on it which I have heard is a common issue on the FZR's anyway. The appearance, aside from the broken turn signals is near flawless. No broken plastic and only a couple of scratches on it. I don't mind putting money into it, and would expect as much to, as I am still a somewhat inexperienced rider and would rather have a 'throwaway bike'. As it stands now I don't have any cost in it as it's a trade for a bike I paid next to nothing for. My real concern, is just if the electrical issues could cost upwards or 400-500 dollars in repairs, or if it's just a matter of replacing only a couple of fuses/wires and it's ready to go.

Okay, after further surfing online, it appears the 'piston like' device I was referring to is an aftermarket steering damper. Is it safe to remove this? I haven't seen these on typical street bikes, and the research I did seems to point to it being used primarily in track racing, which I have no intention of doing. Also, it looks extremely 'amateurish', the way it's mounted. It attaches to the frame just under the tank on the left hand side, and then crosses through the front of the frame and attaches to the left side of the steering fork. The way it's mounted though, even when the tire is straight, the back of the stabilizer protrudes out past the fairing on the bike a considerable amount. So much that if you were to take a low side spill on that side, you'd break it or bend it, and potentially impale your leg on it. It looks almost exactly like this part: http://www.jpcycles.com/product/230-242

Hey there guys. I am currently in the process of making a decision to trade in my ninja ex250 for a yamaha fzr600 to another local biker who wants a smaller bike. After looking at the bike, I have a couple of concerns i'd like to address, and possibly get some feedback on to see if it's worth doing the trade. First thing I noticed was a bar on the left hand side of the bike. It's attached to the fork, and the side of the frame, and looks like a piston. I am assuming it's a stabilizer of some sort, but i've never seen one on any bike before, and when the front wheel is straight, it protrudes out past the fairing on the bike. I could easily see it being a puncture danger if you lay the bike down on the left side. What is this for, and is it common on this bike? I can't seem to locate it on any of the pictures i've seen, and we don't have a local bike shop anywhere around here. (Its a 96 FZR7600) The other thing I noticed, is that none of the electrical works. The turn signals are all broken (They were replaced with LED lights, and the rear ones were broken off), but when I test rode it down the street, when I started it up I noticed that the oil needle and the tachometer weren't working at all.) Does this seem like a major issue, a common issue, or something that could potentially cost a lot of money to fix? I don't mind putting money into the bike and know that I will have to, but if it's something that could potentially cost a lot of money to fix, I will pass on the bike as much as i'd like to get it. I had read online that it's common for the fuses to burn out, but does that really affect the tachometer and other stuff? I didn't notice if the speedometer was working but i'm going to assume no because nothing else worked either. (Had a hard time finding neutral and the light wouldn't come on when it was in neutral), and none of the other lights work. I did notice that the tail light, and the brake light come on when the brake is applied, but that's it as far as electrical (Aside from the start button starting it)