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Price for Used Vulcan 500?

5K views 12 replies 7 participants last post by  anybike 
#1 ·
Hey guys, glad to be a new poster here. Lots of great information here that I've been looking through in anticipation of my first bike.

Just looking for some pointers on where to begin negotiations for a used Vulcan 500. I'm taking a look at it very soon, but from the pictures appears to be in excellent condition. May need new tires, never been dropped. It's a 2002 with under 5k miles.

It is on it's third owner who now rides it daily, but the previous owner apparently never rode it. No saddlebags or accessories that I know of and the owner is asking 3800 which I feel is pretty high. KBB gives the dealer asking price of about 2k, but I can't find anything for the private party price, which I know would be a little higher.

Can you guys recommend a good starting point? I was thinking about 2500.
Price is not necessarily an issue in this price range, if I don't find a used Vulcan 500 I am planning on buying a new one, but I figured if I can find a deal on a used one in great condition I'll spend the savings on gear.

Thanks for any pointers!
 
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#2 ·
3800 does sound a little high. Maybe! Then again, not knowing the availability of good starter bikes in your area may make a difference. The 500 is a great bike for starting out and should keep you happy for quite a while. Keep in mind a couple of things, there is a premium on the 250 to 500 range used bikes as they are great for new riders. And there's lots of new riders, based on the action on this forum. On the other hand, depending on where you live, with winter coming on lots of places can't/won't ride during this season, and many sell off bikes with plans to go bigger the next riding season. Take a close look at those tires, the chain/belt and brake indicator. 5K isn't a lot of miles so that's a plus.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the reply dustbuster.

Well I just looked at it today and I really liked it. Only 4800ish miles, no cosmetic blemishes apart from an occasional scratch in the finish of the chrome (not a big deal to me).

He said he wouldn't go any lower than 3400. This is only the second vulcan I've found anywhere in my state. I live in Arizona so I'm thinking that this is a pretty rare find.

The only think I wasn't too sure about is its performance. He started it up for me and it sounded like it was idling a bit weird. Like heavy rumbling then slightly slower rpms then back to normal. He said the only problems hes had with it is just starting it in the cold (once he left it in the rain) or trying to start it up after stalling it.

Anyone have any experience with working on these bikes? How do they fair on the difficulty scale for bikes? I've rebuilt entire car engines before so mechanical stuff isnt too intimidating to me, but I don't want to find out I got the one bike model that is ridiculously hard to work on the simplest of things.

And anyone have any input on the price? I'm leaning towards paying the 3400 but I just don't want to find out that everyone else thinks it's a total ripoff. Also, the tires seemed pretty solid, they had plenty of tread left is all I could tell from them. Brake pads looked like they could be changed soon and the chain wasn't clean, looked like it had some dirt caked on the sides.

Thanks for any input.
 
#4 ·
It's not that Vulcan 500's are exactly rare, just that people tend to keep them because they are great bikes. Small and light for city driving, and the 6 speed, 500 cc is decent on the freeways. Long touring trips maybe not so good. About the idling issue, it's hard to say, could be just running some seafoam for a few tanks will clear it up, or maybe the carbs are outta sync and need adjusted. The chain, well, mines sorta dirty too. Where in AZ are you, I've read posts from people in Tuson and Phoenix.
 
#5 ·
Yeah I've been reading some stuff about the seafoam. This guy has only had it for a month and put 1k miles on it, before that he said it was pretty much garaged. So maybe just some extra cleaning might help it out.

I'm about 30 miles south of Tucson, in a city called Sahuarita.
 
#6 ·
I'm looking for a Vulcan 500 and have only found 2 new ones and 1 local with 22,000 miles. I had to pass on that one. I'm thinking about new or hoping that with the new bikes coming out soon someone out there is going to want to trade up and sell theirs:D
 
#8 ·
I bought my '98 with 6500 mi last year for $2700 in Vancouver WA. At the time I hadn't priced one bike (stupid me), but since I've been watching and they run about 2700 to 3300 around here. so if they are rare in your area (they are here) I would definately go for it! BTW I couldn't be more happy with it. its my first bike and after 1500 riding miles I still feel its got plenty of power on the highway and handles great. I'm actually taking this fall to turn it into a bobber, which I will post on the forum as soon as they let me have pics. Right now I'm in the teardown phase.:D
 
#9 ·
I bought a 98' 800cc Vulcan that was in pretty good shape a couple of months ago for 2000 (It had around 28,000 miles). It's needed some small type servicing done but nothing crazy. 3800 seems way to much for a 500cc bike personally, hope you were able to talk to them down to at least 2500 :)
 
#10 ·
2002 3 owners under 5k miles......and needs brake pads????????

It could be 3 beginners rode around using the brakes constantly and quickly decided they needed something bigger......do you want to pay 3k for something you will quickly decide you need bigger?

My Kawasaki dealer has a 2004 Vulcan 750 15kmiles new tires windshield luggage rack......$2800

A dealers price is highest, they provide a service that must be paid for and they must make a profit, the private sellers price should be between what a dealer will pay and what he will sell it for.

If you are not a motorcycle collector then a rare find is worth $0.

A reputable dealer will not sell you ****, a private seller will sell you anything to get rid of it.
 
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