New Member/ New Bike Purchase

Hey Everyone, brand new to the site and about to get into the WR250x scene. I live in San Diego, CA and am purchasing a bike because I am just over driving my truck too and from work and want to have some fun while doing it. Daily grind is 25 miles away. Mostly highway, but am going to take some back roads on occasion for some fun.

So I found like bike and I wanted to see what people thought about the deal or what I should be looking out for. It is a 2008 WR250x and only has 123 miles. It was purchased by someone who is in the military and wasn't ever able to ride it. It has been sitting in a garage since 08 and was started weekly.



So what do I need to look for when purchasing? Any problems or changes I will need to make to the 2008 model. I have done some negotiating on price already. Also the bike was never registered, do you think I will run into any problems?

Thanks in advance to any information provided. Every little bit of help is appreciated.

I'm sure that someone else will chime in about the potential fuel pump issue and problems with the rubber on the rear sprocket. Other than that, great bike. What is the seller asking? For reference, I bought my stock 08 with 1,800 miles this past January for $3,500 OTD.



Good luck!

BuilderBob wrote:

I'm sure that someone else will chime in about the potential fuel pump issue and problems with the rubber on the rear sprocket. Other than that, great bike. What is the seller asking? For reference, I bought my stock 08 with 1,800 miles this past January for $3,500 OTD.



Good luck!

I have not read about the fuel pump issue... can you explain more?

Here in Southern California these bikes are going for a lot more for some reason. The asking price started at $5500 and I have him down to $4500. Might be able to squeeze more out of him cause the bike has never even been registered.

bbomkamp wrote:

BuilderBob wrote:

I'm sure that someone else will chime in about the potential fuel pump issue and problems with the rubber on the rear sprocket. Other than that, great bike. What is the seller asking? For reference, I bought my stock 08 with 1,800 miles this past January for $3,500 OTD.



Good luck!

I have not read about the fuel pump issue... can you explain more?

Here in Southern California these bikes are going for a lot more for some reason. The asking price started at $5500 and I have him down to $4500. Might be able to squeeze more out of him cause the bike has never even been registered.

Some people have an issue with the fuel pump going out on the 2008 models. I guess the fuel pump overheats causing it to fail. So worst case scenario you will have to spend 250 bucks for a fuel pump if it ever goes out. The new fuel pumps do not have this problem. No big deal for a great bike.

And if you were wondering what the rubber on the rear sprocket about, the stock sprocket has a rubber lining near the teeth of the sprocket. No issue since i am pretty sure you will end up getting a larger aftermarket rear sprocket to add some more torque. =)

Yea tell me about the prices here in Socal! I live in Orange County and got mine 4 months ago with 3,000 miles for $4000, but he had a few upgrades. Those upgrades were not more than 400 dollars worth though. lol

BoredAzHell20 wrote:

bbomkamp wrote:

BuilderBob wrote:

I'm sure that someone else will chime in about the potential fuel pump issue and problems with the rubber on the rear sprocket. Other than that, great bike. What is the seller asking? For reference, I bought my stock 08 with 1,800 miles this past January for $3,500 OTD.



Good luck!

I have not read about the fuel pump issue... can you explain more?

Here in Southern California these bikes are going for a lot more for some reason. The asking price started at $5500 and I have him down to $4500. Might be able to squeeze more out of him cause the bike has never even been registered.

Some people have an issue with the fuel pump going out on the 2008 models. I guess the fuel pump overheats causing it to fail. So worst case scenario you will have to spend 250 bucks for a fuel pump if it ever goes out. The new fuel pumps do not have this problem. No big deal for a great bike.

And if you were wondering what the rubber on the rear sprocket about, the stock sprocket has a rubber lining near the teeth of the sprocket. No issue since i am pretty sure you will end up getting a larger aftermarket rear sprocket to add some more torque. =)

Yea tell me about the prices here in Socal! I live in Orange County and got mine 4 months ago with 3,000 miles for $4000, but he had a few upgrades. Those upgrades were not more than 400 dollars worth though. lol

Thank you for the info. That is good to know. I have also found a 2009 with 1250 miles on it, listed for $5k. I spoke with the guy and he isnt really wanting to negotiate on this one. Positive side on this one is that it is currently registered, unlike the other one.

Yeah what is up with people in California holding so much value on their damn bikes! I think its cause all these people owe money on them.

bbomkamp wrote:

Yeah what is up with people in California holding so much value on their damn bikes! I think its cause all these people owe money on them.

Easy answer... We can ride all year.

I'm thinking the 08 shouldn't be over $4K, the 09 around $4.5K. ...but I really haven't looked at the market.

I recently (7/5/11) purchased a 2008 WRX with 959 miles for $3800. You are going to spend more this time of the year depending on where you live. I wouldn't spend anymore than 4k on an 08 in super mint condition.

bbomkamp wrote:

Thank you for the info. That is good to know. I have also found a 2009 with 1250 miles on it, listed for $5k. I spoke with the guy and he isnt really wanting to negotiate on this one. Positive side on this one is that it is currently registered, unlike the other one.

Yeah what is up with people in California holding so much value on their damn bikes! I think its cause all these people owe money on them.

Weird. When I lived in Huntington Beach in the 80's, it was the other way around. People came to SoCal for good deals. $5k for a used 2008 is nuts when you can buy new leftover 2008's from many Midwest dealers for less. The guy I bought my used 2008 X paid $5300 in June of 2010 for a leftover 2008, no miles and full 5 year extended warranty. He sold it to me in January for $3200, although his "upgrades" took me a few dollars to fix. The bike had about 1k miles on the odometer.

Nationally, the WR has been a bust for Yamaha. Not as bad as Honda's CRF230, but probably bad enough that 2012 could be the last import year for the bike. My contact with our area's largest dealer said Yamaha and Honda are tossing these bikes and a few other failures on to the auction block and there should be some killer deals this fall.

twday wrote:

bbomkamp wrote:

Thank you for the info. That is good to know. I have also found a 2009 with 1250 miles on it, listed for $5k. I spoke with the guy and he isnt really wanting to negotiate on this one. Positive side on this one is that it is currently registered, unlike the other one.

Yeah what is up with people in California holding so much value on their damn bikes! I think its cause all these people owe money on them.

Weird. When I lived in Huntington Beach in the 80's, it was the other way around. People came to SoCal for good deals. $5k for a used 2008 is nuts when you can buy new leftover 2008's from many Midwest dealers for less. The guy I bought my used 2008 X paid $5300 in June of 2010 for a leftover 2008, no miles and full 5 year extended warranty. He sold it to me in January for $3200, although his "upgrades" took me a few dollars to fix. The bike had about 1k miles on the odometer.

Nationally, the WR has been a bust for Yamaha. Not as bad as Honda's CRF230, but probably bad enough that 2012 could be the last import year for the bike. My contact with our area's largest dealer said Yamaha and Honda are tossing these bikes and a few other failures on to the auction block and there should be some killer deals this fall.

Hmm maybe I should wait till Fall...travel to your neck of the woods...and ride it back to California. hahaha

^^ that would be a pretty cool idea, but the only thing that sucks is that we live in California! We have different and crappy emission standards then the rest of the states. I think you would have registration issues since their bikes are different from the California models. I am only guessing about this since I have no experience bringing vehicles from other states.

BoredAzHell20 wrote:

^^ that would be a pretty cool idea, but the only thing that sucks is that we live in California! We have different and crappy emission standards then the rest of the states. I think you would have registration issues since their bikes are different from the California models. I am only guessing about this since I have no experience bringing vehicles from other states.

Bikes can be brought in from out of state, but there is some kind of mileage requirements. (CA doesn't want you to buy new bikes in Nevada, then immediately register them here). I don't recall what the mileage requirement was though. I brought my CBR600 in from Ohio about 10 years ago and registered it without a problem.

Seventy-five hundred (7500) miles.

Which has created it's own used odometer market on eBay.