Total Motorcycle Community Forums

I was looking for a 250cc bike for practice before taking my road test. Looked at a 2003 Virago 250cc with only 2200 kms and in mint condition, not a scratch on it. Owner (retiree whose husband doesn't want to ride with wife) will sell it for $ 2800 (was asking $ 3300) but said the bike had been in an accident at approx. 300 kms. Seems that original owner was turning at an intersection and got whacked by a cage. Bike wasn't too badly damaged but gov't run insurance co. (ICBC) wrote bike off and it wound up back at Yamaha who rebuilt it. It still has some of the original parts including gas tank. The owner showed me paperwork including that from ICBC stating that the bike met all requirements and providing the new owner with insurance coverage.

The bike appears to be in perfect condition but I'm concerned that if I buy it, would a bike dealer accept it as a trade in on a bigger bike? The owner told me that Yamaha had assured her that she'd be able to trade it in for another Yamaha without any problem. Your comments/suggestions would be appreciated.
note: the seller appear to be quite wealthy so trying to negotiate the price down further seems futile. She said that they are considering someone's offer to build them a gazebo in exchange for the bike!

I'd pass. The term "rebuild" here is pretty loose. If it was totalled there's no telling what was involved. And who decided what was to be replaced and what was good enough to keep. Was the frame magnafluxed for cracks and stress? And $2800? are they kidding? Not a scratch on it and mint condition aren't acceptable terms when an insurance company wrote it off at one time. To write off a $4000 (I think thats what the msrp is or pretty close) bike at 300kms we aren't talking about minor damage.

Scott58 wrote:To write off a $4000 (I think thats what the msrp is or pretty close) bike at 300kms we aren't talking about minor damage.

On the contrary.

I have paid and continue to pay a lot off attention to my local bike disposal (insurance write-off) site from whom I bought my latest bike.
It takes surprisingly little to write off a bike and the newer they are the more they cost to fix. I was in perusing the bikes one day and the owner pointed to a new Honda Hornet (599) and asked me to find $10,000 worth of damage that was on it. I had to look closely because nothing was bent but merely scratched. You could have ridden out on the bike and lived happily ever after without doing a thing to it, but being a new bike it was not worth the insurance companies time and $$$ to have it fixed.

Good deals can be had.

$4000 = 40 hrs labor and some parts, I would pick it up if I were you, just have a mechanic look it over and see your yamaha dealer about trading it in. If you are worried about the frame being cracked the best you could do yourself is just give it a good visual inspection to check for cracks, If it does crack in the future it is not just going to snap in half it usualy takes some time

There is just no way I'd spend $2800 on a used 250 i already knew from the getgo was totaled. my wallet just does not speak that language.

I wouldn't buy a rebuilt bike regardless of who rebuilt it. I have no faith in dealers or mechanics.

Only way I would ride a rebuilt bike is if I was the one who rebuilt it. Afterall, it's your asss out there.

I think alot has to be said about the reputation of the rebuilder. If Fairfax cycles told me it was good I wouldn't give it a second thought. If Coleman's powersports worked on it... I would take it to Fairfax cycles on a trailer.

However, if Yamaha signed off on it- I'd think it was fine. They don't want anything out there hurting their reputation.

Without non-destructive testing on all the frame welds you have no idea if there are any hair line cracks. It maybe fine or not, the point is you have reason to be concerned.

The same could be said of a used bike but to the best of your knowledge, the used bike didn't get whacked during its life.

Thanks to everyone for theit comments! I ljust earned the real story about this particular 250 Virago from the Yamaha dealer who sold the bike when it was new. It was sold to a married lady who was driving it on a highway somewhere between Port Alberni and Tofino, BC. The road has a lot of twists and turns and she lost control of the bike, wwnt over a cliff, hit a tree and was killed. According to the dealer, the bike didn't suffer that much damage but was written off by ICBC (gov't run insurance ). The bike was then probably put up for auction and rebuilt by a garage (Yamaha dealer has never heard of the company) and sold. I think that the woman who now owns it overpaid for it and is now trying to cut her loss. The Yamaha dealer said that he wouldn't take any rebuilt bike in on a trade but said that if I bought a new Virago 250 from him at retail, he'd apply all that I paid against the purchase of a larger bike in the spring as long as I had no more than 3,000 kms on the bike. Food for thought!