1998 WR400 Not Broken In ?

[HighPlainsWR]

I am considering buying a rock-stock 1998 WR 400 with less than 6 hours on the motor, or so the owner claims. He wants a thousand and a half dollars more than book value to start, or OBO.

The bike has no visible defects, but it won't start - the start circuit / pilot jet may be varished shut (after all these years). And while his claim (6 hours) may be true, should not the book value, as excellent stock condition, really be the start price instead?

I mean, the motor may have only 6 hours on it in 10 years, great. But the cost of rebuilding the carb, and possibly the engine/fork seals, from lack of use, may cost in the end as much as the difference he is asking for between book and start price!

Should I offer book value, less the cost of a carb rebuild, and walk?

[C-P]

It's all a matter of opinion, but in real life those bikes seem to be $1500-2000 in decent running order. Throw the book away and look at what they bring here, craigslist and ebay. I've seen ok ones for a grand. I work around cars every day, and am a firm believer that NOT using machinery can be just as bad or worse for it as using it. The bike you're looking at has still suffered from disuse, and unfortunately unless someone wants to keep it mint for another 20-30 years for it to become a collector, it's current state doesn't really add a lot of value. It's currently a nice example of a somewhat outdated bike.

[creeky]

I concur with the previous post.

[HighPlainsWR]

Thanks Rabbbit. That's good, sound advice. I looked at it again today and thought of all the basic mods required to bring it up to "speed" (too lenghty to mention), the cost of the carb rebuild ($$$), the hidden risks, etc. I offered "excellent" book value of $2,045. I told him that's all I can afford (true), it's out of warranty (true) and to call if it's the best OBO. Happy trails you rascally rabbit....that's all folks!

[Solo]

It's also not a bike with any particular value just because it's some odd model other than the fact that it is the first year of the WRFs.