I've been really seriously looking at a used 2001 400ex the past week. The guy is asking $4200/obo. He says it has about 75 hours on it. It has new handle bars and a new clutch cable. I'm just wondering what you guys think I should do. Sound good? I am for sure gonna try talking him down of course but what is a fair price? Is there anything part of the machine that I should look at closely before buying? Your help is appreciated. Thanks.

 

New 2002s cost $5000 near here. That includes factory warranty, and you can use cheap financing instead of spending all your own $ at once. Personally, I'd look at new before I believed someone's "estimate" of hours for not much less money. What happened to the original bars? Bent in a wreck? The 2004s will be out in a month, so that machine will be 3 years old. Sport machines usually get more and often harder miles on them than the same age utility machine. I've been looking at used ones here, $4000 is asking price for a 2001 at a dealer. At least get an unbiased shop to go through it and tell you how well it was maintained and what it needs. If it is in good shape mechanically, maybe it is worth $3500. My $.02

 

The local Honda shop has been selling them for $4000. NEW.

 

http://abernathyonline.com/ ..........03' 400ex's are $4450.00,out the door with no add on cost........

 

RideRed420, I looked on that site and it says $4450 incl. the $300 bonus bucks, but no where does it say OTD.

Are these dealers even making any money off the 400ex's? I'm going to look at it tonite. Any other replies would be helpful.

BTW, Kelly Blue Book says it's worth around $3040 on a trade and $4425 sug. retail.

 

75 hours is quiet a bit isnt it? Id say talk him down to at least 3900.

 

OffRder15,

you must have missed it,
its underlined,
i seen it said all our prices are out the door prices with no hidden or add on cost............

 

I bought my 2001 used back in september. I think by having looked at it and seen what kind of maintenance was done to it, that it probably had around 50-60 hours on it. I think all the guy did to it was change the oil, and I don't know how often he did that... I paid 3800, and I think he was asking like 4300 at the time. I'd say pay no more than 3750 for the one ur looking at. But, I'm not looking at it, or riding it. The biggest things to look for are a motor that smokes, and rear axle bearings-in my opinion. If you get the motor good and warmed up, and it starts smoking blue, take the price down. I'd say probably around $100 for that because a wiseco kit is around $100, don't know what stock costs, but probly more. If you get someone else to hold up on the grab bar, grab a hold of a rear wheel and shake it left to right, up and down, and try to push and pull on it. There should be minimal slop. I'd say knock off $50 at least for new axle bearings b/c you could crack the carrier trying to get the old bearings out. If you live in a wet climate, or the bike was ridden in creeks and stuff, or washed with a pressure washer, you need to look further into bearings, such as the front a-arm spherical bearings, and the rear shock linkage bearings. The spherical bearings are like $20 apiece[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img], so be sure to knock off for that. A lot of the time you can just grease up the spherical bearings and get away with it. The rear linkage bearings are like $13.50 apiece, but I think you can get these cheaper from pivot works. Just be sure to take a good ride on it and check all the obvious stuff, and some of the not-so-obvious parts as well!!

 

I agree that the bike is probably worth around $3800 or so, depending upon condition (which we can't see).

All things being equal... 400EX's are bullet proof, but that's not to say that they can be abused and still be great bikes. The previous post gave some good information. A-arm bearings are expensive to replace if worn. Look at the seller... does he SEEM like someone who would be careful about maintenance (does he have rusted out cars etc. sitting in his front yard?).

If I were in the market for a 400EX (I have had two)... I'd look for one that is bone stock rather than one that has had lots of work done on it. You probably have a better chance of getting a solid bike that this stock than buying one that has been heavily modified (and therefore raced or ridden very hard). Just my opinion.

 

RideRed420,
I must have missed that. My bad.


Okay, here's the story. I just looked at it tonite. The guy takes good care of all his stuff and seems knowlegable. He actually had two 2001 400ex's and just sold the other at the end of summer. I asked why he put new Renthal handlebars on it and he said, "I'm not gonna BS you. I did flip it once." He said just as he decided he wanted to sell it, he took it out for a ride and flipped it. Ever since he hasn't ridden it at all. The steering stem looked strait and so did the a-arms, although I don't have bionic eyes so who knows.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] The tie rods have no play in them. The front hubs have no play in them. One of the left a-arms has just a very very slight minimal amount of play in it...barely any at all. Suspension is in good shape, the plastic is in excellent shape, the wheels are in excellent shape, and the axle is in perfect shape. There are no signs of abuse. The only thing that bothered me was the fact that the airbox was dirty and it needs a new air filter. Also, the tires, which by the way are still the stockers, are pretty much bald. So those will need to be replaced right away. Everything seemed to be in good working order. It started right up, headlights worked perfect, clutch felt perfect, it shifted like butter, and I found neutral with no problem. It did have very minimal rust on the grab bar from doing wheelies.

You guys have been some great help. Thanks. What do you guys think is a good price now that I filled you in with more info?