[RotoRooterGuy]

This guy is semi local to me; (he is within riding distance) but I'm not sure if the bike is worth what hes asking or not. I'm looking for opinions.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4629719954

I'd pass on it. There are better deals that come along. I would not pay more than $6500 for that bike, if that.

You can find Ducs on eBay with fewer miles, and most important, a lower price [albeit 7500 miles is getting into my "low mileage" category]. I know, having bought two Ducs on eBay.

My 2002 998 at the time was bought for about $4,000 to $5,000 less than what they were going for at the time and it had 800 miles on it.

Last year I steered a guy whom I bought the 900 SS SP from, to an eBay auction for a 2003 999, with about 300 miles on it, for $10,000. He was in NYC and the bike was in Colorado. He bought it, had it shipped and loves it.

The deals are out there, you just have to be patient.

Bonus tip: best way to snag the deals is to do an eBay search, then do a "sort by new listings first." This will show the bikes recently listed.

Then contact the seller and make an offer for the bike, outside of eBay [which is legal on vehicles, per eBay rules].

That is how I got the 998. Contacted the seller, made him an offer at his opening price, he thought about it for a few hours, we had a deal by the morning.

Do a search in here, or the old Duc-MS site to find my tips on how to buy a bike long distance, sight unseen. You have to take precautions. The best one sticking to low mileage bikes with a seller whom you know exists [there are ways to check this out]. Deals and sellers to immediately avoid are those who mention the words "Western Union" as form of payment.

The above is the best way to snag the deals. You have to jump on them within hours of a listing on eBay.

On a personal preference, I don't like that bike in yellow. But, to each their own.

 

[RotoRooterGuy]

I tried searching both sites but had no luck finding your long distance buying tips. Any chance you can post a link to them? I hate to ask but I'd love to read them.

Sorry guy. That will take too long to do your work, even though you hate to ask. How long did you look?

I did a quick search of the old forum and the below links took 20 minutes to find and copy/paste [and to post this message].

You may want to simply enter the search term "eBay" and go through the hits. Will be a lot of irrelevant stuff, but the posts will be there.

http://www.ducati.ms/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=Ducati&Number=179262&page=&view=&sb=&o=

http://www.ducati.ms/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=Ducati&Number=174300&page=&view=&sb=&o=

http://www.ducati.ms/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=Ducati&Number=177500&page=&view=&sb=&o=

http://www.ducati.ms/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=supersport&Number=172997&page=&view=&sb=&o=

http://www.ducati.ms/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=Ducati&Number=172393&page=&view=&sb=&o=

 

[RotoRooterGuy]

Yeah I try to watch ebay but my schedule makes it hard to check everyday. I've looked through Cycle Trader but I'm not impressed seems to be mostly dealers selling new bikes. Right now I have two choices; I can pick up a used bike; wait a year or so till I pay off my truck and then buy a new one; or I could buy a new jap bike right now. Been looking at the gsxr1000 and its got a lot going for it but I just have this nagging in the back of my mind that I want a duc this time.

This sounds like the same problems everyone has. And you are subjected to the same temptations too [get a bike now, wait, take the conservative route].

The likelihood of finding a good deal, on an excellent bike, will increase the more effort you put into it. I have been known to check eBay for good deals at midnight. In fact, I think the 998 I found, that was about 11:00 p.m. on a Sunday. I recall that because I e-mailed the seller noting that he was in Illinois with a time difference. So I did not expect him to contact me until Monday morning, which he did.

By the way, I was the first to contact him on the 998. After we had a deal and deposit sent, he said he had received a lot of inquiries and told those people a deposit had been paid. He took their numbers to call in case I flaked. This is an example of having to jump on deals fast and to put some work into it.

If I were you, I'd wait to buy a Duc, save your money, do your research, then wait till the bikes start showing up on eBay [about now is when they do]. But, only you know what YOU want. If it's a bike, just to have a bike, then get the Soosookee.