This is from this thread.  

I may be in the market for a dirt cheap bike with a high mile per gallon rating.  What is the biggest things to look for on old 1980s and early 1990s streetable dirt bikes and street bikes?  

For my background, I have been a mechanic (for a living) in the past, and have rebuilt v-8s and old Mopar stuff.  I used to have a Honda XR and a Suzuki 4stroke 250 (both dirt).  

tag and a huge +1

Quoted: This is from this thread.   I may be in the market for a dirt cheap bike with a high mile per gallon rating.  What is the biggest things to look for on old 1980s and early 1990s streetable dirt bikes and street bikes?   For my background, I have been a mechanic (for a living) in the past, and have rebuilt v-8s and old Mopar stuff.  I used to have a Honda XR and a Suzuki 4stroke 250 (both dirt).

I have an '85 XR200 giving me troubles if you could help. IM me if so. Anyway, as far as older bikes goes, I guess it's the same as everything else. A couple important things, first, never buy without taking it for a ride. Make sure it trails straight. Just open your senses to notice everything. Funny vibrations, oil leaks, rusty chain/cracked belt, dry rotted tires, breaks, speedo, and rust in the gas tank to name a few things. Head bearing too (tripple tree bearing). When riding, try to stop with just the front break, and you might notice the front end rock forward. Might be slight, but that's no good. Service intervals is important. Also, in my experience, I have found synthetic oils to be bad for wet clutches, so you might wanna ask what kind of oil was used. Good luck.

Rob

Get a 750 Nighthawk. Good power, good gas mileage and super reliability with very little maintenance. The damn things are bulletproof and you shouldn't outgrown it in a week. Also the 500 and older 600 Ninjas are very good bikes that can be had cheap.