• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

  • In order to help others find info on a particular bike, be sure to put the year, make or model of bike that you are asking a question about, in the Topic Title. This will allow people to pass by posts they have no interest in.

1985 Honda V65 Sabre. Problems/solutions?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Roscoe
  • Start date Start date
R

Roscoe

Guest
Got solicited on a 7k V65 Sabre, naked bike, the black one.
Might want to trade a singular GS part ( just kidding!) for the bike locally.
$2500 price, looks like a nice survivor.
Thoughts on this bike?
 
Look at parts fiches for the usual critical parts...starters, electr4ical stuff etc etc for availablity. If there are a lot of NLA parts imusually skip over it. Also check Ebay for stuff and see whats listed for it..parts availablity in case of a major situation can mean your stuck with a boat anchor.
 
Decent bike, best of the v-65 IMHO. Trans issues IIRC. Very heavy, but par for the course.
 
Well I've never dealt with the V65 but I have owned a V45 and cannot recommend them. My V45 I bought for $1500 it was in good shape loads of midrange had less then 20k I think 18k or in that ball park. Went for a spirited ride with it and the motor ran fantastic. Got on an open stretch and me and the boys went for an all out drag race to see how the V45 faired with the FZ6's(obviously the best way to see what bike is better lol). Well half way through second bike fell out of gear on WOT. She would never hold Second correctly ever again. I sold it for a huge loss...
Two buddy's had 2 V45's both had issues. 1 had a Magna and the bike would never work electrically, we tore it down to fix it but one thing would go or short out right after fixing the first issue. He ended up selling it at a huge loss too and never got more then a 1k miles on it. The other guy had a V45 Interceptor. Bike had about 35k miles on it when it decided to internally grenade it's transmission on a spirited cruise... Bike sounded like a blender with nuts in it when the tranny let go. He got a good year out of it but he payed close to 2k for it...
I hear the V65 are just as savage to their Transmissions. But my 2 cents. You want a reliable Honda then go with an I 4, I twin or single... The only motors that I've rarely heard issues with.
 
Last edited:
Too much for a big Sabre, trust me on this one. You can basically find a MINT one in the 1500 dollar range, this topic has been beat to death on the Honda V4 forum. People just DO NOT like the looks of the big Sabre, although comfort wise, I prefer the riding position to that of the big Magna. People just think they are UGLY, even most of the Honda guys! The instrument clusters are VERY hard to find in good shape, the lenses are plastic and fade really bad if left in the sun for any extended period of time, they get cloudy, crack and become unreadable, they are basically a third of the value of the bike, used ones in decent shape bring 300-500 dollars on eBay all the time. The fatal flaw on the early V4's were second gear, if it pops out of gear in 2nd under hard acceleration, it's a parts bike! I restored 3 of them about 5 years ago, then found out I couldn't give them away, and haven't bought once since. I have restored about 50 V65 Magnas, and only a handful of Sabres, I am getting 3-5K for fully restored V65 Magnas, the last 3 big Sabres I sold were all right around $1500. I can go on Craigslight right now and find a nice one somewhere in the country in that price range. Sure, guys are always ASKING for more, but that's not what they are getting, we've seen some stubborn guys listing these bikes for years without selling them. A nice bike to ride, but don't pay too much for it, because it's not going to be a money maker, you'll be lucky to break even!!!
 
83GS1100E_Tornado said:
Too much for a big Sabre, trust me on this one. You can basically find a MINT one in the 1500 dollar range, this topic has been beat to death on the Honda V4 forum. People just DO NOT like the looks of the big Sabre, although comfort wise, I prefer the riding position to that of the big Magna. People just think they are UGLY, even most of the Honda guys! The instrument clusters are VERY hard to find in good shape, the lenses are plastic and fade really bad if left in the sun for any extended period of time, they get cloudy, crack and become unreadable, they are basically a third of the value of the bike, used ones in decent shape bring 300-500 dollars on eBay all the time. The fatal flaw on the early V4's were second gear, if it pops out of gear in 2nd under hard acceleration, it's a parts bike! I restored 3 of them about 5 years ago, then found out I couldn't give them away, and haven't bought once since. I have restored about 50 V65 Magnas, and only a handful of Sabres, I am getting 3-5K for fully restored V65 Magnas, the last 3 big Sabres I sold were all right around $1500. I can go on Craigslight right now and find a nice one somewhere in the country in that price range. Sure, guys are always ASKING for more, but that's not what they are getting, we've seen some stubborn guys listing these bikes for years without selling them. A nice bike to ride, but don't pay too much for it, because it's not going to be a money maker, you'll be lucky to break even!!!
Click to expand...

Thanks guys, very helpful.
The V65 Sabre is pretty rare around here, I think I can see why now.
Only Honda I ever owned is the XR650L in the trailer next to my Suzuki's, it just keeps plugging along on the fire trails. And our Y2K home generator, still runs a couple of times a year. Crazy dependable.
Think I will stay with the GS to ride dependably.
Much appreciated!
 
Price is at least a grand too high, but the V65 Sabre is a great motorcycle. It's very fast, can tour at illegal speeds all day (I did 700 miles on my best single day) in total comfort, and with Avon radial tires handles as well as a steel-cradle frame bike possibly can. Both 5th and 6th gears are overdrives, so it gets great mileage on the open road for its size..mine consistently made 40 mpg.

If the transmission has been badly abused, second gear does go and then it becomes a $500 bike because you'll have to open the cases to replace it. If the bike has the "oil mod" - an adapter and new oil lines that feed high-pressure oil directly to the heads, that's a big plus. Some V65s that have been run at low RPM too much get cam pitting from low oil pressure.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top