2007 Ninja 250, 19k miles, good buy?

[Koronakesh]

Hello all,

I've been looking for a starter bike for a while now and I'm finally going to look at a 2006 (should say 2006 in title, my bad) Ninja 250 tomorrow. Found it on craigslist and the guy selling it runs a motorcycle repair shop (has great reviews) and claims he's selling it for a friend who is an MSF instructor who used it as a town bike. The inspection history shows it has been taken to his shop for the last 4 years.

He had it posted at $1500 and he didn't argue when I offered up $1350.






He's told me that oil is good, new rear brakes, good front tire, good chain, good sprockets, and that the rear tire is 50%. I've read an entire guide on evaluating used motorcycles but I'm still hesitant.

I've seen online that the 250 is basically bulletproof and people get them to 50k miles all the time, but I'm still kinda spooked. Is this a good buy? Is it gonna end up breaking down next week?

Thanks.

[Triple Jim]

Hi Ryan, it's good to meet you.

Not a bad deal. I paid $1,100 for a 2005 that was not as good looking, and had road rash on the mufflers. My seat is in good condition though, you might check the prices of an eBay replacement and see if you can get the seller to help you a little there.

Also, ask when the valves were last adjusted, the oil last changed, etc.. Valves aren't too big a deal if you can do that sort of thing yourself, but if not, it'll cost a few bucks, and when they're very far out of adjustment on one of these bikes, it doesn't run very well. Just getting straight answers to questions like that will tell you something about the level of care it's gotten. If the answers are "I don't know", you can assume the answer was "never".

If it's in reasonably good mechanical condition, you can't go too wrong at $1,350.

[jkv45]

Honestly, it looks a little rough from the pictures. In-person, they are usually worse.

I'd look closely at the tires and the date of manufacturer. If they are old or worn, you are looking at at least $200 for a set. Significantly more if you take the entire cycle to a shop.

The pipes look beat.

The seat is trashed.

19,000 miles isn't that big of deal if routine maintenance has been done, but not great if it hasn't.

Look at the oil in the sight glass on the right side of the engine. If it's not golden or light colored the maintenance may not have been that great - especially if he says it's "good".

Look closely at the chain. If it's rusted and loose or stretched it may need replacement. Same with the sprockets. If they have any amount of "hook" to them it may be time for them as well.

Are there dents in the tank or cracks in the fairings? Why is the left side reflector on the fairing sitting crooked?

We sold a pristine 2004 Ninja 250 with 4000 mi and new tires last year for $2000 - which was a fair price.

If it were me, I think I'd be under $1000 on that one.

A little more perspective - we were looking for a Ninja 500 for my youngest boy, and wanted to stay in the $2000 range. One was crashed and fixed poorly with 11,000 mi, another was just totally beat. They both wanted $2000. There was another one in our area that had no fairings and was for sale for $1500.

I convinced him to hold on to his money and wait. Eventually a 2009 with 2400 miles came up in our area. It was purchased "new" as a leftover in 2011 for $3500. It did need tires, but that's all. Otherwise it was immaculate. Sometimes waiting is the best choice.

[Koronakesh]

Here's two better pictures if this helps at all.

I'm getting slightly nervous about this bike, now that you bring that stuff up.

[Triple Jim]

I stand by my evaluation that it's nicer cosmetically than the '05 I bought. There's nothing to be nervous about, look at the bike, figure out what it needs to be in the shape you want it to be in, and compare it to a couple others that you also look at. That'll give you an idea of what's available for what price. Keep in mind that the price you're talking about is 1/4 of the price of a new 300. Like Jay said, don't be in a hurry, just enjoy the shopping.

[taz]

Originally Posted by jkv45

look at the oil in the sight glass on the right side of the engine. If it's not golden or light colored the maintenance may not have been that great - especially if he says it's "good".

well my oil always looks dark but i also run royal purple, so right out of the bottle it is a vary dark purple.

[Koronakesh]

Originally Posted by Triple Jim

I stand by my evaluation that it's nicer cosmetically than the '05 I bought. There's nothing to be nervous about, look at the bike, figure out what it needs to be in the shape you want it to be in, and compare it to a couple others that you also look at. That'll give you an idea of what's available for what price. Keep in mind that the price you're talking about is 1/4 of the price of a new 300. Like Jay said, don't be in a hurry, just enjoy the shopping.

Cosmetically I'm not too concerned with the bike. My plan for the seat was to find some nice black duct tape and call it a day.

Mechanically, I'm concerned. I have a very firm bike budget that I've been slowly building up for a while now. I just want something cheap that'll be reliable. Not picky about a bike anymore because I'm excited to just ride. I'm okay throwing $100-200 at it every 6 months for maintenance, but I don't want to end up with something that's going to have a catastrophic failure next month and end up sitting around while I save up to fix it.

[Triple Jim]

There's really no way to predict the approach of a catastrophic failure. Even new vehicles can have that happen. If that sort of thing worries you, I'd say you need to buy from a dealer that offers a warranty. Even in my small town, Motomax offers a six month warranty on street bikes. The bad part is that I can buy a Ninja 250 and a replacement engine for less than I'd pay a dealer that offers a warranty.

How about taking someone who knows motorcycles with you when you look at it? Or if it looks good and you agree on a price, ask about the two of you taking it to a local shop to let a mechanic evaluate it for you, with the agreement that if it checks out, you hand the seller the cash?

[Koronakesh]

Originally Posted by Triple Jim

There's really no way to predict the approach of a catastrophic failure. Even new vehicles can have that happen. If that sort of thing worries you, I'd say you need to buy from a dealer that offers a warranty. Even in my small town, Motomax offers a six month warranty on street bikes. The bad part is that I can buy a Ninja 250 and a replacement engine for less than I'd pay a dealer that offers a warranty.

How about taking someone who knows motorcycles with you when you look at it? Or if it looks good and you agree on a price, ask about the two of you taking it to a local shop to let a mechanic evaluate it for you, with the agreement that if it checks out, you hand the seller the cash?

Well the interesting part is that the guy selling it owns the highest rated motorcycle shop in the city. It isn't his bike, but he's selling it for a friend. If it were any other bike in the area I'd probably end up taking it to this shop. I feel like it should be safe buying from him since it'd look really bad on his reputation to pass a bike off to somebody that was on the verge of failure. Maybe that's optimistic.

Maybe I can haggle some routine maintenance in there with the price. Unfortunately I'm driving about 90 miles to go look at it because there are basically no bikes for sale near me short of expensive Harleys. Bad part is a friend and I are taking a u-haul motorcycle trailer down with us since that's the only way we can get it back if I go ahead and buy it tomorrow, which puts me in a bad negotiating spot to begin with. I've been struggling to find any 250's in this price range within 125 miles so all my eggs are in one basket right now with this bike.

[jkv45]

Originally Posted by Koronakesh

I'm getting slightly nervous about this bike, now that you bring that stuff up.

I don't know what to tell you.

It looks to me that it has been sitting outside a lot of its life. Is the clear peeling on the top of the tank? The front signals are from a later model.

That's just the stuff I look at. I'm picky, and patient, which has paid off in the long run for me (and my kids).

You are right - driving 90 mi and pulling up with a U-Haul puts you at a disadvantage when negotiating.

Bring a good flashlight and check inside the tank for rust. That can cause you all sort of problems down the line.

Some amusing reading on the subject - http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/Why_bikes_die

Might explain some things...

[Triple Jim]

90 miles isn't far to look at a vehicle. I drove almost that far to buy my 250. And just because you take a trailer doesn't mean you can't negotiate, as long as you appear to be willing to go home empty handed. The fact that you already offered $1,350 might tend to slow negotiations, however. Like I said, find out what a seat will cost you and discuss his covering all or part of that for you, maybe.

If the guy owns the highest rated motorcycle shop in the city, you should be able to look him in the eye, tell him what you told us about your budget, etc., and ask him to please let you know if he knows of anything wrong with the bike, or anything he knows of that will require work soon. Honestly, and I mean this is a positive way, if you're still uncomfortable in this situation, maybe buying a used vehicle isn't for you.

[Koronakesh]

I'll point out all the stuff that's been brought up about it cosmetically and see if I can drive it down to $1000-1100.

If I run into anything mechanically concerning I'll just walk away and shelf the idea for a while and see if any really great deals come along in the next few months.

[Koronakesh]

I bought the bike! Got it for $1200. It had a lot of stuff recently replaced. The new rear signals are because the previous owner had saddle bags the covered stock. Started up with no choke fine, good brakes and suspension.

I immediately drove it straight into a ditch right after buying it and dropped it lol. Looks like I need some refreshers on my riding...

[Triple Jim]

First, congratulations! It's always nice to find a used vehicle that has had recent maintenance done. It's not uncommon with cars that someone will replace an alternator, batttery, water pump, tires, (etc.) and then get the feeling it's costing him too much to be worth keeping. That's the kind of seller I like to find.

Look were you want to go, not where you don't want to go! I find that practicing my weaknesses makes them go away. Many times over the years if I've felt that I needed work in some area of riding, I've gone to a piece of deserted pavement and practiced over and over until I felt that I had figured out the problem and corrected it.

Be safe, and have fun!

[Koronakesh]

Probably a dumb new guy question, I've read some stuff on a 250 wiki and think I have my answer but..

I was riding it around a parking lot to get comfortable with turning again, and every time I pulled into a parking spot I'd pull the clutch and try to shift up from 1st to neutral and it wouldn't do it. I'd try to shift it to neutral when I was stationary and it still wouldn't take. Sometimes after 10-15 tries it would do it without illuminating the neutral light.

I read that it won't really shift below 15mph and hated shifting at all stationary, but not sure. Haven't tried taking it into 2nd yet since I was getting low speed turning down again. I did drop it on the left side so, did I break something or is this just how the Ninja is?

The previous owner told me to walk it back and forth and don't hold the clutch in all the way and eventually it went back to neutral. I'm thinking this is a dumb question but just wanted to make sure and get an explanation.

[Triple Jim]

If the clutch isn't releasing all the way, so that it's dragging a little, it can be hard to get into neutral when you're stopped. Also, if you bent the lever or otherwise messed up the linkage, that could be all or part of the problem. Mine will go into neutral easily when stopped, and with the Kawasaki neutral finding feature (name?) you can't accidentally pass neutral and go to 2nd if you're stopped. Check that your clutch cable free play is good, so you're getting a full lever stroke worth of disengagement, and look carefully at your shift lever and linkage to see if something is restricting free movement.

Once you have things working right, we can tackle the neutral light if it's not working OK at that point.

[Koronakesh]

I just rode it again, took it around the block this time. Definitely got it into a higher gear, and then back down to first, but the neutral light never illuminated at all. Once I parked it, I once again couldn't get it back to neutral.

I seem to have to release the clutch quite a bit before I can start powerwalking with it, seems like there's a very narrow region where I can powerwalk before the bike will verge on dying. Does this mean it's the clutch cable?

We looked at the shift lever after I bent it and straightened it back out in the shop. I looked at it again and the movement isn't restricted at all. Not sure how to check the linkage.

Just went and walked in back and forth some more and I still can't get it back into neutral. I can shift down all the way until it won't let me anymore, and then it feels like it'll let me shift about 3-4 more times all the way up before it stops me. At no point does the light come on. I'd tried doing really gentle half-shifts but it seems to be hopeless.

[Triple Jim]

The neutral light or its switch may have a problem, so forget about them for the moment. Go to 1st gear, clicking the lever down as many times as it takes, as you move the bike forward and backward a bit with the engine off. Then lift the shift lever fully once, maybe rocking the bike a forward and backward slightly. You should then be in neutral, and can verify this by rolling the bike back and forth as far as you like without having to pull the clutch lever. What happens when you try this?

Honestly, and without any intent to offend you, it may be time to find someone who is an experienced rider to check things out. He could let you know if things seem normal or not, and point you in the right direction. I wish you were local to me, I'd be glad to take a look.

[CaliGrrl]

Congrats on joining the Ninjette family! Mine's a 2006, too, with just a few less miles than yours.

You might consider taking a riding class to brush up on your skills and getting someone else to help you look at the bike. It really should go into neutral...

[Koronakesh]

This whole situation may be because I'm a dumbass. I did what you said and it didn't work - then I realized that I hadn't actually shifted it all the way down. It was on god knows what gear and I had to keep moving back and forth and try downshifting again. Essentially I've figured out what an orangutan would have figured out 6 hours ago.

Got it down all the way to first, clicked it up once, boom neutral light came on. Not being able to find neutral while coasting in to park can probably just be attributed to lack of skill or bad technique. It wouldn't surprise me if that was the problem all along and the bike is fine, hopefully that's the case.

I thought the Ninja's positive neutral finder prevented you from shifting above neutral from a stop though? I could still be mistaken though, who knows.

[Triple Jim]

Originally Posted by Koronakesh

I thought the Ninja's positive neutral finder prevented you from shifting above neutral from a stop though? I could still be mistaken though, who knows.

It won't let you go from 1st to 2nd when stopped, but if you're in 2nd, it doesn't stop you from going as high as you want.

[CaliGrrl]

Glad you figured out the problem!