2001 Katana Price Advice

[JustSomeDude]

Found a 2001 Katana 600 with 3,300 miles, in very good condition (no fairing scratches or damage). The only damage is some scratches on TOP of right grip due to his garage door closing. Second owner, claims he never had it down (it's his 4th bike), and claims original owner never had it down. Going for a test ride tomorrow... and he's more than willing to show it off (which I think is a good sign). He wanted $3,500... I got him down to $3k, and I'm wondering if I should snag it.

Is this a fair price?

[steves]

Kbb.com

[woobie]

Re: 2001 Katana Price Advice

Found a 2001 Katana 600 with 3,300 miles

Ask how often the oil has been changed.

Also if any of the lines have been replaced(Fuel,brake etc). And the fork oil, brake fluid and so on. The bike is a low miler but all of those things should have been replaced in 2003&2005 for fluids and 2005 for hoses. Same with the tires IMHO.

Also does it still have the stocktires on it, if so they are 5+ years old ride accordingly!!!!.

[skasner]

sounds like a deal compared to the one i bought last summer... but then again mine was a completely uneducated impulse purchase.

i'd tell him that they just discontinued the katana so the values have gone down, and offer him $2750. might as well try to get it as cheap as you can right? lol

[JustSomeDude]

Re: 2001 Katana Price Advice

Found a 2001 Katana 600 with 3,300 miles

Also does it still have the stocktires on it, if so they are 5+ years old ride accordingly!!!!.

Yes, tires are original, but only 3,300 miles. Does it matter that they are 5 years old?

[ZukiFred]

Yes it dose matter on the tires, after 5 years they are drying out and can become more prone to dryrott and spliting.

But in my opinion 3k for an 01 is reasonable.

[ErikY.]

Re: 2001 Katana Price Advice

. Second owner, claims he never had it down (it's his 4th bike), and claims original owner never had it down.

That sounds like a decent price. Mine 2000, 14,000km, new tires and exhaust (fell over on hot asphalt), little scratch on right fairing, 4000$ Canadian from a friend.
It's funny how everyone drops their bike, but never the one they're selling
Cheers,
Erik

[The CyberPoet]

(A) Specifically ask him not to start it on the day you are coming to see it -- you want the engine cold when you first show up. A warm start can hide problems that occur at cold start.

(B) Use this checklist to do your vehicle inspection:
CyberPoet's "Used Motorcycle Inspection List (use before buying!)". Go over all of it!

(C) Check the KBB price listed above, as well as visiting www.nada.com and getting the NADA base value for your area (varies with zip codes). Then start deducting for each thing that needs to be replaced at actual hardware costs...

As for the rest:
Ask what he has in terms of documentation of services performed. A full 15k service with valve adjustment is worth $250 - $300 on the price.
Expect to have to replace the tires, brake lines, brake caliper seals, brake fluid, fuel and vacuum lines. Generally, anything made of rubber contains VOC's (Volitile Organic Compounds) that evaporate and cause the rubber to harden up. The most critical on that list is the tires -- VOC depleted tires may look identical to new, but don't grip for diddley squat by comparison.
There are much better tires available for the bike than what it came with stock, at about the same price, so don't replace them with more of the same. Metzeler Z6's are IMHO the best available for a typical rider and will last over 10k miles.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet