Buying my first motorcycle, what do you think about this?

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luckyad

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Hey there,
I live in SLC, UT, and am buying my first motorcycle. Checked out this today (http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=29534880&cat=&lpid=&search=yamaha%20xs400&ad_cid=2)

Looking for something not too heavy, but also fun to ride, and I love this style. Everything seemed to be A-okay on the mechanical/operational front.
I'm mainly curious if you think the price is in the right ballpark, as its custom and hard to come across a KBB for this kind of thing.

Thanks a bunch!
 
Its a nice bike and looks like owner did a nice job on the build,but can the milege be verified?1000 original miles seems very questionable to me.If the miles is the actual miles for a custom bike I thinks its priced fair.Under a 1000 miles its like the bike was never ridden wheres the fishy symble:laugh:
 
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They can't be for sure, but there is a letter from the original owner with a picture of when it was on there, around 800, and this guy has only "presumably" had it for half a year.

What about the exhaust ending so shortly and the open electronics wiring under the seat? Any issues you guys see with that?
 
Ive seen a lot of bikes with the short exhaust like on that bike,It would be very loud and if you don't like loud then use it as something to haggle on the price with.the harness could be tucked under the frame a lot better than it is.I didn't notice that with my 1st response till you pointed it out.
 
I'm not at all up to speed on prices of bikes in the US, but the price does seem high. For a custom bike, it hasn't seen that much work. The rear frame had a loop welded on, he took off the exhausts, leaving only the headers... The seat doesn't quite seem to fit on the frame either the rest is just leaving stuff off for as far as I can tell. If you want a bike like that you could look into buying a cheaper, stock, bike and customizing it yourself... would probably be a lot cheaper!
just my 2 cents ofcourse, all it comes down to in the end is how much that bike is worth to you
 
I'd also ask if the guy has any of the original bodywork like the side covers, 2-part rear fender, front fender especially the bracket for it as a fork stabilizer, original air boxes, signal lights etc. You may find you want some of it and it could be a haggling point.

I'd say that is his hail mary price and he doesn't really expect to get that much or else he's on crack.
 
If everything about the bike is what you would do yourself to a stock bike, and if all those "improvements" would cost over $1500, then it is a decent price.
Otherwise, it's overpriced by $1500 (imho).
 
I agree. Overpriced and the seat does not fit the frame. It could be fixed but he needs to knock off a ton of money from that price. I bought my bike with 6000 miles on it for $300 dollars completely stock. Just to give you an idea. I think you find another xs400 from another non-crack smoker.
 
Guess I didn't look at the bike to notice all the flaws when I shared my opinion earlier.
RobSteeler is correct theres a major flaw with the frame and the seat.
the battery box should be hidden and cleaned up,the exhaust is a cheap short cut to modify and it should have some kind of muffler system on it.Like I said earlier 1000 miles on the clock seems 2uspect to me until its verified I would not take the owners word for it he could have rolled the odometer back.
Nothing original about a stripped down gas tank either.
Based on bike cost around my area its a $15oo bike.
 
I'd say in Utah that's about the best bike for the price as you're gonna get. Since the older 400's are pretty rare here. i actually have been looking at that same bike on KSL for quite a while, watching the price go down. You could wait? or snag it now
 
Welcome to the forum:) Those mods are cheap and easy to do:wink2: I would not pay more than $1000 for it and that is if it runs perfect.
 
He has an original letter from the owner, and the odometer apparently, which was taken off before he bought form a guy who modified it into the cafe racer, so I can probably get a ballpark on the miles. Anyhow, that will suck for resale value, so I'm definitely not going to pay more for that, since it's already been tampered with. What exactly is wrong with the seat and the frame? As far as customizing it goes, I'm looking for something to start riding and learning how bikes work ASAP. So I'm not looking to modify it myself or have to fix it up, etc.

Thanks for all the help, I really do appreciate all the feedback!

Here are some more pictures of the battery and frame after checking it out.

Also, how much would a muffler system/fixing the exhaust cost me around? And if I kept it as is, because I do like how loud it is, will it screw up the bike?

Another random Q, but my uncle thought the rear wheel looked too rusted. What do you all think?
 

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well i wouldn't call it a cafe racer, more of a flat tracker or a brat type...:twocents:

separately, it doesn't look like there is anything is wrong with the frame or the seat..

it is just the wrong seat for the bike. besides from aesthetics, if you can sit on it comfortably, the seat doing its job. It appears to be too narrow to sit flush with the bike.

cost of a muffler can vary immensely.. if you want them loud there are cheap Emgo shorty mufflers that are very loud. (im sure you can find them cheaper) http://www.amazon.com/Emgo-Shorty-Universal-Motorcycle-Muffler/dp/B003NQAJPY

assuming the carbs are jetted correctly for the open exhaust you have now, you wouldnt need to change much with these since there is not much baffling in them..
 
The more I look at it the bike looks more like a hack job:( $800 TOPS. For what he wants you can find two or three stock bikes and make it the way you want. I am not sure how prices are where you live but here you can get a 883 Harley sportster for around what he wants:laugh:
 
Judging by that wheel, I am beginning to think that the PO swapped a speedometer showing 1k miles onto an old customized frame and engine with who knows how many miles?
luckyad said:
... I'm looking for something to start riding and learning how bikes work ASAP. So I'm not looking to modify it myself or have to fix it up, etc. ...
Click to expand...
If this is really where your head's at, and what you want to be doing this summer, for $1k less you could have one of these: To just learn the basics and have some more money left to do a little dressing up on a running bike you could get:
 
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You seem to have a consensus in the answers above, it's overpriced for the quality of the work and the minor mods that have been done (essentially, removing stuff). For example, the rear tire looks cool but it will not handle well, like a proper modern road tire will.

If you want to see some quality work on these bikes check out some of the threads in the 3rd section down on this page starting with Restorations.

These bikes are frequently bought by people who either want to modify them, restore them or have a desire to learn how to work on a simple bike. At some point it will require work and unless you can find a mechanic who works specifically on older bikes, you will pay through the nose for a dealer to work on your old bike. Generally speaking shop mechanics are not familiar with older bikes and are trained to work on the new ones that they sell. You will be paying them to learn about your bike.

But, if it's exactly what you want and the price doesn't matter, go for it. I suspect that you will be doing work to it at some point though, whether you want to or not. That much money may be better spent on a newer, more stock bike.
 
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