[OCMD]

Greetings all! I hope this forum is as helpful as my Yamaha Jet Boat forum is! Anyway, by chance my neighbor (who has a couple similar bikes and this one was sitting around) has a sweet looking 2006 TW200 with 1400 miles on it, never been off road. We were joking around yesterday about bikes, etc and he said I needed to get one to "run around with" at my beach house. He said the wife will love it. BELIEVE IT OR NOT the wife saw it out in my driveway this morning (neighbor thought it would be funny and put it in my driveway last night) and the wife actually commented, unsolicited, that "that would be cool to have at the beach to run errands with."



The bike is perfect mechanically, no doubt. My neighbor is a superb mechanic and in fact is rebuilding both a Seadoo and a yamaha jet engine on 2 boats, as we speak. So as to the mechanics of the bike, that's not my concern - it's near perfect. Plus, I used to ride 30 years ago - larger cruisers but haven't been on one since 1983. I could do most repairs/maintenance myself back in the day.



He said I could have it for 3 grand. I had no idea of the pricing so I went to NADA and say retail around 14-1900. So I am in a quandary. What's a fair price for the bike? Mind you, this guy fixes my stuff on occasion and always will help out. I just paid him back last week with a ten grand settlement on his 87 jeep, which was tapped in a parking lot wreck and the insurance company only offered him 2 grand for the jeep,totaled. It wasn't totaled and I sued and settled for 10K. ON A 25 yr old jeep! Of course, I didn't charge him a cent when most lawyers will suck 33% out of him. I don't operate that way as on my street, the guys always help each other out and this was the first time in 20 years I could return his favors over the years. The point is, he's a good dude. Anyway, I figured he was hooking me up at 3 grand, until I saw the NADA price.



Seems not a hook up, but I will be defer to you all, who are the experts. Thanks in advance for your opinions!



Tom in Maryland

 

[peruano]

See thread is this subforum titled '$3000 for a 2001". Same discussion pertains. In my eyes its not really fair to say "I got mine for . . .". We all like bargains, but not all of us get them. For me a known bike is worth bigger price than an unknown or dubious one. Compare what you are paying with the out the door price at a dealer and you are saving money for the few miles that it has on it. JMHO. The bottom line is the bike is fun. Tom

 

[STEVE IN SOCAL]

Chances are if he puts it on CL it won't fetch $3k. One in San Diego with similar mileage sold a few months ago for $2,100...down from the original asking price of $2,500. I'd share the BB value with him, and offer $2k and see where it goes...couldn't hoyt.

 

[joedirt1970]

I bought my 2008 for $3400 BRAND NEW. If is stock and a 2001...no way $3000 is a good deal.

 

[OCMD]

Thanks for the help. Anyone else gonna' chime in? Would 2K be fair to all? Or still too much? Are these bikes as famous/popular as he is claiming? Thanks!

 

[lizrdbrth]

MSRP in '06 was $3749.



2K would be fair, slightly biased toward buyer. 2.5K biased toward seller.



West coast values. YMMV

 

[TWBUSHMAN]

For what it's worth I just picked up a MINT condition 2003 with 2k miles for $1600.00. And when I say mint I mean spotless. At 3K for a used bike spend the extra 400 and go NEW

 

[DRF64]

For what it's worth I just picked up a MINT condition 2003 with 2k miles for $1600.00. And when I say mint I mean spotless. At 3K for a used bike spend the extra 400 and go NEW

New bikes are well north of 4k. Some body on here got a NOS bike for 3800, supposedly, but that is the lowest i've heard lately.





dan

 

[Bagger]

OC,

Seems like you are a guy that believes in being a good neighbor, so I will impart a bit of wisdom it took me 50+ years to figure out.

You can be as good of a neighbor as you want, doesn't mean it will be reciprocated.



3K is a steep price for an '06. There is some comfort in knowing the history, but I won't buy/sell to my friends anymore. I would rather have the friendship than the deal. And if things go sour, which they could, you are left living next to an adversary.



Ole Dad used to say "Never crap in your own backyard".





Good luck.



Bag



Post Script, as for your other question, yes, these bikes are great nitch bikes. I think of them as the Canoe of the motorcycle world. Capable of nearly anything reasonable, if your patient.

 

[maddawgj]

1st) I completely agree with Bagger. Deals betweens friends can be the worste idea.



2nd) What else is included in that price? Since he's a mechanic I would expect him to have spare parts (chains, gaskets, filters, etc.), does it have racks or anything else on it? Is he including future maintance on the bike (oil changes, etc.)? Did you ask him if that is the friend price, not the stranger price?



Worse case just be honest with him and tell him you like it, want it, but just not at that price and if he could do better you would be interested. Leave it up to him to come up with a better offer, rather than making him an offer that he might find insulting.

 

[Point37]

bought my stock 2000 for $1500 with 8k miles

 

[OCMD]

Folks: Thanks for the help and ideas. To answer a few questions. We're good neighbors and if something broke on the bike, he'd fix it for me. I do not think there would be animosity if something went bad, Bag, but this bike is perfect so that's not a concern. Also, I will take your comments under advisement as I certainly understand what you are saying.



He said he'd sell it for 3500 on the open market but give it to me for 3000. It wouldn't be beyond the realm of him to actually not know the value of the bike. He did buy it 4 years ago and may honestly think it is worth 3000. I just can't pay that much over book for it. I'm thinking of telling him 2k, but even that seems high. The bike does have a nice rack on the back (Jimbo?) and a spare sand tire which he never used - whatever a sand tire is. In any event, I'm not taking the bike off road anyway. It would be strictly a bounce around to the stores and back type deal, summers only, at my beach place.



He did say he would show me (or do himself) any maintenance required such as oil changes. Don't know what else it wold need other than a plug and maintaining the chain. Perhaps you all can fill me in on what basic maintenance is needed on this bike?



I suppose the only problem I foresee is what occurred in 1979 when I bought my first bike, a Yamaha DT250. It was fun to learn on, but after a month I got bored with its size and so brought home a fast ass 2 stroke, a Suzuki GT750 (I think it was a GT but I could be wrong - it was over 30 years ago!) That Suzuki blew every other bike off the road and I had some good times on it. Then went to a larger Honda. The point is, will I be satisfied with this small bike? I don't intend to go on cross country trips anymore so maybe I can keep myself contained to the TW. The fact that the wife wants to ride was pretty cool, though. In fact, that's probably the only reason I'm here! Bagger's comment about it being a canoe of the motorcycle world concerns me slightly...when I'm rolling down the river at 54 mph in my twin engine Yamaha Jet Boat, I hate having to slow down for those annoying canoes that pop up all the time!



Anyway, thanks for all your help and any additional comments are appreciated.



Final price? If I offer 2 k and don't budge, did I pay too much?

 

[Bagger]

OC, if you smile when you go sit on/ride on your new bike, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of your purchase price. It only matters if you are happy. Seems to me, somewhere between 2 and 2.5 would be a good deal for both of you.

The canoe comment meant it would do just about anything, not that it was difficult to master . . . but thanks for slowing down, most folks don't.



As for it leading to a desire for more bike . . . that's on you too! I have . . . ahem . . . a few bikes, and the TW always makes me smile.



BTW, it's a great errand runner, and it is cool that the Mrs. is interested!



Bag

 

[Old goat 11]

Check eBay, there are three for sale now, 1995 $1,600, 2002 $1,700, 2004 $2,800. Those have many days left but eBay is usually a better barometer of market value than NADA.



As far as the boredom factor goes...if you want to go fast this isn't the right bike. If you want a really tough bike that will do way more than you think it will and take you places you didn't think a bike would go then the Tdub is perfect.

 

[Woofhound]

$2K-$2.5K is a fair price for a nice 06. I bought my 09 new in 2010 for $3200. With shipping, setup, washington sales tax (9.8%) and license it was $4k out the door. IMHO $3000 is too much and he'll play hell trying to get 3500, but ya never know.... as my old grandfather told me... there's an ass for every seat

 

[FredGarvin]

well, he might ask $3500 for his '06, but he ain't gonna get that kind of money.



For reference, I bought my '06 NEW for $2800 (less taxes, etc). I don't care how MINT this bike is, it's still a USED bike.



IMO a good deal for you would be about $2k.

 

[OCMD]

Thanks, all. We agreed to $2500 and he does any maintenance when needed or will teach me - I can handle a Yamaha Jet Boat but know nothing about a bike. The bike is in excellent shape and oil's been changed 3 times with synthetic which I use in my cars and truck. Comes with a rack, and the best part? I have one year to sell it back to him if I don't like it. Now.....where is the best price to get a helmet? I try to avoid the stealerships. Any comments? Decent deal? Thanks for the replies!

 

[peruano]

the best deal on a helmet is one you feel is comfortable and will wear. It has to have DOT certification and its nice if it has Snell. Otherwise its the old axiom you can pay as much as you want. I'm currently shopping for a new helmet and aiming for the mid range. Some of the below $100 models are definately deficient, but I won't say all are. Shop and try them on before you commit. JMO. Tom

 

[tw200sgp]

The sell back idea is a great deal.

 

[OCMD]

Of course, my friend booked to the beach this weekend so we didn't close the deal. Now, I find a 2010 TW200, which has 16 months left on the warranty. The bike only has 100 miles on it and has been garaged kept. $3000.



What do you guys/gals say about paying the extra 500 for a 2010, under warranty, with only 100 miles on it? To me, looks like a no brainer compared to the 2006 with 1400 miles on it. If these bikes are anything like my Yamaha Boat which is 11 years old



http://yamahajetboaters.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=225&t=45224



then I kind of expect them to not have too many issues. Is this accurate? Hell, a 4 stroke with only a hundred miles on it isn't even broken in, is it? Of course my wife, never shy to spend, says get the 2010!



What say all? Thank you.