Hi everyone. Last rode a bike 15 years ago. 56 years young at the moment. At that time had a TL1000r and an Aprilia SL1000. Since then been on 4 wheels and my current toy is a 2009 Porsche Boxster, which I absolutely love. Don't know what's happening to me but I feel like I may need a bike in my life again . Boxster would need to go though! Started looking at very early blades....... nostalgia thing I guess. Had a 750 Slingshot when the first blades came out and I thought they looked fantastic. Was thinking of spending around the 5k mark. The more I looked though I think around a 2004 model is just the ticket. Spotted a couple of the red, white and blue colour schemes. I remember these when they first came out and I thought the styling left a lot to be desired. Now I think they look stunning. I'm in no rush to buy anything at the moment. Any advice on what to look for would be much appreciated
Hi and welcome to the forum. Only had more recent blades so will leave others to advise, but you’ll love it
Lovely machine!! I would probably have any model right from the very first incarnation as long as the colour scheme was good. I have noticed a lot of them seem to be lacking in a lot of history. Being a Porsche enthusiast I have a folder which has all paperwork, receipts for everything right down to puncture repairs. Maybe I'm just a bit anal but I thought more people would have been doing the same with these bikes considering they are now classics.
When I bought my bike from a main dealer it came with nearly twenty years worth of paperwork from previous owners. But the dealer wouldn’t pass it on to me due to data protection or some such reason. I could possibly have obtained the paperwork by getting the dealer to contact the previous owner for permission but I couldn’t be bothered. I believe that present day V5s no longer have the previous owners details either
Last year I bought an immaculate 2004 blade for around the £5000 mark. Love it. Unfortunately, it’s too immaculate and I find myself only riding it on dry days which isn’t what I really bought it for. You might not have such qualms about getting your bike dirty but if you do I’d recommend getting a mechanically sound bike and not worrying so much about the cosmetics and possibly saving a few quid on the purchase price. Or be prepared to spend hours keeping your bike pristine. Whatever bike you get you won’t regret it
