[adouglas]

Basic principle:

Every project costs twice as much and takes three times as long as you think it will. I have found this to be consistently true in the 40-odd years I've been spinning my own wrenches. The first real job I tackled was changing the fan belt on a 1974 Volvo with nothing but a pair of pliers and a straight-bladed screwdriver. Took half the night. The next day I bought my first socket set.

That's not a $600 bike. It looks more like a $1200 bike to me, once you fix everything that's wrong.

A few thoughts:

1) You consider yourself good with your hands, but do you have any actual mechanical experience? Not saying you can't learn, but on a shoestring with no actual knowledge (and possibly no tools) you might be biting off more than you can chew at this time. If you have experience working on vehicles, halfway decent tools and a place to work on the bike, disregard.

2) If you don't have any mechanical experience or knowledge, you might not be in a good position to determine the true condition of the bike. The ad says the engine is "perfect" (at 37,000 miles... hmmmm...) and "runs well" but then goes on to detail all the ways in which it doesn't run quite right. Plus there's no way a bike that needs carb service will run well. Plus the fact that the thing got hit by a car and at minimum the fork is tweaked and likely unsafe despite what the seller says. The Ninjette doesn't have clip-ons that can rotate around the fork tube. The only way to screw up the bar alignment is to bend the bar, tweak the fork or bend the frame. Are you able to actually look at the situation with knowledge and objectivity and understand what you see?

3) You say you really need transportation but can't afford 2-3k. That puts two different kinds of pressure on you, both bad: a) You're highly motivated to get the bike working, which is not the same thing as making it right and you might cut corners; and b) you might not have the money to invest in what's needed to make it right in the first place, namely parts and tools. Which leads to mono-buttocked solutions in the name of false economy.

4) "The carb could use a cleaning" is a warning sign of neglected maintenance. Any responsible owner will never let the carb get to that state. I'd be wondering if the owner was in the habit of attending to routine maintenance (regular oil and filter changes, proper storage procedure, brake fluid flushes, plugs, valve adjustments, etc.)


Were it me and I had no mechanical experience, I'd pass and start saving to get the scratch together for a solid bike with no issues and a known history. Were it me and I knew exactly what I was looking at, and provided there were no serious issues, I'd grab it as a beater. But I'd budget at least several hundred to deal with needed repairs and tools, etc.