I'm thinking about buying a '97 Ninja 500R I found on Craigslist, the girl selling it is the 2nd owner, another woman before her. 11,000 miles, new tires, Yoshirma exhaust.

It's got a few scratches, nothing major, obviously tip-over type of stuff and not crashes. Oil has just been changed, it starts and rides like a dream, I test rode it quite a bit the other day.

Can anyone give me:
a) An idea of what to look out for/what problems are common with the 500R that I should check for?
b) What a fair asking price for this bike is?


Thanks in advance!

 

I would offer somewhere around $1,300 ~ $1,600. The EX500 isn't going to hold it's value that well, and it's already ten yrs old.

I don't think the 500 has too many issues to be worried about. As long as the regular maintenance has been done, you should be fine.