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Possible 250 Flip

6K views 34 replies 5 participants last post by  spooph 
#1 ·
I am new to the Ninja community and it just so happens that I have recently stumbled upon a pregen 250.. It is owned by a co-worker who rode it and let it sit.... My immediate guess is the carbs are gunked up from sitting for 6+ months. I have been doing some research cleaning the carbs...
Before I get to my question it is a 2004 250 with close to 9000 miles. It is in overall great shape... It needs a new set of turn signals and a brake lever (got dropped.

If I were to purchase this and fix it how much could I realistically expect to profit if I were to buy it for 700$ or should I let this pass.

Through a little research I would probably ask around 1700$ but easily come down to around 1400$ or Am I absolutely crazy for thinking this? ANY AND ALL HELP WELCOME THANKS!
 
#3 ·
We are planning on doing it to make a profit... What is a reasonable price to sell it for?
We are kindve testing the waters on buying and reselling bikes... we are looking into possibly purchasing wrecked bikes from the insurance companies and rebuilding to resell, and this would kindve be the first one to "test" the waters.
 
#9 · (Edited)
We are kindve testing the waters on buying and reselling bikes... we are looking into possibly purchasing wrecked bikes from the insurance companies and rebuilding to resell, and this would kindve be the first one to "test" the waters.
One thing I can tell you, from a consumer's perspective, is that I have never bought something that was once wrecked (in terms of mechanical items). As this would be something that you'd have to disclose (unless you want to get sued). Nobody wants to drop $1400 on a 2004 Ninja 250 that was rebuilt, privately, without any kind of warranty service. Especially now, as some other have already hinted, that the new gens are EVERYWHERE.

I think you're going to find that selling bikes is absolutely nothing like cellphones. Everyone has a cellphone...so right from the get-go your consumer base is not really limited by anything. Most folks would drop $200 on a refurbished iPhone cause $400 for a new one is ridiculous (it is...for a phone). But bikes? Most folks would do the opposite...they'd spend a few hundred more on what they really want.

I'm not trying to steer you away from doing this, it's a novel idea, just don't get your hopes up :-\

EDIT: If anything...the impending costs of gas are an advantage to you...especially if you're dealing in the market of smaller bikes.
 
#4 ·
Erm, pics? What's the rest of the body work in? With the newgen becoming more available on the used market, pre-gens are going to be difficult to turn a profit on, I mean, the 250 has never been known as a profit maker in the first place.... You could ask $2200, that would be fair, considering mileage and general condition, but if it's not absolutely perfect cosmetically, be ready to come down. I wouldn't quite go as low as $1700... But that's my area. Your area might have many more 250's on the market and so the price might be significantly affected...

insurance auctions: www.ridesafely.com

I dabbled in this idea as well, and unless you find somebody who's desperate to get rid of their bike (as this person seems), or completely stupid/ignorant, it is a very difficult business to get started...

HOWEVER, if you offer classes learning to ride/wrench on bikes, and have bikes for sale, which you have fixed up, which can you can sell for a marginal profit, but you're main source of income will be the classes.... Plus, you'd have to probably finagle a deal with the local MSF provider, not just to get certified as instructors yourselves, but also to get your name out there... Just another idea.

I'm not saying don't do it, I'm just saying be realistic about it... But, if you can pick up a 250 for $700, don't hesitate man, regardless of what you're going to do with it, that's a good price for a great bike. Fix the brake lever and sell it as is for $1000, that's easy math there! 15min to replace lever, new lever = $15 > $285 profit... that's like $1140/hr... :D
 
#5 ·
I can't speak on what that bike would be worth. It's simple economics with a splash of successful marketing methods thrown in.

If you have a product that is priced well, not over supplied in your area and advertised well then it will sell. You need to have a look at what else is out there in your area and for how much. To really make things work you need to find a great buys, so hitting auctions where no one has a personal interest in the vehicle is a must. Then you need to decide how much money you can put in before you over spend. Essentially, you only want to spend the min required to get the vehicle roadworthy and attractive to buyers.

Then number one thing in making a sale is the 'sell', advertise the vehicle well, and targeted. Use a good camera, nice lighting, nice background. Good pictures do half the work. Also a good simple but thorough description is a must.

Felix







 
#8 ·
Sorry spooph I didnt see your post up there....You addressed one of my concerns.. the pregen 250s are fugly compared to 08+ and I personally wouldnt want one when I can get a newer one for relatively cheap. Howver here arent many 250s around my area and commute times are rather long (30 minutes from everywhere.) Huntington is a decent sized place but many people live in rural areas and commute every day.
I dont think that I mentioned that a friend is going in on this with me, were both in college and just looking to get a little cash flow going other than our jobs waiting tables.
 
#11 ·
Will do, I just ordered about $50 worth of odds and ends to fix it up.. I plan on breaking it down saturday morning and let the carbs soak in pine-sol over night and clean/reassemble sunday, but that is just the plan. Im sure I will start and something catastrophic will happen because I have found when working of anything mechanical nothing goes as planned.. but Ill definitely be taking some before and afters.
 
#13 ·
Sorry Felix... I keep missing people's posts on here... No worries though man.. I wouldn't have made this thread and asked for opinions if I didn't want peoples thoughts on it. I appreciate your input.

Officially going to pick up the bike tomorrow... Got new plugs and a bottle of seafoam to try before I disassemble anything. However, I am highly skeptical as to how much this will help if at all..
 
#14 ·
Just an update... Bought the bike, new turn signals (one was broken) new clutch and brake lever, cleaned carbs(bike actually runs now), and new plugs all for under $50, so I have about $800 in it... Im kindve busy with school right now, but I am planning on taking a few pictures tomorrow and I will try to post them on here.
 
#16 ·
At first like crap.... but I made the mistake of listening to the parts guy when he told me the spark plug gap... looked it up myself made the correction and it runs awesome now... Also did a little tweaking to the idle mixture... However I must admit that I spent the day wondering why it wouldn't start after I regapped the plugs... went and took a break and when I came back I realized I had spent 3 hours trying to start the bike without the fuel or vac lines attached to the tank... I felt like the worlds biggest idiot..
 
#19 ·
That looks neat! They really need to do yellow for the New 250R
 
#21 ·
Well... I may have over stated how it runs... It is idling high and needs to be dialed in.... it is doing a good amount of "hunting".... so i have been reading everywhere on how to correct this, but I dont have much time now as I am approaching finals...

How much should I look to get judging by the one picture I have provided lol.... the other side does have a dent in the exhaust and a scratch on the fairing... I was thinking listing it on craigslist for 1800 then coming down to around 1500
 
#24 ·
Alright here is the idle problem im dealing with.... This video was taken after a 15-20 minute ride/ warmup. if I shut the bike off and restart it it will idle somewhere are 1500rpm(which can be adjusted obviously...), but once you give it gas it hangs... ANY AND ALL HELP WELCOME...because I am pretty clueless....

PS this is my first youtube video EVERso bare with me if it takes me a while to get it working Thanks in advance guys

http://youtu.be/Cow49qSbUnA
 
#25 ·
OK, easy things first: Have you cleaned the carbs? Have you checked the rubber vacuum diaphragm on the slides? Have you checked the cable, does the throttle operate smoothly, or do you have to turn it forward to get it all the way "closed"?

If all these things check out, to me, it sounds like the carbs are out of sync, and the idle is adjusted to the carb that's pulling low. Once you rev it up, the engine keeps running on the higher pulling carb being that it's open more and keeps the go-juice flowing... You will need a vacuum gauge to accomplish this... If you're interested in doing it, I can provide more info....
 
#26 ·
Thanks for your reply man, Yes cleaned the carbs, diaphragms were all good, once re-inserted they created a "vacuum", throttle cable is fully fucitional and is not holding it open.

The only thing that I have not done is re-sync the carbs because I do not have the tools...(been looking up ghetto rigged methods) most shops around here don't even deal with them unless they clean them themselves which would obviously cost money that I am not willing to spend if I can do it myself.

Here is the wiki I have lived by throughout this process and a link to the different methods I am going to try to synch them.

How do I synchronize the carburetors? - Ninja250Wiki
 
#28 ·
Below is a pic of the bottles I have rigged up.... (still missing a hose). I dropped the bike off at a neighbors today so he can take a look at it. he has built several bikes from the ground up and is a very good mechanic, but he isnt home often so I let him look at things when he has time. I also have finals all of this week and next so I may not get to test out my new invention for at least a couple days.



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