Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Hello everyone! It's been years since my last visit to TMW Forums, but I remember everyone here being very helpful.

I am a high school Senior, and my parents are considering getting me a bike as a graduation present. I remember seeing here that the Kawasaki Ninja 250 is an excellent starter bike, so I looked on craigslist, and a man in a town not far from mine is selling a 2006 Ninja 250 for $1,000. Here's the link:

http://jacksontn.craigslist.org/mcy/1025763092.html

Anyway, I'm interested in the bike. My parents have a friend who knows a lot about motorcycles, he even used to race them. I'm going to try to hook up with him and talk about it, but I wanted to tap into the massive knowledge base here as well. What kind of questions should I ask him?

I'd appreciate any help!

JDawg117 wrote:Hello everyone! It's been years since my last visit to TMW Forums, but I remember everyone here being very helpful.

I am a high school Senior, and my parents are considering getting me a bike as a graduation present. I remember seeing here that the Kawasaki Ninja 250 is an excellent starter bike, so I looked on craigslist, and a man in a town not far from mine is selling a 2006 Ninja 250 for $1,000. Here's the link:

http://jacksontn.craigslist.org/mcy/1025763092.html

Anyway, I'm interested in the bike. My parents have a friend who knows a lot about motorcycles, he even used to race them. I'm going to try to hook up with him and talk about it, but I wanted to tap into the massive knowledge base here as well. What kind of questions should I ask him?

I'd appreciate any help!

Graduation present huh shouldnt it be you who buys your parents something for looking after you, paying for you, and supporting you through school ????

As for what to ask him, if he used to race them he will know what to look for; If you still need info, there is a bagillion posts on here that will sort you out, have a look around.


Hope that helps



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Oops, I think my original post was misleading. What I meant to ask was "What questions should I ask the man who is selling his bike?", not the man who is friends with my parents. I'm going to ask the man who used to race about the questions I should ask the seller as well.

My bad. Here's the questions I can think of so far to ask the seller:

1) Has the bike ever been wrecked? If so, how many times?
2) How big is the gas tank?
3) Have you ever had major repairs done to the bike? If so, what kind?
4) Where did you get the bike?

That's all I can think of right now. Should I ask him about the bike's registration or something, just to make sure the bike is legit? Any other suggestions for questions to ask?

Bike specs (like how big the tank is), can usually be found online.

I'd concentrate on things that change by owner. Not just wrecks, but what kind of riding did he do? Commuter? Weekend Warrior? Traveling?

Ask to see service records. What mods did he put on the bike? Diff lights, bags, horns, exhaust, etc. etc.

Those kinds of things.

tymanthius wrote:Bike specs (like how big the tank is), can usually be found online.

I'd concentrate on things that change by owner. Not just wrecks, but what kind of riding did he do? Commuter? Weekend Warrior? Traveling?

Ask to see service records. What mods did he put on the bike? Diff lights, bags, horns, exhaust, etc. etc.

Those kinds of things.

oh and dont forget the big one can I test ride it plz



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if at all possible, bring the family friend with you, he'll know exactly what to ask for, and will know what to look for on the bike,and might save you some grief down the road.

and by the way, great choice for a first bike. it's refreshing to see someone with their head on straight and using the resources available to make an informed, wise decision on a first bike.

If there are mods on the bike, have him explain them and make sure it all makes sense-
Ie- new pipes om carbed bike- usually means some rejetting and a modified air system should have been done too.
Tire ware/ if the bike is salvaged ( it should say on the title) and also do some homework on the scheduled maintenance.
Valve adjustments @ 6000 miles and if the bike has more than 6000 who and when was it done and if itsnt done to know that thoser services can sometimes be costly @ the stealership.
Also ask what type of oil he's using ( a- to make sure he's up to speed on oil changes and b-so you don't end up mixing oils too dramatically). If he says the dealer worked on his bike, he should have reciepts.

You can ask all the questions in the world but if the seller lies to you it doesn't do much good. My advice would be to become familiar with how to inspect a bike for problems and then ask the seller your questions and then check his bike over to see if he's telling you the truth.

I had a seller once lie to me about dropping the bike. He had changed out the damaged parts and he said it was a preference thing but upon close inspection of the bike I could tell it had been wrecked (by laying on my back and looking under the bike to check the bottom of the frame and foot peg mounts).

You need to let the bike tell you what kind of shape it's in... not the owner.

Here are a couple links to some great info on what to look for when inspecting a bike. I hope this helps.

http://www.clarity.net/adam/buying-bike.html

http://www.mcnews.com/mcn/board/Topic10 ... +you+check

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Thanks for the links Zagnut, and thanks to everyone else for the help! I'll let y'all know how it goes whenever I can manage a visit with the guy.