You are more likely to get ****ed by a salesman at a dealership than by an individual. With an individual you can feel them out and get a gut feeling for the bike. With a dealership they are all going to be "smooth talking salesman" type - they are trained to be that way, and the dealership most likely won't stand behind the sale any more than an individual would.

BUT - it seems like the money is burning a hole in your pocket and you are going to buy it anyways so.....Welcome and good luck!!

 

Thanks for the input guys.

I've been thinking and I'm gonna offer $3500 cash and be willing to go up to $3900, but not a penny over and tell them to make it work. (I did that with my car, they wanted $3999 plus tax, title, etc. I told them "I have $4000, and not a penny more make it work or I'll take my business elsewhere." Sure enough, didn't pay a penny more).

I'm hoping that'll work, if not, just gotta keep looking. But yes, the money is burning a hole in my pocket and after being on a 600RR this past Monday, it's kinda depressing to hop on my little Ninja 250.

 

is this your first time buying a bike? cuz $5k for the crap is blasphemy.

 

I won't buy a bike at all unless it has been taken care of. There are just too many variables to consider without having to worry about crash damage.

If it has obvious damage on both sides, even if it's just limited to the plastic, I wouldn't pay that price for that bike. Buy wisely and don't give in to temptation. Unless you're made of money, you'll be stuck with your purchase for a while.

 

I paid $2,400 for my '01 f4i with 27k and she was abused far worse than I realized. Had to invest in tires right away, fairing stay broke not too long after I got it.. Bought a whole fairing kit for it from ebay.. there was missing hardware on the motor mounts and plastics.. All the wiring was cut into.. I recently bought chain and sprockets, cam tensioner, and various other tensioner parts.. Paying a shop to do the tensioner and check my valves... figure out why she's leakin oil and temperamental with wanting to start or hold a charge.... really not sure...

Anyhow.. put over 7,000 mi on her, was a good starter bike in the sense that I wasn't scared sh*tless whether I'd drop her or not... however, probably not very safe in the condition I rode her for months..........

The bike you are looking at has probably been abused in a similar fashion especially if it's notable she has "been down a few times." That asking price is outrageous considering what sort of maintenance you might have to do. I still feel like I came out somewhat ahead, but most of the work my dad was able to help me with.. (And we'll see what happens when the guy tells me how much I owe him when I get my baby back...) but hopefully I will still able to say, I've been fortunate enough to meet people willing to help a sista out!

I don't think I'd pay a dime over 3,500 and that's if the damage isn't too bad... if she rides nice, frame isn't bent, she doesn't need new shoes, and the like! Make sure the tread is decently thick in the middle of the tire, look underneath at the frame and whatnot, hopefully it's not smoking oil like mine is right now (haha), starts nice, all that good stuff!!

Good luck to you, and hopefully you report back to us with a cbr soon! :-) Don't jump on it just cause it's there, think about it! They are smokin' crack at that price though!

 

+1 with meggers .... I woulda rolled laughing right back out the door when I saw/heard that price they wanted ... that's insanity ... I paid 3.8k for my '02 954 with about 15k miles and it was in SHOWROOM condition ... literally ........ Don't get caught up in a buying frenzy man .... shop smart .... if you buy a bad bike you WILL regret it every single day if it starts to give you problems ... That's all the advice I can give you dude :\ ... there are LOTS better bikes out there for that price ... Just look around for ONE day, and I bet you'll find at least 10 bikes in better condition for a cheaper price ... (and *****@ that horrible cover up job they did to that fairing scuff mark) ....

 

I bought my Ninja brand new but my parents were with me and it just...happened 9plus my dad wanted a bikr and my mom couldn't say no to me and yes to my dad). But it was also brand spanking new, with only 7 miles on it, so I knew nothing was wrong.

From the pictures, the damage of the bike doesn't look to be too bad? I've dropped my 250 a few times and she about the same amount of damage as the F4I has. I'll ask if they know how she went down, because if she was dropped at a complete stop, I'm gonna venture to say it's just a bit of cosmetic work that will need done, nothing more. *fingers crossed that's the case*

Locally, this is one of the few bikes I've found. Granted it's only been a week of me looking, I'm sure something WILL pop up, but I figure if I like that bike and can talk them down to under $4000, I'll get it.
If they won't come down on the price then I'll walk out. It seems like I always get what I want, when the time's right, so if I don't come home with this bike today, it's because something better will pop up later down the road.

 

Dear God please don't pay a single dollar more than 4k for it if you've really set your mind to it.

Be firm and be ready to walk away.

Make sure that is 4,000.00 USD (or whatever price you decide. 3.7 perhaps?) out the Door. No processing / tags / taxes whatever else they put on it. 4k and done.

 

i wouldnt pay that price if i was wasted. Do youself a favor and find a private seller. For 5500 you can easily pick up the best 954... not saying you should do that. Im just saying dont pay over book retail value for a bike. Also, when buying make sure you are compensated for new tires, fluids, chain and sprockets depending on the miles.

also think of your resale on a downed bike, how many times do you look at an ad, see its been down and just keep scrolling. Sure maybe a couple scuffs are okay, my bike has them. but a bike that has been down on both sides repeatedly has something to say about the owner. If he didnt treat the cosmetics of the bike well, how well did he treat the real mechanics of the bike?

where are you located, im sure someone can find you a better deal in ten minutes on craigslist

 

Just got back from the dealership. After seeing the F4I in person I wasn't so crazy on it, instead I think I fell in love with a 1997 F3. Only 10xxx miles, after market exhaust, asking $3495. After taxes and all it was just under $4000.

However, it's carbed (which I can deal with, in the long run) and I couldn't take it for a test ride, because they're "insurance doesn't allow it" ???? They said they give it a 54 point inspection and then have one of the workers ride it to make sure it's ok, and said I could bring it back and look for something else if I didn't like it. But what dealer wouldn't get like, full coverage insurance?! That just freaking blew my mind.

Not to mention, the sales guy didn't really seem like he wanted to sell it, like I offered $3000 out the door and he was like "blah blah blah" and he was like "well, make me an offer, I'll see what I can do, so I did $3300 and didn't get far... Then he kept mentioned me trading in my 250 and I'm like "I have cash....I just don't wanna pay almost $4000." "Well, we can give you $1200-$1400 for the 250." Dude, don't wanna trade in my 250, especially not when I know I can sell it privately for at least $2000.


So now the new question, red 1997 F3, with only 10k miles, asking price $3495, I saw a few scratches like it was dropped, but not actually laid down. Other than that, it's basically brand new. Whatcha think? And also, my apologies, this is only my second bike and I'm not sure what's a good price, and what isn't. Figure that's where all you junkies can help me out =)