NZ Buffalo Appraisal (yet again please)

[MikeH1A]

Yep, it's me again - on my never ending quest. Here's another 74 that's just been listed in my neck of the woods. There seem to be a few of this model down this way.

Would you fellas mind offering me your thoughts on how this old girl looks re originality, missing/incorrect bits etc?

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motor ... 275642.htm

As usual, many thanks

Mike

[Suzsmokeyallan]

Hello again Mike, my you are busy looking for a buffalo. Ok so heres what i see:
Forks are not 74 issue and I'm not sure why, but in the head on photo the rim looks skewed to the left of the bike at the top portion.
You may need to spy the alignment or verify why it appears to look so in the photo.
**I dont want to say the bikes been hit in the front but look for clues like the steering stop on the headtube being broken or rewelded, any dents on the front of the radiator top tank where the stanchion can bend back and hit it on full turn**.
The front fender is also newer, as the 74s had straps on the braces, but are no longer available, the question is why does this bike have on a newer front end.
The airbox boots look like they might be hard as rock since the clamps dont appear to be in the slots. They shrink and get hard with age so press on all six of them to verify their condition.
Nice factory rear rack that looks original, those are not cheap so you are getting one in the deal. However i cant figure out why its bent down, but it can be re-tweaked upwards.
Non standard rear shocks, but anything is better then the stock junk as long as they work.
The seat cover is not correct and its missing the trim section to the front half on both sides which means the left side is broken. The right side has a separate piece because of the seat lock.
The pipes look very decent, BUT make sure the bikes warmed up and rev it to hear the exhaust note. A lot of the pipes can rattle inside for no reason and this cannot be fixed easily, its very annoying.
That oil pump adjustment looks set forward a lot from the position of the lock nut on the shaft, it should be checked for alignment.
Yes the tanks got scrapes, and its a pity too as it looks decent otherwise.
The warning lamp assy is new as its got he blue high beam, up to 76 they had the red high beam type.
The engine looks very clean, but you should check underneath by the waterpump cover for signs of drips coolant or oil by the little drip hole in the rear facing part of the same cover.
Is that an o-ring or x-ring chain??? check to see as its a plus if it is.
Find out if its had the low speed surging issue fixed, if not you will have to do it.
Finally see if you can find out what brand of electronic ignition it has in it.
Did i pick it apart enough??? LOL,,,,,,nice bike though but i wonder how much higher the price will go above the start bid of $4,000

[MikeH1A]

Love your attention to detail Allan

I was wondeing about the forks. I shall give the seller a ring and then wait to see what happens with the price - he's not interested in a buy now.

Mike

[Suzsmokeyallan]

Mike I'm calling it as i see it, so look everything over and do pay special attention to that front end alignment. The stock design lacks rigidity somewhat and its very easy to tweak the headtube to a side even in a minor crash.
Anytime you see a bike sporting a different year stock front end in this age category its up for scrutiny.
Only a few things are possible, it was updated for the look, although the later forks were no improvement.
Its also possible it was crashed and a used front end put on it, any year Buffalo that could be found, in this case it looks like 75-77 forks.
I've got a 72 frame with a similar 'tweaked' problem and i need to realign before respraying it, so i hope that bike is not in this same category.
I got the frame in that condition but its luckily not that hard to fix.

[tz375]

Nice looking bike and Allan noticed things I would have missed.

I checked pictures of three 74s that have passed through my hands and Allan is right that they all had red High beam idiot lights.

That front end shot is probably a parallax effect. the wheel is turned slightly to the right so the right disk is visible but the left one is hidden. The front end could still be tweaked, though, but that shot does not reveal that.

74 advertising shots show two versions of the front fender. One has the saddles and the other has no saddles, so that isn't definitive.

The forks are a different story. 74 should have chrome covers over the seals with small dust boots in the upper surface. So those forks are later model. The later model forks and later model idiot lights suggest that it has been in some sort of accident, so it's wise to check the frame as Allan suggested.

BTW, I have a 74 fender that could be re-plated and 74 forks sliders just waiting to be polished all available at a never to repeated price...

Good luck with this one.

[MikeH1A]

Thanks Guys,

I've had a brief chat to the seller and he says that he doesn't know anything about the forks or whether there was an earlier accident. He bought it this way. Unfortunately, it's too far to go and have a physical look. so...unless it goes cheap, I may keep looking. I'll let you know what happens tho.

Mike

[Suzsmokeyallan]

Mike I think you need to look elsewhere, cheap or not that bike needs to be physically seen, checked over completely and test ridden before you part with any of your money. Its amazing how so much is known of its past in the listing, yet the forks are a total mystery.

[tz375]

I see it the other way around. The seller has said that the PO did a bunch of work to rebuild it and he also mentioned the fact that the speedo was replaced.

One could speculate that the PO bought it as a project and rebuilt it. Either the PO replaced the bent front end or it had already been replaced at a prior time. Either way doesn't change much.

The only issue here is how straight the frame is.

Make an offer/bid subject to inspection and take a mechanic to check the frame. The risk is the same as a bike with a stock front end that you also know nothing about. it's no different.

[MikeH1A]

Hi Guys,

The bike sold at auction for $NZ7800. In the end there was really only one bidder who was quietly adding dolllars until he hit the reserve and she sold at that. I elected not to bid as it was too far away to go and look. The owner said he had no info on why the front end was changed - I was a bit wary of potential problems with the frame. Also, (knowing myself) I couldn't live with a 74 that had a later model front end on it - I'd end up replacing it all with correct parts, which would have seen the price jump too high in the end

Thanks for your observations, thoughts and guidance though.

Mike