I just had another one of those conversations with my brother, in which he expresses an interest in a used bike that he saw that he could get for very little. I told him it wasn't worth it and that I'd find him something online that I thought was more suitable and a smarter choice.

But I'm having trouble find a good selection of used bikes in the DC area. Ebay motors doesn't seem to have very many, The Washington Post has nothing (back in the print days, that was the place where everyone listed), and other sites like cycletrader.com don't have much other than used stuff at dealerships. There must be lots of used bikes out there, so where are they? Am I missing something?

I would be all over craigslist, if I were him. Plus just asking around. There are craigslist "helper" search engines that will let you look at a wider range of area than just DC; some good deals can be found in PA, WV and rural VA. The farther you get from DC, the better the prices can get.

Ebay does have stuff all over, but you've got to pay shipping (~$400 will get any bike shipped across country last time I looked). If you look at DC only, it can be pretty limiting.

The nice thing is that ebay has a buyer protection plan (check the details as they change from time to time) which protects you against getting stuck with a car or bike that's been subtantially misrepresented in it's ebay description.

If it were up to me, I'd counsel him to look for no older than about '99 (for reliability purposes). Lance was looking at GS500s for a while; they can be had almost new for a $2-3k, and if you go older in the low $1k range. A Suzuki SV or DL 650 could also be good choices for a bit more $.

Like you, I'd also counsel him to be willing to spend more rather than less--the diff between a $1000 barely rideable hulk and a $4000 newer bike in excellent, rideable, turnkey shape saves a lot of heartache, frustration and lost riding time (and maybe even a life) in the end.

Plus newer bikes, with better (sometimes even ABS) brakes are safer, especially for a beginning/returning rider, or those of us that don't have the reflex response time of an 18 year old any more

Just my $.02

Oh, yeah, craigslist. Forgot about that one.

It's definitely better to start with something from slightly above the bottom of the barrel, but I don't think the shopper in question could afford that AND get gear, too. Maybe that's a blessing in disguise.

Ian

Not sure if this is an option:

2000 Blackbird 38,000 miles always 3500 mile mobil one changes, 2,500 miles on BT 023 tires
Same on chain and sprockets.

Never abused, available to see in Vienna Va in about two weeks.

4,000 OBO.

I have 4 bikes just reducing stock :}

I'm in Maine for the week...just passed a mid 2000's FJR by the side of the road with a for sale sign. I will be going by there again most likely...want me to stop?

Thanks Chaser. Sounds like a great bike, especially for long distance riding. Not exactly the kind of bike for my brother, though, as he'd have to get something really cheap and preferably (my opinion) not too powerful.

jpcfjr, no need to stop to check out a bike in Maine. Although my brother loves Maine and has friends there, he's not going to Maine to get a bike.

Edit: He's in southern Maryland.

Oh a newer rider...ya may be not a starter bike!

Whew, good thing I didn't get a blackbird, the feej is my first bike (no one here let's me mention the can am spyder I used to own!).

Your Yami is a lot of motorcycle for a starter also......spider is a lot of golf cart! :}

Ouch...yup, you fit right in here! I'm down to two wheels, working my way to one wheel.

Use searchtempest.com basically a craigslist multisearch. You wont have to search through each city, it'll just do so by range of your zipcode.

A clist ninja once told me to set up an rss feed and you can get updates if anything gets posted.

Thanks, Yun, that is very cool!