Getting a cheaper Super4 Revo

[yycools]

Hi everyone, want to share my recent experience buying my class2A bike, a 2011 Super4 Revo. It has about 38k on the odometer, has one owner and was in relatively good shape mechanically. Whereas you may expect 10-11k for this bike, I was able to get it for about 3k cheaper than the market price. I want to share my buying experience with everyone so if you are in the market for a class2a bike, you can explore this option.

 

Why so cheap? because the bike I got was a ex-Driving School (SSDC) class 2a bike. I don't know how this dealer ended up with these class2a Revos, but they have about 15 or so available (all 2011 models, between 28k-40k kms). The dealer is slowly refurbishing them by removing the over-sized crash bar and respraying them. When I went, they had 3 bikes refurbished, I ended up buying one of them after some test driving. the rest of the bikes are not yet refurbished and the paint is sun faded, but the couple I tried all start right up and purrs. I am not saying they are in tip top condition, but I bought it under these assumptions:

 

1 - Driving school mechanics would preform maintenance and repairs onsite and professionally

2 - Transmission likely to be in good shape, I don't think these bikes ever saw gear 4,5,6

3 - It has been dropped, but likely to be at very slow speed, or stationery drops (some has small dent on tank)

4 - If it sounds okay during the test ride, whatever that need to be repaired/replaced can be offset by the savings

5 - On paper, these are 1 owner, low mileage bikes that has around 5 years of COE left, if you want to upgrade in a year or two, you might recover all costs (given is COE stay the same or go higher)

 

Once I have taken delivery of the bike, I bought it to Planet Motor for a full checkup, they stated the bike is quite new and don't need it but I still have them do EO change, coolant flush, spark plugs and air filter just for my piece of mind.

 

Here is the pricing, for the refurbished bikes, dealer asked 9.5k but likely can be had around 8.5k, for the none refurbished ones, dealer asked 9k but likely can be settle around 7.5-8k. They also take trade-in, but as usual, you will not like their offer.

 

I would suggest you either should know something about Revos or bring a friend who knows a thing about Revos with you, do a test ride on mutliple bikes, listen to the engine, the transmission, the chain and the noise it makes. Some bike I tested had loud knocking which is never a good sign, but some are silky smooth. I only bought a refurbished because I use my bike to commute and don't have time to have it resprayed.

 

I am not very certain about posting the name and contact of the dealer per the forum rules, so if you have questions or want to know where to contact them, just send me a PM.

[sjyong]

How long have you had the bike for already? I used to own 2nd hand 2B bike and problem always arise only after a couple of weeks of riding. I recently got my 2A too but am very skeptical about these school bikes although they are a lot cheaper

[yycools]

@sjyongyou make a good point, and this is only my second work of ownership right now, maybe I did jump the gun a bit. I can update this thread in a bit after I have used the bike for a bit longer. But touch wood, so far so good....

 

Just another point about my thinking, because Class 2a and 2 bike almost never leave the circuit, unless it is taken by the instructors, adding to class 2a learners tend to be a bit more experienced in handling motorbikes. There's no way I would get a class 2b driving school bike, but I keep my option open for 2a and 2

[slowrider]

I guess how much each bike is selling on a price reducing scale, depends on HOW MANY TIMES THE BIKE WAS DROPPED?

 

One drop $100 less, $3000 less than market price means dropped 30 or more times? lolololololol

[yycools]

hahaha, I think you're being quite generous with the number of drops. Over the 4-5 year, driving school bikes probably had hundreds of drops, which is why they have those big ass crash bar on it. Like all company, driving schools are there to make money, and they make a crap load on these bikes through"Session rentals". Since learners have to rent these bikes for the session at between $20-30, some simple math shows just how much driving schools makes through these bikes. I'll use a class 2A bike as an example:

 

Let's assume a new Revo in 2011 cost $20k OTR for the schools, let's also assume on average this Revo is utilized 4 session a day at $20 profit per session (admin, petrol, maintenance cost already already considered). If the bike is utilized 200 days a year, that's $16k a year, this means the driving school makes the cost of the bike back in 1.25 years, if we assume the useful life of the driving school bike is 4 years, the driving school makes $44k in profit. What this means is that when these bikes do go to auction to the dealers, the driving school careless about the cost of individual bikes, rather getting rid of the lot of them. I have no proof of this, but I suspect these bikes are auctioned off quite cheaply, maybe 3-4k max since the dealers has to take on the risks of bad machines. I say this because I really do believe you can get it for even cheaper because when I offered my price, then dealer agreed quite quickly...at $7k for an un-restored bike, the dealer is probably making a nice profit. It a shame that the public cannot go to auctions and buy directly...

[sjyong]

@sjyongyou make a good point, and this is only my second work of ownership right now, maybe I did jump the gun a bit. I can update this thread in a bit after I have used the bike for a bit longer. But touch wood, so far so good....

 

Just another point about my thinking, because Class 2a and 2 bike almost never leave the circuit, unless it is taken by the instructors, adding to class 2a learners tend to be a bit more experienced in handling motorbikes. There's no way I would get a class 2b driving school bike, but I keep my option open for 2a and 2

 

That's actually a fair point made haha. If i were to pick up such bike my primary concern would be the fork alignment. Yeah keep us updated and hopefully all goes well for you! *touch wood*

[yycools]

Thanks bro. Everything's good so far, I do plan to service the suspension in the coming weeks, at least there's no leakage or squeaking. I am planning to do a few longer trips out of Singapore in the coming month to really test the bike out, but the few time i was able to push the bike, it was butter smooth to 11k rpm (didn't push more because.....Singapore)

[yycools]

So, it's been about 4 months since I made this post and I feel like I have a better sense of my driving school Revo to make an update.

 

Overall, the bike has been extremely reliable, no break down over 4 month, 6,000KM. However, it is a used motorbike and there were issues with wear and tear parts. I will list what I have done to the bike and what are some of the issues I experienced.

 

- Rewired headlight: Driving school has wired low beam to a tiny driving light to save battery. So you have a very weak beam for low beam/driving light. Turning on high beam will activate standard bulb, but only low beam. This will require a rewire and change headlight bulb. Can be done at any workshop for less than $20

- Changed tires: Not a fault from dealer, driven over a nail and poorly patched. Switched to Metzler M5 for $220

- Changed front wheel bearing: while changing tires, tech noticed my front wheel bear is worn, $40 replacement

- Added grip puppies: I have large hands and standard grips are tiny, grip puppies fixed that, $30

- Changed mirrors: Mirror housing were rusted from the bottom, something you should check, I didn't realize it until much later, $20 from Aliexpess got me brand new ones (Chinese mirrors)

- Chnaged IU: Older IU out of warranty and becoming increasingly unreliable, decided to buy a new one for $155 installed

- Changed cooling system: This is a big one and I suggest changing regardless. Because the life of a driving school bike means it sits out in the sun and rain day by day, the rubber hose and PVC joints wore out quite quickly. After a trip to Malaysia (and some fast riding), I noticed coolant started to leak. I replaced the thermostat, all coolant piping, joints and cap. No more leaks, costed about $250 at Planet

- Chain and sprockets: at a oil change, tech noticed my chain is a bit loose (stretched) although the adjuster is maxed out, replaced all for $220

 

That's all I've done so far, most of which are wear items, engine and transmission are strong and problem free. Another thing I noticed is that front brakes feels soft (air in brakeline), I will be doing a full brake service including new pads soon.

 

All in all, my Revo feels strong, mostly problem free and fun to ride, for the money saved, it remains a great deal.

[pufferfis]

Thanks bro. Everything's good so far, I do plan to service the suspension in the coming weeks, at least there's no leakage or squeaking. I am planning to do a few longer trips out of Singapore in the coming month to really test the bike out, but the few time i was able to push the bike, it was butter smooth to 11k rpm (didn't push more because.....Singapore)

 

as an alternative...perhaps you can change the stock suspension to bitubo....a bit more pricy but less den 900 bucks but performance is definitely much better .....then set it to your weight then sell off your stock showa for a good price ...cheers...