Trying to pick up a reliable street bike for around $1300 so that I can get some seat time in and beat the parking at my university. I have been looking around at the ninja 250 and 500 as well as the Suzuki Gs500. Anyone know if this is a reasonable price or have any other bike suggestions in this price range.

Thanks in advance

 

You know... everywhere in the country is a little different in pricing. along the coast it may be hard to find something int hat price range while out here in the southeast you CAN find that price point.

where have you looked so far?a And seat time is key

 

I live in Auburn,Al. So i have been looking on craigslist and ebay in the north Florida, most of Georgia and some of Mississippi area. I found a few gs500's in georgia for $900 but i dont know if the cheap factor will mean a crappy bike.

 

I've got a GS500. It's a good bike, it's my first bike so I can't compare it to much but I'm happy with it. I live in CT so we don't have the same used bike economy as your area but I picked up mine 98 with 16k on it for 1500. Bikes around here tend to run high from what I've seen from other parts of the country. I would think you should be able to find a good one within your price range. They are also super easy to wrench on so if you find one that might need some simple tlc I wouldn't be too put off by it.

 

Yeah the main thing right now is that I need it to get me from point A to B. From there i really dont care what it looks like and I am more than down to work on it. I just dont want to poor gobs of money into it to make it run right.

 

Don't forget enough money for insurance and gaer.

 

yeah thats why i am shooting for a low cost bike. i bought a shoei helmet and a joe rocket jacket with some alpine star sp-2 gloves. I am currently working on the insurance

 

You can probably find a 250 or GS500 for that price if you're patient. I'd say you're lucky if you can find a Ninja 500 for that price. I bought my 93 GS500 last summer for $1500. I put 10k miles on it, went down on it once, and still sold it for $1200.

 

Yeah i am trying to practice as much patience as possible. I want to find a 500cc bike but the 250 will do if it is what becomes available.

 

used to be you could find bikes like nothing else in texas for that price, but it seems like ever since gas prices went super-skyward, motorcycle riding has really picked up, and so has demand for cheap bikes.

I've been waiting for a deal on a first bike for a looong time. I'm hoping something comes along soon

 

It can be good and bad about more bikes being on the road. The wait continues, going to take the riders course for a little good measure next month