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Up front, I know zip about motorcycles. Have one in my carport belonging to a son who is deployed.
Bike is 2007. Less than 300 miles on it.
Last year, I had it in a shop to have carbs cleaned/adjusted to sell it on consignment. Either I got screwed or the bike is a lemon to start with. I have added ethanol chemicals to deal with the ethanol issues. I can start the bike once in awhile IF the choke is fully open and REMAINS IN THAT POSITION.
I am reluctant to take it to a shop again fearing I will spend several hundred bucks and yet wind up with the same problem. Starts, maybe, but close the choke and it stops. Will not go up in RPM using the throttle even after a good warm up.
My kid wants to the bike sold even as is. I have considered advertising it as is and making sure a buyer knows that it won't run. However, I'm not sure that this thing will operate reliably even if the carbs are recleaned and adjusted.
Any thoughts? As I said, less than 300 miles on the thing. Any suggestions on an asking price as is?
As stated, I don't know squat about motorcycles and am not going to learn a lot at this point. Just want it gone but not a freebie either.
I've found the small carbs gunk up easily. If you got the carbs cleaned last year and haven't been riding it regularly, it will definitely be gunked up again.
A non-running Ninja 250 isn't worth much. Can you clean the carbs?
Yup, carbs. I've got over a decide of very direct experience with the Ninja 250's ~ I've owned a dozen myself (love the bikes), worked on hundreds for others, been involved in the online community... etc. I'm that enthusiast guy when it comes to the Ninja 250.
Chemicals won't do anything. Well, they do something, just not enough. Think of it like trying to clean your teeth with just mouth wash. It's a small, and important, part (usually for maintenance), but to Clean you have to use something to scrape the deposits off (with your teeth, a brush and floss ~ in a carb, the same brush and strands of copper wire for the passages).
Anyway, as for pricing, that depends Entirely on where you're located. Southern CA pricing right now will be about Triple what it'd be in Chicago. Just a function of riding season. Lots of people sell "needs work" bikes, it's the bread and butter of my personal income (fix and flip). Bottom of the market for a "needs work, but low miles and cosmetically perfect" 250 should be around $800 in Most places of the country. Might be lower than that right now because it's the end of the riding season, the primary buyers aren't looking to buy so you're stuck with the scavengers. We're not kind on pricing, a 2007 bike with 300miles will Need ~$400 in just Parts (tires being a major one, but all rubber hoses/lines, quite possibly jets for the carbs, etc...) because that stuff becomes worthless with age as well as use. And then all the labor to flush the 4 different fluids, do the initial valve adjustment, etc.... Just to warn you about the things people will nit-pick, my advice is to stand up and say "The price, as is, reflects the parts/service needed ~ take it or leave it".
You'll be able to fetch more than the cost of a carb cleaning in sales price if you do go ahead and do that again. Post your zipcode, I'll look and see if there are any private mechanics in the area that will A) do a better job and B) do it cheaper than a $tealership. Heck, there might be a C) in there too, that being having a source of buyers. I always have people tell me they're looking for some bike or another.
On a positive note, I've *never* heard of a 1988~2007 model Ninja 250 that was a lemon. Thousand and thousands of different users through the various forums I'm on and not one comment of the sort that I can remember.
Anyway, as for pricing, that depends Entirely on where you're located. Southern CA pricing right now will be about Triple what it'd be in Chicago. Just a function of riding season. Lots of people sell "needs work" bikes, it's the bread and butter of my personal income (fix and flip). Bottom of the market for a "needs work, but low miles and cosmetically perfect" 250 should be around $800 in Most places of the country. Might be lower than that right now because it's the end of the riding season, the primary buyers aren't looking to buy so you're stuck with the scavengers. We're not kind on pricing, a 2007 bike with 300miles will Need ~$400 in just Parts (tires being a major one, but all rubber hoses/lines, quite possibly jets for the carbs, etc...) because that stuff becomes worthless with age as well as use. And then all the labor to flush the 4 different fluids, do the initial valve adjustment, etc.... Just to warn you about the things people will nit-pick, my advice is to stand up and say "The price, as is, reflects the parts/service needed ~ take it or leave it".
I was thinking the exact same. The buyers who will give you a good price are not in the market now and don't want a non-running bike. There's no test rides. Can't just take it home and go. Pretty much deal breakers for anyone looking for a learner's bike.
Cleaning the carbs isn't hard. You can probably clean them well enough to sell without disassembling them with just a Pinesol bath and agitator.
On a positive note, I've *never* heard of a 1988~2007 model Ninja 250 that was a lemon. Thousand and thousands of different users through the various forums I'm on and not one comment of the sort that I can remember.
Are there redesigned ones (2008+) that are lemons? Or major issues that come up?
And it's not particularly hard to sync carbs either. They should be synced and valves should be adjusted. In reality, most bikes get neither regularly if at all. They'll still run adequately, just not nearly as well. You basically describe what I bought years ago. 2007 Ninja 250 with 600 miles that sat for a year. You couldn't even buy a new Ninja ('08) at the time (just come out, gas prices through the roof). So I picked up that one for about half of what it sold for a year before.
Ah, I know the GA market well (Atlanta, Athens and Greenville, SC) ~ you won't get over $1000 this time of year, if you don't mind holding onto it until March/April of next year AND cleaning the carbs, you should have a fast sell at $1800~2000. Unfortunatly, I don't know of anyone local to you and I'm 3+ hours away (half way between Macon and Columbus).
A couple of links if you decide to clean the carbs yourself:
It's not hard, but it's persnickety. The biggest hang-ups are getting the carbs Out of the bike (the links above describe the easiest way, they work) and then Really getting the carbs clean. Don't do #2 and #1 becomes this ongoing headache. Just to say it again because it's important, once you Think you've cleaned the carbs well enough and want to put them back on the bike, stop and clean them more.
While a sync would be good, if you don't split the 2 carbs apart and don't mess with the adjustment screw while cleaning, there will be little need to sync them. It'll need to be done with the 700 mile valve adjustment Anyway, so leave it for the next owner. In this instance, the change you won't notice is a possible loss of smoothness at idle. It may burble a little instead of sounding like an electric sewing machine, it will have no effect on ridability/the engine running.
As for the 08~12 models, all the US/Canadian versions (the carbureted ones) have TERRIBLE jetting from the factory. I've never seen worse, and it's so bad that I do know several people who have lemon-lawed the bike (once again proving that dealer mechanics haven't a clue to split between the bunch of 'em). It's easy to fix, no other issues though. I know nothing about the new 300 that just came out, haven't seen one in person out in the wild much less had one in the shop.
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