Total Motorcycle Community Forums

After doing a lot of reading on this website I have decided to begin my search for a beginning bike. I am VERY glad I read the post about the 600cc engines for a newbie biker. I trust that a lot of people would recommend the Ninja 250R, I sat on one this afternoon and it was very nice. I am located in the Maryland area and I was looking for one in the $1,000 dollar to $1500 price range.

1. Is that reasonable for a used 250 Ninja?

2. Where can I find these kinds of prices? So far I have only found around $2000 to $2500. It seems that they are priced a bit high. I am able to find many new 250r's for 3000 (NEW).

Thank you for any help!


Luis

Hi Luis,

to the Total Motorcycle community!

We do have some smart cookies on here, that's forsure and I'm glad you considered their advice about beginner motorcycles. That's very smart of you and you'll find on a smaller bike you'll have a lot of fun and it will boost your confidence too.

The Ninja 250R is a great bike. For 250cc it is more like an 80's 400cc in power, and it's good on the highway. Some riders own 250cc bikes for 12 years they are that fun and useful.

With the Ninja 250R being such a popular starting point for many riders it's supply and demand that brings the prices for them used up. $2000 is actually quite reasonable for it used. $3000 is a good deal for it new, but its $3000+ taxes + freight + setup +++... So $2000 could be 1/2 the price of new!

Mike.

Just keep shopping until you have a good idea of what the values are in your area. Prices are extremely regional.

Also, this is probably a bad time to be buying. June (motorcycle season in some areas heating up) combined with gas prices means high bike prices.

Around here used 250s are all absurdly overpriced. As in people want $3000 for an '05... I've heard that in other areas the same bike would sell for what it should, about $2200...

Older bikes will always be cheaper of course.

+1 to what Mike said there above.

due to the popularity of the bike the price won't drop too much once it hits the 2000 mark unless it's been dropped a lot or has a ton of miles on it.

i bought a used 97 with 9000 kms on it this spring for 3grand (canadian prices are a bit out of whack new sells for about 6) and have at least three offers to buy it for that next spring if i don't want to keep it.

so if you can find one for about half of what new (total price, tax setup etc.) would cost, that's pretty decent. new out the door in the states is between 3500 and 4000 (roughly) so
1800-2000 is about the bottom for a 10year old or newer EX250.

places to look include craigslist.com and any other local buy/sell/want-ad site

good luck

Hey,

Thank you all for your information! Ill keep an eye out! Is winter typically a good time to 'shop' for bikes? pricewise will they tend to be a little cheaper?


Luis

Fenneczerda wrote:Hey,

Thank you all for your information! Ill keep an eye out! Is winter typically a good time to 'shop' for bikes? pricewise will they tend to be a little cheaper?


Luis

Not a problem at all and thanks to bok and dieziege for adding that useful information as well. Bok did get a great deal for on the Ninja 250 for $3,000 as he saved $500-1000 on the going market price. In our area motorcycles are hot and so are prices. Riders are making money by owning a motorcycle for many years here! haha.

End of season is a great time to pick up a used motorcycle, demand is less, riders want to sell so they don't have to store it for winter and it's the end of riding season.

But as it's the end of riding season you as a new owner of a used bike won't be doing much riding either so you have to take that into account. In winter areas you can find good deals in the "fall" season or just before/after the first snow fall.

Mike.

BTW: I didn't really mean to say wait until winter... I was more saying not to put too much stock in the "I bought a really clean '03 never been dropped for $1900!" stories you'll hear from people who did wait until winter.

New 250Rs have been going for $3500 (that's what I paid for mine a month ago)... used 250s around here drop the $500 going off the dealer lot and then maybe $100 per year for a few years... I saw '03s for $2700, '01s for $2200... but they don't seem to go much below $2000... and at $2000 they turn over *quick*...around here. In your area the floor may be $1500 or even lower.

BTW: That curve is just fr the 250... used ninja 500 prices drops *much* quicker as a percentage of original price. I've seen '04 ninja 500s advertised for less than equivalent(ly described) ninja 250s....

So... if you buy a bike for $2500, and sell it next year for $2400... and you had a bike this summer instead of waiting another year... was it a good deal? Heck yeah! $100 for however many months of riding is worth every dime. It certainly wouldn't be worth not riding this summer just to save $200... at least not to me.

dieziege wrote:So... if you buy a bike for $2500, and sell it next year for $2400... and you had a bike this summer instead of waiting another year... was it a good deal? Heck yeah! $100 for however many months of riding is worth every dime. It certainly wouldn't be worth not riding this summer just to save $200... at least not to me.

Well said dieziege! I agree as if you treat a bike right you will most likely get around what you paid for it. That's one reason beginner bikes are such a good deal. There will always be a strong market for them and you will benefit greatly from having it as your first bike.

Mike.

As the proud owner of a "new" used 250 (got mine just yesterday), the only useful information I can give you is that I got mine from my local Kawasaki dealer for $2000 out the door. For reference, it's a 2002 model with ~7k miles on it and seems to be in great condition. Naturally, my price was a little higher since 'tis the season to be biking and it's a dealer vs. a private party. I thought it was well worth it, since I really wanted to get riding this summer and it was plenty affordable. This is in NC (fellow east-coaster ).

Keep trying, or if you're patient, wait till the winter as dieziege suggested. Nadaguide.com will give you an idea of how much a used model will go for as well. Hope that gives you a better idea of the market for the 250s.

Oh, and don't forget, Total Motorcycle has a Buyers Guide as well for the Ninja 250R:

http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/buyersgu ... Z-R250.htm

Mike.