Buying 2002 or 2004

Hello my name is Brandon and I am new to vfrworld, I have a question to ask

I have been looking to get a new bike for A LONG time, and I recently found two VFR's in my area.

The first is a 2002 with 5,800mi with no modifications, and adult owned for $5,200

The second is a 2004 with 12,000mi with no mods, adult owned for $4,500

I just wanted to know if there was any significant changes that would make me buy one over the other. Other than the fact that the 2002 has much less mileage.

Thanks

 

Welcome, Brandon. The bikes are identical and I wouldn't concern yourself with mileage. They go forever with proper maintenence. I would say that both bikes are priced too high. The '04 isn't too bad; $4k would be a decent figure. The '02 isn't even in the ballpark; low mileage or not.

 

What would be a good ball park for the 02 around $4000, I would rather go for the 2002 because it looks to be better taken care of and has some optional things like a tank bra and two helmets .

 

I wouldn't go over 4K, and even that's on the high side. Unfortunately used helmets don't really hold much value, although I'm sure the current owner would like to think otherwise. Reason being is that the resins that give helmets their strength fail over time. The rule of thumb on a helmet is to replace it every three to five years, even if it hasn't been dropped or seen an accident. Just to give you an idea, there a several '02s for sale on Denver's Craigslist that are going for $3200-$3700. If you really like the bike and feel good about the condition and maintenence then $500 +/- probably isn't a big deal, if you can even get him to come down that far.

 

Havcar is spot on.
I bought my 02 just over a year ago for $4200. It had a brand new tire and a years registration and 5000m.
There is a nice one in the classified section an 03 with abs and 3000 miles for $4000. You should fly out there and ride it home. There was another for sale here with hard bags for $3500 last week but it must have got sold. Now that was a great deal! Be patient you will find a good deal.

 

I agree the price is way too high for the 02. There is one on Atlanta Craigslist right now with 4900 miles selling for $4000. As previously mentioned these bikes are very dependable and last a long time so don't be afraid to buy one with close to 20k miles if it has been well maintained.

Rollin

 

Thank you for the input guys, I didnt realize how far the price dropped on used bikes. When I was looking at getting a bike 3 years ago, they were a bit more expensive plus they would have been 3 year newer. As for flying and picking up a bike, i might consider that depending where I found one. The VFR in my area is still a relatively hard bike to find, the classifieds normally are packed with 600 sportbikes and ninja250's lol. Im going to look at the 2002 this saturday, and ill offer him $4000 for it. If he doesn't accept no big deal I have no problem waiting, cause I cant ride for another month or so anyway.

 

I think that's a good plan. You may want to pull up a VFR on another major cities Craigslist inorder to show the owner his asking price isn't comenserate with market value. He'll try to tell you about low mileage, but again, it doesn't figure much in the equation.

 

Yea I think I will take a couple of classified's to show him, I will take the print out of the Kbb value as well. I am really glad I did talk to you guys though because i really did believe that was a good price. I almost bought a 1990 vfr back in 2005 for $3000 and I thought that was a great price back then.

 

I usually will pay a bit more for a cherry bike, to me a few hundred bucks for a non crashed garaged bike is money well spent. If it has new tires, a years reg and is unmarked you might want to consider up to $4200.
Unfortunately in the last few years prices on everything non essential has dropped. I wish the 02's were worth more seeing as I have one but $5200 is at least a grand overpriced.

 

Thats pretty much what I was going to do, I would rather pay for a bike with less miles and down the road from my house. Plus im not completely sure how this works , but if i bought a bike out of state wouldnt i have to pay the taxes for that state then back here in PA.

 

Not sure about PA but usually you only pay taxes when you register it which would be in your state only.

 

I kind of envy you guys in the US. Used bikes there are really affordable.

I just got my 06 Gen06 for US$7800 with 28k miles on the clock. Totally stock with no accessories not exactly mint with stationary fall scratches on both sides. This is the best deal I came across over at the sunny island that I am living in.

 

Another quick question, I was wondering if there was any little things I should know about on a vfr in particular that I should watch out for when buying used. For example I had glanced at a thread saying something about a recall on a stator. Also cruising the classifieds last night put all this pricing into perspective, I saw a 2007 all white vfr with 1500mi. for $5500. Haha im defiantly calling that guy tonight to see about that, not to rub it in civicblade.

 

The all white will be a 2006, and if it's been treated properly, is very fairly priced. If you like the white, snag it for sure. The recall of which you speak concerns '02-'05 models only and is related to the R/R. It is a free fix at a dealership if it hasn't already been completed. It's really no big deal, should you find a machine you like within those model years.

 

The only thing VFR specific would be an inspection of the regulator plugs and charging system. The plugs are hard to inspect without removing the fairing but you should put a voltmeter on the battery and check that its 13.5-15.4 volts at 5000rpm. Ask if the recalls have been done, if not Honda MAY still do them. Apart from that just the usual checks. Chain, Fork seals, Tires, brakes etc.

 

Dom has good points. I would say that if you do end up with the '06, being that it only has 1500 miles, some of that won't be neccassary. A couple of things that will be for a bike that hasn't been ridin much are an oil change and new tires. I suspect that neither will have been done for some time. No matter how much tread is left, you don't want four year old rubber in your wallet or on your bike. Make sure not to replace the tires with OEM, they're shit.

 

Well I went up at looked at the 2004 vfr with 12000mi. It has some scraps on the side and a poorly done gutted pipe job. The worst part about it that really turns me off is not the defects. It was that the guy had no knowledge of the VFR he didnt even realize the pipes where gutted. Plus he couldn't tell me the complete story of the bike, he said that there was two other owners so adding him that would make three owners which i wasnt a big fan of. The lest people to molest it the better. He had told me that he only put 50mi on it, I kinda have a sneaking suspicion that he is the one that made the scraps on the side.

 

So I am going to go look at the 2002 VFR tomorrow and see how that goes, and if it doesn't go well ill just hold my horses and wait. Did anyone see the flat black 2004 in the classifieds on this site, I wasn't sure they made a flat black VFR. I tried to contact him to see if it was still available, but I got no response. If anyone has any idea how else I can contact him I am all ears, I would love to look at it.