Do we have anybody near or in Ridgway CO who could check over a vehicle for me?

Probably a long shot but given that there are GRMers everywhere, I thought it might be worth a try.

Vehicle in question is a motorcycle, however I don't think motorcycle-specific knowledge is that needed - I can't make it out there that easily to look at it myself, so I'm mainly looking to have someone locally look it over to check answer these kind of questions:

• Does it exist?
• Does it have the expected number of wheels (two), are they attached and does it vaguely look like it does in the photos I've seen?
• Does the engine make any funny noises when the seller starts it?

I'm 99% sure that this is not a scam as the bike is a little too obscure for that and it's priced correctly (not to mention that it's not a CL special), but it would still be nice to verify its existence before sending someone out to pick it up.

Ridgway is BFE.  If the guy is willing to come down to the Front Range I can help you out but that's a 5.5 hour drive each way for me, so..... 

Post in the Rocky Mtn forum of advrider, maybe someone there lives closer than me

Thanks - when I had a look where the bike was, it was really a case of it being a great fly and ride - about three months ago and with a non-custom single piece collarbone. It's definitely in the middle of, not much other than gorgeous scenery.

It's a relatively cheap bike so IMHO it's not really worth anybody's time to travel that far.

Funnily enough the bike is advertised on advrider in the first place: https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/1991-k100rs-bmw-low-mileage-price-drop.1598855/

Ok, well if it's on Adv it's probably on the up and up.  Happy to host you if you decide to fly in....

In reply to docwyte :

Thank you, really appreciate the offer. I think by the time I've recovered well enough to ride that distance, I would probably have to buy a snow machine instead of a bike so I'll probably just end up getting it shipped. And I'm not sure if it's really worth the effort and money on top of the shipping cost and cost of the bike.

I'd be a lot more wary of this if it wasn't on adv, the seller is providing answers that suggest that the bike actually exists and is in his possession, plus he seems to have some experience with long-distance bike sales.

We'll see how this works out - still waiting for a couple of quotes from specialised motorcycle shippers to see this a remote amount of sense. That particular motorcycle model is hard to find as BMW didn't make that many so I'm willing to pay a little premium for it, but not a silly amount. 

docwyte said:

Ridgway is BFE.  If the guy is willing to come down to the Front Range I can help you out but that's a 5.5 hour drive each way for me, so..... 

Hey! :)

If the guy is willing to transport it, I'm about 90 minutes away. I have room to store it for you until you can arrange a pickup, and we actually have an airport here in Grand Junction. While do go to Ridgway occasionally (it's gorgeous) I don't have any plans to be there this weekend.

We do indeed have at least one member in Ridgway. Not sure how often he checks the forum.

I used to live out that way. Fly and ride is the way. Go South! One of the best roads in the country/world, in my opinion.

I check in almost daily, but I'm on vacation right now, won't be home for a few days.

Jim in ridgway

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Thanks Keith, I'll keep that in mind. Much appreciated.

In reply to Jim Pettengill :

Thanks Jim - I'll see where this goes and keep everybody in the thread updated.

wheelsmithy (Joe-with-an-L) said:

I used to live out that way. Fly and ride is the way. Go South! One of the best roads in the country/world, in my opinion.

Fly & ride would be the way if I wasn't still recovering from having a polite deer help me off my moving motorcycle. There's no chance I'd be able to ride that kind of distance (almost 2000 miles) in the next few months, unfortunately. And that's completely ignoring the weather, obviously.

But other than those minor obstacles, I'd definitely be up for it.

I'm in Ouray, about 15 minutes up the road. I'm actually about to go pick up some Thai food in Ridgway for dinner tonight, their Thai place is much better than ours. I'd be happy to help in any way. I have a truck and trailer and can also assist with temporary storage (unheated garage) if that helps at all. I'm in Montrose (our "big city") weekly which is about 45 minutes from Ouray, 30 from Ridgway. If you're shipping it you should see if Grand Junction is any cheaper since it's on I-70. I can probably get the bike to Keith on my way to Denver sometime, maybe even all the way to Denver. 

Funny enough I'm about to buy a motorcycle myself after a 8 year hiatus. I'm deciding between a DR650 and KLR650 but I'm leaning towards the DR so I can do more of the trails in the mountains around here. Prices locally are definitely softening from what I'm seeing. 

In reply to WillG80 :

Highly recommend looking at a KTM 690 enduro.  More money than your two choices but a lot of fun to ride

In reply to docwyte :

Thanks Doc! For some reason I had no idea these ever existed, even though I've been a KTM fanboy for a long time. My last two motocross bikes were both KTM's. I initially looked at used 990's but I don't want that much bike. I think the 690 might be a good middle ground between the ancient bikes (DR650/KLR650/XR650) and the latest and greatest 790/890s. I'll have to do some reading on these but I've found a few that look promising so far. 

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/460502379256552/

https://denver.craigslist.org/mcy/d/denver-2014-ktm-690-enduro/7548908131.html

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/800276960997557/

Not sure how the older 640's stack up but I also found these

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/828212178217424/

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1246247852899862/

Looks like I may have hit a small snag here - both pickup and delivery locations have to be accessible to an 18 wheeler, and this end isn't that great for it to put it mildly.

Have to figure out if the seller's location is, and then figure out if and how I can get the bike from a workable location in town to my house with a still busted collarbone. Hmmm.

I think one of the companies specialising in motorcycle transport has the option of using a smaller vehicle for delivery for a fee, now all I need to do is figure out which one it was.

You can probably arrange to pick up the bike at a depot.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

I think one of the companies also offered that as an option, I just have to remember which one. I think it was the same one that also offered to deliver using a smaller truck. The problem to a certain extent stays the same though, namely that I have to try and move the bike despite the busted collarbone. Or bribe some of the local to me GRMers with beers and see if that helps with moving the bike.

In reply to WillG80 :

I owned two 640 adventures before I bought my 690.  The 640A's are the best dual sport bike right out of the gate ever made.  Great suspension, huge gas tank, simple carb, best power of the bunch when compared to a DR or KLR etc.  However, parts supply is getting thin and they vibrate.  A LOT.  Even more if they're not jetted properly, which 98% of them out there aren't.  They'll literally dance across your driveway at idle.

The 690 is awesome, get at least a 2012, that's when they had the real 690cc motor and the fuel injection mapping was much more sorted.  Suspension is good but the fuel range with the stock tank stinks, along with the lack of wind protection.  So some sort of fairing/additional fuel tank(s) are needed.  Once that's sorted, they're a total hooligan to ride, my favorite bike ever. 

My 990 was my least favorite.  A total PITA to work on and the early ones had crappy fuel mapping which I never really fixed with Tune ECU.  Mine was also very fickle running and required a lot of my time to work on, which stinks because it was so hard to work on....