Looking to Buy: Central/Northern AZ, USA

Hello. This will be my first non-intro post, so please correct me if I make a faux pas.

To get straight to the point, I'm looking to buy a Silver Wing on a bit of a budget. I have about $2k that I can spend. Obviously I'd like to spend less than that, but could also go a bit higher for the right bike. I live between Northern and Central Arizona and can get anywhere from Flagstaff to Phoenix pretty easily.

So the question is, could I reasonably buy a decent quality Silver Wing within the budget I have?

I'm seeing a few listing for Silver Wings in my area with prices anywhere from $950 (in a tow yard and apparently won't start) to almost $4k. Looking at some of the other topics here and at sites like Kelly Blue Book and JD Power, it looks like I should expect to pay around my $2k budget, so I'm a bit confused about what is actually a reasonable price.

To add a bit of context, the $4k listings are a 2006 with 4000 miles and a 2002 with 9380 miles. As I said in my intro post, I'm new to motorcycles in general. To me those mileages seem low, but I don't know if that's actually the case. I can share the URL's for the listings if that would be helpful and is allowed.

TL,DR: good bikes are expensive. How much should I expect to pay for a decent Silver Wing? Any advice would be appreciated.

You can definitely get a good bike for $2,000, but you have to be patient for a great deal. Last two Silver Wings I bought (of six) were in that price range.

The 2004 silver Silver Wing had 21,600 miles and cost me $1,800 last week in South Florida, a high-priced market. The bike came with $1,850 in high performance aftermarket parts that I am installing this week. It was a fire sale from a Brazilian engineer who had to move back to his country and was forced to sell the bike in a week -- I happened along at just the right time (after spending countless hours looking for a deal like this).

The 2003 red Silver Wing with 25,530 miles was $2,000, bought last summer in New York State. This bike had been fully updated by a retiring prison guard about to tour the country. He was going to haul it on his RV until his (spoiled) wife said she wasn't sitting on a Silver Wing after being used to his Gold Wing. To keep peace at home, he sold the bike. Again, I was in the right place at the right time.

I rode the red Wing for a month on vacation and sold it for $2,800, after adding a GIVI wind screen and new front tire. The silver one is my current #2 bike that I plan to keep for awhile. Silver Wings are simple, super reliable and I don't have to worry about racking up the miles on it.

Good buys for $2,000 are out there but you have to put in the time to find them and act fast. Cash is king. If you are halfway handy with tools, get a free pdf of the Service Manual and save many hundreds on oil changes, plugs, brake fluid, coolant, belt, air and CVT filters, etc. It's an easy bike to work on.

You're making a good choice, just be patient and find a great deal. They're out there. I've long said you could bury a Silver Wing in the desert for ten years, dig it up, slap in a battery and it would cough twice and start. It's a Honda.

Good luck!

P.S. Both bikes in the photos are shown after I cleaned them to my standards. There were filthy when I bought them.

Hmm… Keep looking.

Meanwhile, in light of Delray having owned a mere 6 Silverwings chances are he might be parting with this current one soon enough. So if you’re patient and if you’d entertain the idea of a fly ‘n buy you could always ride one home from Florida.

The person selling for $950 finally responded to my inquiries. It's a 2002 with about 25,000 miles that's been in storage for a while. It will definitely need a new battery, since it doesn't have one at all right now. What battery does the SWing need? For example, if I were to get a Duracell/Duralast from Autozone, should I get an ETX12, ETX14L, etc.?

And since it's been in storage for a while, what else would normally need done to get it road ready? I'm planning on running some engine cleaner (Seafoam probably because I have some), and I'll check the coolant, brake fluid, and oil. Is there anything else to look out for?

Cosmic_Jumper wrote:

Hmm… Keep looking.

... you could always ride one home from Florida.

I am planning a tentative trip to visit family in Tampa this summer, dependent on if they move by then. My wife probably wouldn't like me riding home instead of helping drive, but we're already talking about renting a Uhaul tow-behind for the trip so it's a possibility.

95konig wrote:

The person selling for $950 finally responded to my inquiries. It's a 2002 with about 25,000 miles that's been in storage for a while. It will definitely need a new battery, since it doesn't have one at all right now. What battery does the SWing need? For example, if I were to get a Duracell/Duralast from Autozone, should I get an ETX12, ETX14L, etc.?

And since it's been in storage for a while, what else would normally need done to get it road ready? I'm planning on running some engine cleaner (Seafoam probably because I have some), and I'll check the coolant, brake fluid, and oil. Is there anything else to look out for?

The original battery is a Yuasa YTZ12-S, but a YTZ14-S is the same size and has more cold cranking amps. The Yuasa is also an AGM battery so it can be laid sideways (the way it’s supposed to be) without leaking. Positive toward the front, negative to rear.

Definitely try Seafoam. But steel yourself to needing the fuel tank assembly replaced. Long periods of storage leads to the tank rusting. At minimum that old fuel has degraded and turned to sludge along with varnish deposits on the fuel level sending unit.

If it’s any consolation a new fuel tank comes with the fuel pump and sending unit.

"I am planning a tentative trip to visit family in Tampa this summer"

Tampa area has a lot of really good deals on big scooters. Watch Facebook Marketplace. I live on the other coast, but I've made five or six trips across the state to buy bikes up there and ride them home. Not unheard of to buy a bike and have the seller store it in a garage for the buyer for a few months.

"in light of Delray having owned a mere 6 Silverwings he might be parting with this current one soon enough."

Ha, funny you mention that. I have been pining for the fjords and a Burgman 400 lately. Rode a B400 for the first time last week and really liked it. I'll probably own one someday when I'm ready for a lighter bike. For now, a Silver Wing loaded with goodies from Malossi (exhaust, clutch, variator, 24-gram rollers) is mighty easy to enjoy.

I bought the storage S Wing. It looks like it's been in storage since spring of 2007. The previous owner took notes on maintenance done and some of what they bought, and they kept print outs of maintenance receipts, so I've got a good starting point for refurbishing.

I opened up the gas tank and it most likely needs replaced. Lots of rust just on the gas cap. I wasn't able to see if there was any liquid or anything liquid-adjacent in it since my toddler was climbing all over it, but the smell was pretty strong. Do you have any recommendations for a replacement fuel tank/assembly? It looks like everything is available from PARTZILLA, but I'm open to other sources (especially for less than dealership prices).

I've also got a YTZ14s battery on order so hopefully I'll be able to test the electronics soon. It looks like the previous owner added some stuff to the dash (radio, battery volt meter, and upgraded speakers so far), so finding out what works and what doesn't is going to be interesting. I don't mind if the additions don't work, but figuring out the important stuff will be an adventure.

I still need to check some of the other fluids, like the coolant and oil. All in all, I'm pretty happy with my purchase. Once I get it cleaned up and in better lighting, I'll try posting some pics of it.

I’ve ordered from babbittsonline.com and have had good success with them. Maybe partsfish.com as well?

Ronayers.com. The new fuel tank should come with the fuel pump ass’y. Free shipping too.

https://www.ronayers.com/oemparts/a/hon/5053f2fef870021c54be6d71/fuel-tank

The fuel tank is the same for all years.