[oO_Rogue_Oo]

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

 

[oO_Rogue_Oo]

WOW people viewing but no opinions? Good price; so-so price? He seems to think its worth 10k but NADA says 6k or so.

 

[oO_Rogue_Oo]

Looks like a bone stock bike. No add-ons to make it more enticing. I wouldn't buy that bike unless the rockers are checked out for flaking. I'll bet you it has some flaking rockers, the only 916 that just about avoided that was the 95 and some early 96 models. Any service paperwork, like the 6K service? Any maintenance paperwork at all? Fairings have those cheesy buy on the internet decals. The 98 916 fairings were void of any decals, the tail had the "Ducati 916" on both sides of it. Depends on the rocker inspection (pull the cams to do this), but if they are clean then $7k to $7.5K sounds like a good price for the bike.

Speaking of styling. The 916 body style set the standard for sportbikes for years, way ahead of its time and still admired as contemporary. It stayed around for 8 years, the new style will probably last 3 years with all the negative hits its been taking lately. Ducati is changing the 999 bodystyle, probably a combination of new and old.

Thanks John; thats the kind of information I was hoping for. Since its been a few years since there has been a Ducati dealer in the state I have my doubts about the 6k service or the possability that the rocker issue already being taken care of; but I will ask the seller about service records. How much would it cost me to replace the rockers should they need it?

Just for reference, I picked up my '96 916 18 months ago for $7,500. The bike was perfect with only 2500 miles. IMO, he will never get $10k for that bike, even if it had extras.

I can't imagine anyone paying 10k for that bike either, but some strange things happen on ebay. Since I'm local (more or less) and the only bid is from a guy with 75% positive feedback; I was hoping that he might do an early ending on it and deal with me offline. I'm going to call him in the morning; ask my questions and if he is interested in dealing I'll go take a look tomorrow; if not, I'll pass on it.

 

[oO_Rogue_Oo]

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.

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.

 

[oO_Rogue_Oo]

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.

 

[oO_Rogue_Oo]

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.

Well I've got a cbr1100xx now and I have to admit that once it hits 6k on the tach it really pulls hard and can be fun to ride; but it's a big heavy bemouth of a bike better suited to long straights than the twisty stuff. Just not my style of riding; I bought it to do a friend a favor and get him out from under the payments (he hit some hard times). Anyway I've had it for about 6 months now; after not having a bike for a few years (wives and newborns; you know how it is sometimes) and it has given me the bug again to ride. My wife wants me to wait and buy new; but I just can't help looking at whats out there used every now and then. If you had to ride a cbr1100xx you'd be looking too LOL; I guess it could be worse; at least it leans the right way in the turns.

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.

Not trying to be lazy just not sure how you posted those tips. I did a search on "tips on how to buy a bike long distance" and any combination of that I could think of. I'll try searching on "ebay"; the search engine on the old site doesn't seem to have as many features as the new site so filtering the search is harder. I guess I just hoped that since you had made the post you might remember the title or have an easy way to find it; like I said I wasn't trying to be lazy. If you happen to think of a good keyword that would make it a little easier I wouldn't mind though

BTW I really do appreciate all your input; thank you