Been thinking of going up a whole bunch and I've wanted a Buell for a long time, just flipped through "The Book of Buell" and found a very interesting picture that made me laugh (there's a video that goes with it if you check out the book on their site).

http://www.buell.com/en_us/book-of-buell/

Specifically I'm kind of looking for a 2003 or so XB9R that will get a lot of treatment including changing the FI system to something I can program, and black... Everything black (frame, forks, everything). Saw a modded XB9S that was all black and it looks great.

I should probably add that the crack pipe induced prices locally for the Ninja 250 have been pushing me towards bigger (and cheaper) machines. People asking $3000 for a 2001 with cracked plastic? Man they got to get off the pipe!

I had a 2003 XBSL and it was an incredible bike. I would buy another Buell in a heartbeat, if I weren't so short. I sold it because I never felt comfortable when I was at a stop. I'm 5'2", 120 lbs and although it is a light bike, it's just too tall for me. I really miss it. If you get the opportunity to get a Lightning or Firebolt, grab it. One warning though, the computer system is quite a pain in the ass. I put a new air filter in mine, and had to take it to the dealer to have the computer reset ($80!!!). The computer has two modes of operation, one fixed (low RPM) one variable (high RPM), so it idled like crap and didn't run correctly until it was over 4000 RPM. Just a warning, not trying to talk you out of it.

well, I like some things about Buells and really don't like some things. There new ads are inspired but misguided as well. Ride one yourself and make up your own mind. Really that is all that matters.

The stock ECU will not last past the info gathering/configuration stage.... A Microsquirt will be going in as soon as possible. That and my laptop are all I need to fix/adjust oddities.

I think I missed a good one while I was trying to get a sensible price on a couple of Ninjettes and now the season is basically over. Hoping that the used bikes market will suddenly explode after people get their last ride in this weekend so I may be able to grab one and still have a couple weekends to enjoy it before the snow flies.

Thankfully I'm taller enough (around 5'10") that I should be able to deal with the seat height, about 125 to 130 pounds too so the bike should barely notice that I'm there (maybe 150 with gear as the 1 piece leather does weigh a bit). May even look into taking a racing school next summer if I have a machine ready in time.

And yes there are some things I like a lot about them (chassis, FI, etc) and one thing I do not which is the single crank pin air cooled engine. They went with a liquid cooled Rotax for their new racing machine and won a lot of stuff this year as a result. Big different in horsepower and consistency with that engine switch. I'm still undecided about the fuel tank/frame design since it will not make the best commuter with the 3.8 gallon fuel capacity, but I'll learn to deal with it. Would be nice if it had 5 gallons.

I should probably add that the crack pipe induced prices locally for the Ninja 250 have been pushing me towards bigger (and cheaper) machines. People asking $3000 for a 2001 with cracked plastic? Man they got to get off the pipe!

Lots of people would like to sell for those prices, if you run across someone willing to pay those prices send them my way. I'm not planning on selling our bikes at the current time but I have 2 2004's that I would sell without a second thought for $3000 each. No cracks in the plastic either!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Buell = Beast Mode

Ads that high I won't even reply to, you can get 636 for $3500 to $4000, XB9R for the same range (if you can find them), GSX-R600 and 750 for the same if you go back to 03.

As I said, too much crack smoking when they dream up their asking prices. I've seen exactly one 250 priced decently and I decided it was dumb to get that one since I'm going to mod the heck out of it. That's really the purpose of buying anything in this sport bike/toy category is to mod the heck out of it. If I wanted something to just ride I would have grabbed the BMW K75S that a guy had for sale and just ride it 'til it got too cold to deal with (probably an extra month on that bike).

Greg, I think there is a direct relationship between gas prices and cc`s. As gas prices rise cc`s decrease. As gas prices go down, cc`s go up. The used motorcycle market is a very fickle state of affairs. I see 08 Ninjettes on the market with 400 miles on the odometer!

And around here those 08 Ninjettes are trying to go for $4000, unless they've been crashed and then it is $3500. Actually there were several 08 asking more then $4000 last month, not sure what happened to them and there were a couple 09 asking $4200+.

Once you ride it off the dealers lot, you loose at least $1000. That's just the way any new vehicle sale goes.

When I was shopping for a used bike in May a lot of the Ninjette prices on Craigslist were over MSRP, so I decided to buy new. Now the used market seems to have dried up around here for ex250's.
There is a blue 08 for sale in my town for 3,500 it has 800 miles, and looks like it rolled off the showroom floor. It has been on craigslist for a couple of months now at that price. My bike has 5,200 miles on it, probably around 15to20k around next spring when I decide to sell it to get something bigger, and I was expecting to get around 3k to 3.5k when I sell it.
Seeing that pretty blue ninjette up on craigslist day after day, is very discouraging to me, hopefully the market will pick back up after winter.:(

When I was shopping for a used bike in May a lot of the Ninjette prices on Craigslist were over MSRP, so I decided to buy new. Now the used market seems to have dried up around here for ex250's.
There is a blue 08 for sale in my town for 3,500 it has 800 miles, and looks like it rolled off the showroom floor. It has been on craigslist for a couple of months now at that price. My bike has 5,200 miles on it, probably around 15to20k around next spring when I decide to sell it to get something bigger, and I was expecting to get around 3k to 3.5k when I sell it.
Seeing that pretty blue ninjette up on craigslist day after day, is very discouraging to me, hopefully the market will pick back up after winter.:(
Honestly the key to selling is presentation. Market the bike well and you'll sell sooner than you think. Take many good different angled pictures, create a photobucket account and host the larger pics from there. You can even make a video walkaround. Sold mine in 1.5 weeks on craigslist. I've seen some similar ninjettes not sell for months.;)

I own a 2009 Buell XB12scg, let me know if you have any questions.......they are torque monsters!

http://www.ninjette.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=184&pictureid=2248

-Nick-
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When I was shopping for a used bike in May a lot of the Ninjette prices on Craigslist were over MSRP, so I decided to buy new. Now the used market seems to have dried up around here for ex250's.
There is a blue 08 for sale in my town for 3,500 it has 800 miles, and looks like it rolled off the showroom floor. It has been on craigslist for a couple of months now at that price. My bike has 5,200 miles on it, probably around 15to20k around next spring when I decide to sell it to get something bigger, and I was expecting to get around 3k to 3.5k when I sell it.
Seeing that pretty blue ninjette up on craigslist day after day, is very discouraging to me, hopefully the market will pick back up after winter.:(

you'll never get 3.5k with 15 to 20 k miles on the bike, you better hope some 1 will pay 3k for it...you know how much your bike is worth right now, if you were to trade it in to a dealer, $2300

what a difference a year makes when you couldn't touch at 250 at this time of the year. saw 2 new ones at dealer saturday.