Picking up Wr250x tomorrow... Good deal?

Hello,

I'm new to supermotos and I'm going to check out this bike tomorrow. I was wondering if you could tell me if its a good price and what I should check for on the bike when I'm there.

Its an 08 WR250x with 5k miles

With:
Two brothers carbon exhaust
Extra set of unmounted tires
Acerbis hand guards
Pro Taper bars
Then some little stuff like LED blinkers ect...

Were down to $4050 its never been off roaded, and he said its in factory condition.

Sounds good to me.

Just see what kind of guy it is and if the bike has skuff marks. Start her up, see how it runs etc.. the usual stuff.
Ask if he has a manual and the spare key. Also ask for the orgininal parts (like exhaust) and check vin number
Ask if the fuel pump has been replaced. (lots of info on the forum on that). Not that it needs immediate attention, but if he has replaced it, you have less worry.

If everything turns out okay, buy it and drive the s$%^ out of it. You will love it. It is the best bike I ever had.

Make sure its cold when you start it to check for oil smoke out the pipe (won't do it when hot) - will tell you if its got bad rings or valve guides. Take a small flashlight - look all around the head and cylinder gaskets and the dark nether regions for oil seeps. Look at the sprocket for wear and the chain for kinks and/or rust. Put it on a crate or stand and spin the wheels and check they're true. Look for scrapes and bent parts. Hold the brake and push the forks down hard. A clunk is a bad or loose steering stem bearing (lots of hard wheelie landings). Excessive sticktion could mean a bent fork. Shine your flashlight in the gas tank and look for rust and crud. Check the oil level and color. Look at EVERYTHING.

Fire it up. Hold the front brake and clutch it out with some revs to see if the clutch slips, but don't do a burnout - its not yours yet. Take it for a ride and check everything - through the gears, brakes, performance. Does it track straight?

You didn't list an EFI programmer so unless the owner knew how to richen the mixture through the CO diagnostics mode its probably been running lean which burns valves and pistons. If he put on the pipe and no fuel adjustment he's not too sharp which would lead me to believe that there is no way he could have taken proper care elsewhere.

If you have big doubts about this you could ask to make the sale contingent on doing or having a shop do a leakdown test. This will tell you everything about the internals.

Engage the seller in idle BS chitchat the whole time you're working. Watch to see if he gets up tight while your looking anywhere in particular.

By the time you're done you should have found most of the flaws and if so, be able to get him to take less. "You're price is good but the (whatever) may cost $XX to fix."

Good luck.

Thanks alot. That was the review I was looking for.

I didnt know that just putting a pipe on it will make it run so rich it will burn valves. Thats definitely something to ask about.

I appreciate it!

A lot of folks will say it doesn't matter (pipe = lean). If it was a two stroke, absolutely. On a four stroke, not as sensitive but it will run hotter and heat is not good. (Disclaimer - I've never stayed at a Holiday Inn.)

IF it seems down on power or IF you have doubts, the leakdown test will tell all. Its a pain to get at the plug on the WR but a good shop shouldn't charge too much.

I've read here that the 2Bros pipe is really loud. It would be easy to trade for a stocker (plus some boot) or try a DB Killer.

Don't mean to sound like doom here but I see too many cretins shifting their bikes when they see something going bad with them. If the seller is in money trouble or off on a new hobby there would be less worry.

I'd call a few dealers first to see what kind of deals they're offering and that should give you a better feel for value on the resale you're looking at. Shops are hurting and discounts can be had. Example; I bought my '07 KTM 950SM new from a Las Vegas dealer after the housing crash for $9k out the door. List was about $12k.

Just an FYI. I just bought an '08 R2 for $2500. Only add-ons were an FMF programmer w/ stock pipe, TAG bar and Acerbis hand guards that were pretzeled. Bike had 4900 brutal punishing beat through the rocks, thrown down the road miles. It took a couple of weeks and a complete teardown to straighten bent parts. I bought it because the motor is strong and the important parts like the forks were ace. It runs like a champ and I don't care about the thrashed cosmetics. THAT is a great recommend for the durability of the bike.

Ya this guys story is that his neighbor had a wr250x so he bought one so they could ride together, but now his neighbor has converted his to an R model and doesnt even have it registered anymore, its just a strictly off road bike. And he has 2 kids so this thing sitting in his garage doesn't do him any good at all... Sounds kind of legit...

I looked into local deals and everyone around here seems to be staying pretty firm... I found a new 09 leftover for $4,999 not including all their fees and bs (thats also no bargaining yet) but I only have 4k so I'm kind of limited to a used one (dont want to owe money on it, I've been down the path of owing on a bike and it sucks lol)

I have to drive 2 hours to pick it up so I cant use a local bike shop but I'll call some locals down there and see if there's any open on a Saturday that will run the engine test. But if not I guess I'll just go over all the stuff you said earlier and pick it apart with a magnifying glass and see what happens...

Thanks.

Its tomorrow now. How'd it go?

Hey, sorry I've been out riding so much I forgot to get back on here lol.

It's an amazing bike. It really is in perfect condition. It shifts so smooth and handles so nice. I'm defiantly happy I went with this bike. I cant believe more people dont have them... If only I could get those tires to grip in this Florida sand lol

I haven't gotten around to really looking into it or anything but he has done the flapper mod, and I have noticed that if I run first gear real high then let off it will backfire just a little bit. I'm going to get a fuel programmer soon and then I'll worry about that lol.

Heres a few pictures. Thanks alot for your help.

SCORE!

That thing looks perfect. Before you jump on the FI programmer check your existing ECU fuel settings. Instructions here;
http://advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=17071753&postcount=25047

Backfiring on decel is no biggie.

Flbassgod wrote:

I have noticed that if I run first gear real high then let off it will backfire just a little bit.

Read this >>AIS Removal

I'll have to check out the ECU settings tomorrow when I feel like making a ground... And after riding today it didnt backfire once. I think that might have been one of those first day new bike noises that get overemphasized way too much lol

And I went to check out removing the AIS, and its already done, looks like he bought the same kit from that site to do it lol. Then I looked in the two brothers exhaust box and in the bottom was all the AIS parts and flapper parts.

The only thing I guess I could do is fuel programmer and get rid of those ugly stock mirrors. Kind of disappointing... I have a new bike and nothing to do it lol.

Flbassgod wrote:

I have a new bike and nothing to do it lol.

Looks like a tailight might be in order. Or if you win the lottery, check out this stuff;

http://japan.webike.net/categories/100000_120000_123000_123042.html

Just Bob wrote:

Flbassgod wrote:

I have a new bike and nothing to do it lol.

Looks like a tailight might be in order. Or if you win the lottery, check out this stuff;

http://japan.webike.net/categories/100000_120000_123000_123042.html

He already put an integrated taillight from an older R1 on it... looks real clean. And LED hotbodies front blinkers. Everything I wanted and then some is done lol. I guess its nice since its alot cheaper to buy it like this but I want to mess with it haha