Is this a Deal, or Not Really???

Feb 3, 2005
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Considering a larger bike than my Honda Phantom for those longer rides...

Today I looked at a Honda Magna 750cc For Sale for 79,000 baht... The Thai owner says he has owned it for 10 years, bike looks nice but possibly 16 to 18 years old... It does have both Book & Plate, decent tires seems clean and well taken care of....

Anyone familar with the model and can advise regarding the "+'s" or "-'s" of such a bike, also comments regarding the asking price would be appreciated..

Pianoman
 

mikerust

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Nov 5, 2003
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I t is probably worth what you and the seller agree on. I have seen a few in BKK, so can probably be fixed locally. If it has indeed been looked after by it current owner it is probably OK.

With 5 mins surfing you could have found these.........

http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/roadte ... magna_750/
http://www.v4hondabbs.com/
And from http://motorcycles.about.com/library/us ... kes173.htm
I just picked up a 1997 750 Magna. It has 42000 miles and runs and looks great. I put some cobra drag pipes & rejetted it. I also changed the fork oil & put some progressive 418 rear shocks & added a set of cobra floor boards. Almost forgot about the K&N High flow air filter.
This bike has nearly 45000 miles on it and looks, sounds, and runs better than a new one. I traded in a 1999 750 ACE to get this one and couldn't be happier. The Magna runs circles around the ACE.

I sometimes ride with some friends with H-Ds. The Magna outruns most all of them except 95 inch with about 5 grand in the motor. Hey I'm just giving up 50 cubic inches. Not bad in my book.

I'm 5'10" and the bike fits and feels great. And like the other review said, the V4 motor comes from great back ground: the Interceptor. Honda raced it with about 165 HP so maybe if I put 5 grand in mine, my friend with the 95 inch H-D will be seeing my four drag pipes alot more! Anyway great all-around bike. -- Bill2
 

HIKO

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Nov 7, 2005
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Check out what model it is. The first Magna was the VF750S model which was sold as Magna on some markets. It came in 1982 and it was a mess. The cams wear down quickly the camchain tensior was not working the frame cracked down if you put on a luggage carrier etc. Next year came the VF750 F and the S models stopped and VF750C got the Magna brand. The bikes were still as bad. The Honda factory supplied cams and other stuff free of charge for years after the official guarantee had ended.

In 1986 came the Honda VFR750 which is the best 750 ever manufactured. Very strange that the VF750 F was a mess and then next model VFR750 had no problems. The biggest difference was that the VFR got rid of the cam chain and have the cams driven by gears, a very expensive system copied from the VF1000R racer. I know bikes with 200.000 and even 300.000 km in the meter and never any problems!!!!

Unfortunally Honda continued the VF750 C range with the old engine and slowly they succeded to fix the biggest problems. These bikes were sold as Magnas on some markets.

Aprox 1995 Honda came out with a new Honda VF750 Magna which is a very good and powerfull bike with no technical problems. You will leave all standard Harleys far behind you. The new Magna have some parts from the VFR 750 but it still has a cam chain.

Your bike is probably the old model and if so stay away from it.... especially if a Thai mechanic has been "maintaining" the bike. If for example the carburator package has been dismantled you will not find a mechanic in Thailand who can make them work properly again.

If it is the new model then it is a bargain. They cost about 150.000 Baht here in Pattaya.

Check up in internet what model it is. You can find all spare parts fiches for ex on http://www.mrcycles.com/fiche_select.asp and then you can find out what model you have by comparing.

HIKO (former Honda dealer for 25 years)
 
Feb 3, 2005
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Went down yesterday and got a chance to run and ride the bike.... Very Hard Starting and runs super Rich... I asked about the Carb's and thru the interpurtor was told that they were a bit of a problem and if not running Rich, it would not iddle at all.... His wife told my wife that he has spent "Mak Baht" trying to "Make bike run good"... I think that I will pass on this one even if the price seems Good...

Thank's to All for the info and comments...

Pianoman
 

Klaus

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Mar 8, 2004
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Yep, you also could spend "Mak Baht" and the bike would still not run well...
If there'd be reliable and fair shops and mechanics around, I'd be interested in a bike that size. But I already put a lot of money into an old bike and learned my lesson. Big bikes are nice, but you never know who has been messing with it before you bought it. And Thai mechanics are well known for their short-cuts...
I'd buy a new Honda Phantom or a CBR 150 R for that money, and I'd have the reassurance that the bike will hold up on a longer trip. Sometimes less is more! Remember: pushing a Honda 750 to the next shady area is much harder than pushing a Phantom!