motovator Posted April 12, 2008 Posted April 12, 2008 Hi, I was looking for a lightly used beginner bike, and finally narrowed it down to either '96 Kawasaki Vulcan EN500 or '97 Yamaha Virago XV535. I looked up the reliability rating at bikez.com for the '97 XV535 and found it to be far below average, and significantly below EN500, and '96 XV535. The rating seems to be poor for only model year '97. I also looked up the cost (Motorcycle Consumer News), and found that there is a huge jump in price for '97 models. The average prices (in US) for '98 Models: $2090, '96 models: $1775, and '97 models: $4340! That's more than twice the '98 models! So does anyone know what changes were made in '97 XV535 that made it less reliable but more expensive on the used market? Thanks.
topcattcracing Posted February 14, 2014 Posted February 14, 2014 My 1989 535 is still going strong on original exhaust and little or no rust.
mailee Posted February 15, 2014 Posted February 15, 2014 I have read that the earlier models had starter issues. The later models were modified and so more reliable. I also think they made the tank bigger on the later models as the earlier ones had a small tank under the seat.
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