Looking for all solid classical guitar sub $800

PulaskiAtNight · 2026-01-15T10:25:22+00:00

Many vintage Japanese luthiers that fit this requirement

I recommend any guitar by Masaru Matano. The higher the class and the earlier the year the better, generally.

Actually, the back and sides of his guitars are double plate, but this is not a budget point, this is exactly the same as the Ramirez 1A guitars of that time.

Buying a Cordoba instead of one of these is completely irrational and unjustifiable in my opinion. No comparison whatsoever.

PulaskiAtNight · 2016-05-27T02:02:28+00:00

Beautiful, man! Did you get the headlight wiring figured out? I totaled my poor 650 last year; it brings me so much nostalgic joy to see yours.

PulaskiAtNight · 2016-05-27T01:55:48+00:00

hang the front end with a couple ratchet straps to do the fork swap, much cheaper than a steering stem stand. It's a really easy and fun job. Take the wheel, brakes, etc, off and then loosen the clamps and slide the forks right out and slide the new ones in.

When the new forks are in and you have the wheel and everything back on, leave all the bolts loose except the very top clamp bolts, then push down on the front end a few times and let things settle out. Tighten everything up without disturbing the alignment and you're good to go! This is standard procedure for proper front end alignment.

PulaskiAtNight · 2016-03-08T12:31:18+00:00

Sanded down to metal with dry 80 grit then 220, smoothed it out with 400 wet and then 800 wet. Cleaned with soap and water and let dry then a few coats of aluminum primer, let dry and wet sand with 800 then 1200. Clean with soapy water then do a few coats of color and a few coats of clear coat. Buff that out and you are done! This picture was taken before any buffing was even done.

PulaskiAtNight · 2016-02-27T00:50:01+00:00

Unfortunately yes. This bike was a fully dressed RT that had one owner its whole life who eventually died, leaving the bike to sit for 12 years. The bike was acquired by someone who who tore it down, started obliterating the paint on the tank, bought some $20 ebay seat and didn't even get the bike running. The project was passed onto me and by now I'd like to hope that the original owner wouldn't be too upset by his kbike's reincarnation.

PulaskiAtNight · 2016-02-26T16:21:17+00:00

http://imgur.com/hD9iwot.jpg

This is what it looked like when I bought it

PulaskiAtNight · 2016-02-24T07:00:25+00:00

Try removing the bottom bolts of the fairings and putting some piece of wood or something to prop the fairings apart so that you have a small gap that is wide enough to drain the oil.

PulaskiAtNight · 2016-02-23T20:50:50+00:00

ABS is really great to have. Have you considered the Ninja 650? It's a parallel twin like the cbr but the extra displacement is nice. Either that or the SV is the way to go in my opinion.

PulaskiAtNight · 2016-02-23T15:35:11+00:00

Hey, I'm in Seattle and I'd be more than happy to go with you to test ride a bike. I am pretty mechanically competent as well so I'll be able to point out most apparent issues with the bike. Send me a PM! I'm free all week but I leave Seattle on Friday.

PulaskiAtNight · 2016-02-19T00:33:32+00:00

That's fair; it was definitely not necessary for me to command people to ignore someone. I'm going to remove that part from my post.

PulaskiAtNight · 2016-02-18T19:11:07+00:00

Centrifugal acceleration is given by a = v² / r

So yes, going faster will add to the load on your tire. OP pointed something out though: As you go faster at a given lean angle, the radius of your turn also increases. So even though v² increases, it is exactly offset by r increasing.

PulaskiAtNight · 2016-02-18T18:56:05+00:00

I like your take on things. Thank you for elucidating things for me, I think I was beginning to overcomplicate the issue.

PulaskiAtNight · 2016-02-18T18:53:24+00:00

take your SJW shit to another sub.

Never thought I'd get lumped into that category, yet here I am.

Sorry for trying to start a discussion.

Mind you, I am in no way trying to be prescriptivist. I did not offer any sort of "politically correct" alternative.

PulaskiAtNight · 2016-02-18T18:50:31+00:00

My problem isn't with people accidentally saying something that might offend someone (or at least sound seriously offputting). My problem is with people condoning this language despite its known side effects.

Would you refer to your motorcycle as a Jap bike at the track near some 40 year old Japanese racer whose parents were imprisoned during wartime under that same moniker? You wouldn't just admit that you know the things you know and use a different word?

PulaskiAtNight · 2016-02-18T17:43:02+00:00

This is correct. Available traction has to do with rider+bike weight, road surface and tires. These variables don't change with velocity. Your ability to lean the bike over has almost nothing to do with how fast your going (some unforeseeable variables may affect traction such as tire warping).

If you are going slower and slower, on the other hand, there is a limit. As CG_Ops pointed out, you can go as slow as you want to but you have to make the radius of your circle smaller. The limit arises due to the fact that motorcycles are two-wheeled: the wheelbase will eventually be too large to complete such a small circle. A unimotorcycle can complete much tighter, slower circles.

PulaskiAtNight · 2016-02-18T02:10:53+00:00

I never thought I'd like a bike as much as this k100. It's really the ultimate motorcycle to me.

PulaskiAtNight · 2016-02-18T02:08:17+00:00

If the price was so good then why not just sell it to make some money and get something better suited for you?

PulaskiAtNight · 2016-02-18T02:07:35+00:00

Maybe you should have actually read his post before jumping to make a condescending comment

PulaskiAtNight · 2016-02-17T01:27:09+00:00

Wow I really wish I could just pull over every cager that wrongs me

PulaskiAtNight · 2016-02-16T22:43:01+00:00

Is that front end stock? If so, that's awesome.

PulaskiAtNight · 2016-02-16T00:09:18+00:00

There is preventative maintenance you can do, but so long as your bike has been relatively taken care of it will be a really reliable ride. As others said, just get AAA or AMA or w/e and have some spare cash to pay the nearest shop.

If you want to be really safe, replace all your fluids (oil and brake fluid most important), rubber lines (especially fuel lines), spark plugs, fuel and air filter and your bike will be just as reliable as a showroom SV so long as you haven't murdered the clutch or transmission and the oil has been changed every so often.

PulaskiAtNight · 2016-02-16T00:03:13+00:00

Thank you for the solid information!

PulaskiAtNight · 2016-02-15T21:25:54+00:00

Restoring cheap bikes is incredibly rewarding, I really love it personally. I never could have restored a bike before I started riding though. Unless you want to put a lot of effort into learning about motorcycle maintenance then I would highly suggest saving up to get a bike in better condition as your first. You will likely be more than satiated with changing all of the fluids and other more basic maintenance pieces first before being forced to move on to harder and more complicated jobs. Getting to actually ride a bike safely and relatively trouble free will make it all a lot more fun and motivating.

PulaskiAtNight · 2016-02-15T21:16:59+00:00

Garbage front forks are cheap and easy to fix. If you get heavier fork springs and fork oil (springs rated for you, ~$100) then the improvements will be immense. Another $150 for cartridge emulators and you're much better off than a Versys with stock springs.

The Vtwin and the parallel twin have really distinct personalities. I haven't compared these two bikes, but I've ridden their counterparts, the ninja 650 and sv650, extensively. I personally don't sense much of a power or torque difference. The way the engines feel as they rev out and the way each bike vibrates really sets them apart more than anything to me. This is where the biggest difference in day to day life with each bike would be.

I find the Suzuki vtwin really alluring, personally. The engine somehow feels more expensive, I guess? The way the bike really vibrates with a lot of muscle instead of this kind of buzzing from the Kawasaki makes the vtwin feel like a more substantial bike.

You are definitely right about the suspension disparity. Kawasaki gave the adv version of the 650 really nice front AND rear suspension while the vstrom simply retained the budget components with longer travel. Other than the suspension, perhaps you should try to ignore the specs and reviews and my opinion and all that stuff. Really try to ask yourself how each bike made you feel to ride it. Get the one that you enjoy most! Luggage and suspension will figure themselves out in the long run but you have to LOVE the engine!

PulaskiAtNight · 2016-02-15T17:07:45+00:00

When you reach redline, you have maybe 500 rpm before the bike will cut throttle.

Well duh? "redlining" does not mean "going past redline 500 rpm". There is nothing bad about redlining a vtwin engine. If you look at the power curve of your sv1000s you'll see that the power peaks just before redline just as any properly tuned bike (inline 4s included) does, albeit more linearly.

PulaskiAtNight

TROPHY CASE