On line bidding strategy

In reply to bearmtnmartin (Forum Supporter) :

Congrats!  Well played

In reply to bearmtnmartin (Forum Supporter) :

You got a great deal.

Make sure you change the timing belt. It's not too bad to do but should be done if you don't have a history on it. These are interference engines.

If the water pump drips when you fire it up, don't sweat it too much. Take it for a good long ride and wring it's neck. Usually a drip is from some debris stuck in the seal faces and a good run will clear it.

If you have to change the pump, the front cover of the engine has to come off.

A rattle from the gearbox as you let the clutch out is normal. They have a Morse chain with no tensioner on the output of the gearbox and it will make noise sometimes. Nothing to worry about.

If the charging system is weak, check the stator plug, it has three yellow wires in it. These get dirty and will overheat the connection if there is resistance. A permanent fix is to cut the plug out and solder the connection. 

That's all the Goldwing quirks I remember. 

Thanks for the tips! I was wondering about the timing belt. Hopefully it comes with some records but I expect not. 

In reply to bearmtnmartin (Forum Supporter) :

Congrats on the win! 

I'm guessing this was much lower than your max-max.

In reply to John Welsh :

I was going to go to 1500 all in so my max bid would have been around 1200. Seemed like a pretty reasonably price.

I forgot, '83 was the year they made 5th gear a little taller. Cruises on the highway much better.

Ive done various online auctions before, mostly through ebay, but used others too like proxybid for Buell stuff.

For me, and I did this recently on ebay, I'll put in a bid to get me in the running early on/whenever I see it. Then keep an eye on throughout, see where its going and consider what I am willing to spend. And then, at the end, hop on and go from there, if it's just following to see how high it gets (if it's beyond my max), or to stay in the game and get in a bidding battle.