Trade Me bike opinions?

[Azukii_rain]

Hey all, Im pretty new to all this and dont realy know much about bikes, but I've been looking on trademe for something cheap to learn on and came across this one which seems pretty nice

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/motorbikes/motorbikes/sports/auction-584079153.htm
thoughts on it?

[Drew]

Avoid like the plague if you don't know how to work on shit.

[Maha]

What is your budget on a bike?... taking into consideration what that bike will sell for, and the cost of freight to Auckland from Invercargill?

[tigertim20]

Don't waste your time. the bike is an auction which has met reserve already, however the following line 'I reserve the right to withdraw auction at any time as bike is for sale elsewhere.' means he is a cunt who plans to withdraw the auction 5 minutes before close if it hasnt reached the price he really wants for it.

I don't waste my time with people like that.

[Katman]

Listen to Drew.

[Moi]

My tuppence worth...
I am presuming you have a 6L licence so you are ready to buy a bike... [if you don't, go get organised and get your 6L].
So, go round the different dealers and have a bloody good look at what they are offering, sit on a few and test for "feel and fit", and then do the money homework. Money homework? Cost of bike plus cost of insurance plus cost of licencing [registration] plus cost of some reasonable gear all added up does not exceed your budget.

Just because it looks nice has nothing to do with how it will ride or how you will react to it. Do you know anyone who rides and can give you some advice about what may be a suitable bike?

Plus all of what the others have said as well...

[Drew]

Listen to Drew.
Wait...What?

[Ender EnZed]

Don't waste your time. the bike is an auction which has met reserve already, however the following line 'I reserve the right to withdraw auction at any time as bike is for sale elsewhere.' means he is a cunt who plans to withdraw the auction 5 minutes before close if it hasnt reached the price he really wants for it.


He might just be bad at writing ads.


the frieght is no problem,ive sold a car tonight n get paid by the end of the week,txt me please a price u want including frieght please,txt me or call please mike 0211902902 hope to hear from you ive the bid in at present on it but all going to plan i can cash u by the end of the week just need a now price mate, thanks mike mike2173 (0 ) 8:17 pm, Mon 22 Apr

hey man sorry but due to trade me rules, once bidding has started I cant remove the item to arrange a selling price, so the only thing I can advise is watch the auction and put an auto bid on for the max amount you want to bid to, that way if sum1 puts a bid on lower then your auto bid you will still be in the lead, I cant take the auction off. cheers 8:25 am, Wed 24 Apr

[Akzle]

thoughts on it?

why do you, a self admitted n00b, want a raped four cylinder 250?

[Jezxa]

Buy a 1996+ VTR250 or a Hornet 250. You should be able to pick one up for under $3000

[Owl]

Listen to Drew.

Listen to Katman.

[sinfull]

Listen to Katman.
Listen to Owl

[blackdog]

Listen to Owl

Who!

10mfchr

[nudemetalz]

An ex had a Gixxer 250 exactly like this once. It was a tempermental thing, constantly going out of tune. Not really an ideal learners bike.
I wouldn't recommend them.

Listen to Drew, Katman, Sinful and Owl

[Glowerss]

Buy a 1996+ VTR250 or a Hornet 250. You should be able to pick one up for under $3000

You'd reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally struggle to find a 250 hornet for under $3000, and i'd hate to see what it looked like.

Decent nic hornet you're still looking at $3500 and upwards.

Don't see many VTRs going for under 3 either.

[blackdog]

You'd reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally struggle to find a 250 hornet for under $3000, and i'd hate to see what it looked like.

Decent nic hornet you're still looking at $3500 and upwards.

Don't see many VTRs going for under 3 either.

Bollocks. People are wising up to LAMS laws. You're precious Hornet ain't worth half what you think it is.

[Glowerss]

Bollocks. People are wising up to LAMS laws. You're precious Hornet ain't worth half what you think it is.

:laugh:

The 250 market didn't drop. Everything LAMS approved simply doubled in price :laugh: And that's assuming you can find decent LAMS bikes for sale.

There's a few good catches out there, but most LAMS bikes fall into one of two categories. They're either newer(ish) and heinously fucking expensive (05 and later GS50s, SV400s, Cb400SF's, ninja 300s cbr500s ect) or old and 2-4k (ZZR40s XJR400s ect).

I bought my hornet after LAMS came in knowing full well what was out there and what shit was worth :Police:

Anyway, if you can find a Hornet for less then $3,000 that's in good nic, power to you! I've not seen it. Even with LAMs they're still excellent bikes and I doubt you can find any type of bike lovingly maintained in New Zealand really for less then $3000 unless it's very old or has very high KMs.

I don't know how cheap you expect 250s to get, but I suspect you'll be disappointed. :rolleyes:

[blackdog]

I don't know how cheap you expect 250s to get, but I suspect you'll be disappointed. :rolleyes:

Wise up. Wise arse.

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/157341-I-m-thinking-of-selling-the-boys-98-VTR250?highlight=JimO

[Glowerss]

Wise up. Wise arse.

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/157341-I-m-thinking-of-selling-the-boys-98-VTR250?highlight=JimO

Wise up to what? A VTR 250 with no WOF, no rego, 41,000km on the dial and seller admitting to fork seals needing done (which aren't cheap) and that the bike had been sitting around awhile sold for $2500 or so.

Not sure what point you're trying to make? Quite aside from the fact that 1 bike is not indicative of a market trend whatsoever, a bike needing work sold for a reasonable sum.

Sounds about right to me.

[tigertim20]

Wise up to what? A VTR 250 with no WOF, no rego, 41,000km on the dial and seller admitting to fork seals needing done (which aren't cheap) and that the bike had been sitting around awhile sold for $2500 or so.

Not sure what point you're trying to make? Quite aside from the fact that 1 bike is not indicative of a market trend whatsoever, a bike needing work sold for a reasonable sum.

Sounds about right to me.

fork seals arent cheap?

are you kidding? they cost about $35 and take an hour and a half if you take your time and sink half a dozen bourbons in the process.

The changes are only a few months old, word is spreading about what other bikes are available, the strength of the 250 market is beginning to fade.

[Glowerss]

fork seals arent cheap?

are you kidding? they cost about $35 and take an hour and a half if you take your time and sink half a dozen bourbons in the process.

The changes are only a few months old, word is spreading about what other bikes are available, the strength of the 250 market is beginning to fade.

Most first time bike buyers aren't going to be comfortable doing the seals themselves. It wouldn't surprise me if a bike shop wanted to charge 100$ or more to do it for you.

Anyway, philosophically, I agree with you. I think the used bike market in NZ is far too fucking high across the board. The LAMS and 250 markets are no exception.

But the problem is, the only way the 250 market is going to drop is if there's plentiful, cheap LAMs alternatives. And there just isn't.

Buyers are becoming aware of the LAMS rules, but sellers caught on ages ago. You used to be able to buy a ZZR400 in decent nic for $2000. Now, magically, they're all charging $4,000+.

Coleman's has just imported a shitload of LAMS 400s. 02 SV400s CB400s GSR 400s ( i didn't even know there was a GSR400), and is charging $8000 a pop for them.

At the moment, there's 3 GS500s for sale all 4300+. Theres 2 kawasaki 500s for 4,000+. There's a smattering of ultra high KM (a CB400 SF with 100,000KM) 400s for 2-3,000.

I'm not going to go through and check all the dual sport/motards, but it's much the same there as well.

The only real cheap LAMS alternative ATM is http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/motorbikes/motorbikes/sports/auction-586497725.htm . Which is 22 years old.

People who know a little about motorcycles know that the bike is probably fine. But somebody new to bikes and who dosen't know any better is going to disregard the bike out of hand.

The 250 market will eventually tank when all the new LAMS bikes get old enough to start getting reasonable in 3-4 years time. But for right now, there just isn't enough in the way of cheap alternatives to bother the 250 market much.

[Reubix]

My advice:

Do not buy a motorbike unless you can look it over in the flesh. DO NOT buy a motorbike from the other end of the country UNLESS you've had it inspected by someone who a. You know personally, b. knows what to look for (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/26572-Buying-a-used-motorcycle).

ESPECIALLY since it's a 20+ year old bike. I wouldn't buy a bike older than ten years unless it was properly looked after by the previous owner.

Get in contact with someone on these forums who is around your area that you can meet in person. Have a chat about bikes over a coffee, then take a trip to a few stores or private sales and have a look at bikes together. Plus you'll make a friend :third:

[nzspokes]

fork seals arent cheap?

are you kidding? they cost about $35 and take an hour and a half if you take your time and sink half a dozen bourbons in the process.

The changes are only a few months old, word is spreading about what other bikes are available, the strength of the 250 market is beginning to fade.

+1, down load a manual and you can do anything on the bike. I didnt know much about fuel injection but on the weekend I synced my starter valves using the manual.

If you can read you can fix.

[JimO]

Wise up to what? A VTR 250 with no WOF, no rego, 41,000km on the dial and seller admitting to fork seals needing done (which aren't cheap) and that the bike had been sitting around awhile sold for $2500 or so.

Not sure what point you're trying to make? Quite aside from the fact that 1 bike is not indicative of a market trend whatsoever, a bike needing work sold for a reasonable sum.

Sounds about right to me.
that was my VTR, it was a good bike and i sold it cheap but i could have done the seals, put a wof on it and 3 months rego and i would have been wanting 3.5k

[Jezxa]

You'd reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally struggle to find a 250 hornet for under $3000, and i'd hate to see what it looked like.

Decent nic hornet you're still looking at $3500 and upwards.

Don't see many VTRs going for under 3 either.

I guess if your fussy and want something really tidy expect to pay a little more but my 02 VTR was $3250 with 28k on the clock and that was last year just before LAMS came in.

[Drew]

We paid $4200 for an absolutely MINT '03 (I think) VTR250. But the thing is clearly one of the best looked after bikes I've seen.