My friend is looking to get a bike. A friend of a friend has offered to sell him a 2004 Ninja 500r for $2700. The bike only has something like 1000 miles on it (maybe less), and it has been sitting since 2007. One of the turn signals is broken off and hanging. Some minor scratches in that area. It doesn't sound like it fell.

My question to you veterans is.. what kind of deal is that? It seems like it might be high. The tired are trashed. The guy didn't put fuel stabilizer in it or do any storage work on it at all.

On the other hand, it is almost in perfect physical condition. With some carb cleaning, new tires and a battery it might be great.

What do you guys think?

Well you can clean the carbs of a ninja, but you cannot clean the ninja out of the carbs ... so there ...
Cool.
Buddha.

Sounds high to me.  Styling aside, they are a decent bike.  Faster than a GS and liquid cooled (personal preference there).  A big problem is finding one that hasn't been abused.  If this guy is the original owner and you know him you might be ok.  I'd expect a much lower price on a non-running bike with body damage and bad tires.  Fix the damage, replace the tires, get it running, and pass it through MD inspection and then it might be worth the asking price.

-Jessie

I cant comment on the price as i have no idea of the value of these things on your side of the atlantic. A few years back I bought a 1981 Yamaha that had been standing in a garage for eight years.
It took about 20 mins to get it started and it ran, not very well but it ran well enought for me to ride it home. Any bike that has been standing a long time will probably want new tyres anyway and a battery. It does not sound like a big project to get it on the road, after all it is no age and very low miles, it should be good, but haggle, haggle, haggle and it might even be a bargain.

Too high man.  But if he likes it and thinks its worth the money than I guess its the right price.  Personally I wouldn't pay more than $1,500-2,000 for it.  Thats never having seen it of course, but you're looking at another $300-500 just to get it road worthy prolly.  So is it a $3,000 bike?

I'm by no means a veteran but I'll spout off anyway and say 2700 is a little high for something like that.  It'd be a reasonable price if it was running and had good tires and battery and it wasn't the dead of winter during a recession...

With the tires worn-out it must have more than 1,000 miles on it.  More like 8,000 miles.  In any case, price-out everything it needs, subtract another $500 for your trouble, and that's what I would offer.  Or, keep looking.  Low mileage 500 Ninjas are all over the place for around 3 grand that need nothing.  Just heed Buddha's warning and avoid those with signs of hard riding, and many of them are.

Quote from: bill14224 on February 10, 2010, 06:35:03 PM
With the tires worn-out it must have more than 1,000 miles on it.  More like 8,000 miles.  In any case, price-out everything it needs, subtract another $500 for your trouble, and that's what I would offer.  Or, keep looking.  Low mileage 500 Ninjas are all over the place for around 3 grand that need nothing.  Just heed Buddha's warning and avoid those with signs of hard riding, and many of them are.

They aren't worn out, just cracked and rotted.

I've never seen a 6-year-old bike with dry-rotted, cracked tires in my 47 years.

Personally, I wouldn't spend that much on a bike that's not running like that. Haggle lower if the person REALLY wants it. The money putting into making it work is going to be all down hill from there.

Quote from: bill14224 on February 12, 2010, 03:05:37 PM
I've never seen a 6-year-old bike with dry-rotted, cracked tires in my 47 years.

I have.  My GS's tires wire cracked when I bought it at 6 years old.  Maybe not really dry-rotted. 

They were rideable for short distance, but I figured it was best to replace them asap

Quote from: bill14224 on February 12, 2010, 03:05:37 PM
I've never seen a 6-year-old bike with dry-rotted, cracked tires in my 47 years.

I'll tell you now, it's 2010, and the tires on my bike are cracked on the walls, and the date on them are 2004. (There's a way to read the dates on the walls)

Then again, I live in Cali. The climate might have to do with something...

All in all, I'm saving up to get them changed asap!

The Kenda Cruiser 671 are a decent cheap tire if you have limited funds.

-Jessie

Dang Jessie! You're all over the place xD

Quote from: BaltimoreGS on February 21, 2010, 03:22:13 PM
The Kenda Cruiser 671 are a decent cheap tire if you have limited funds.

I'll second that, I got the same life out of them as I did my bt21r

Quote from: MajorMalphunction on February 21, 2010, 03:24:31 PM
Dang Jessie! You're all over the place xD

I have waaaaaay too much free time in the winter   

-Jessie

Quote from: jeremy_nash on February 21, 2010, 06:11:02 PM

Quote from: BaltimoreGS on February 21, 2010, 03:22:13 PM
The Kenda Cruiser 671 are a decent cheap tire if you have limited funds.

I'll second that, I got the same life out of them as I did my bt21r

I have one on the front and I like it.  Up here in NY tires take a long time to crack.  They wear-out first.  We don't get any heat!

I love how someone only has to post one question, and without them even participating in the conversation after that, or even reading the thread for all we know, we'll all just ramble on and on about something for over a month after the original poster is long gone.

If your friend is really into the Ninja 500 I saw a cheaper one on CL this morning:  http://baltimore.craigslist.org/mcy/1635483723.html

-Jessie

Quote from: BaltimoreGS on March 09, 2010, 08:18:07 AM
If your friend is really into the Ninja 500 I saw a cheaper one on CL this morning:  http://baltimore.craigslist.org/mcy/1635483723.html

-Jessie

That bike looks to be in very good condition.