Advice on selling the XJ

Ive come to a point where I want to move on to something different. This 82 XJ550 Maxim was my first bike. I bought it from a friend pretty cheap. It ran good but that was about it. Needed a lot of others to ride.
Here is what I have done to it:
>New SS braided brake lines
>Front caliper and master cylinder were rebuilt this year
>Front forks rebuilt
>New chain and sprokets last year
>New clutch and springs last year
>New seat cover
>Fresh paint on tank
>LED turn signals, brake light, and license plate lights
>New rear tire, front still has a lot of life
>4 New intake boots
>Seca style handlebars (I didnt like the original and I also bent them on accident)

I will be honest the bike has a lot of miles. Exactly what is unknown. The previous owner took the gauges off and rode it a lot. Odometer is reading about 24k miles but he is thinking its almost 3 times that. Also the paint on the engine isnt perfect and the chrome on the headders and mufflers has a little surface rust.

She runs great and I havent had any major issues come up as I have ridden it.

My question is, does $1200 obo sound like a fair asking price? Gonna post on facebook and craiglist as soon as I get it inspected (forgot about it and its overdue...)

here are a couple pics:

 

So, you never did check the valves, and the valve cover is leaking at the right front.

How old is the front tire? Year-wise?

Depending on where you live, Autumn is generally the worst time of year to try to sell a bike. If you hold it until spring you'll get more for it (unless you live where riding season is year round.)

Clean it up. Pop for a set of tank badges, and you might get $800 for it. It still needs work; right now that is a little too obvious.

 

Front tire might be pushing 2 years. I havent noticed a valve cover leak. The paint on the engine is spotted and these pics were taken at night with a flash so that might make it look that way. I never checked the valves or carbs because it starts and runs great. Had a suzuki that I did all that and it never ran right so I am leary to try especially with the yics system that I dont understand. Pretty sure the previous owner did it maybe 2-3k miles ago.

Yes this is the wrong time of year to sell anything but a 4x4 here but I dont need the money. I just want to move on to something different.

 

I was referring to the grubby chrome.

There are date codes on all tires, have a look. A possible buyer may know about them.

You asked for advice, I gave mine. I'm seeing $800, tops.

 

Ok thanks. I guess its not quite as valuable as I thought. I can lower the price some.

Update: Im starting to hate this thing. Just took it out to get a little gas and inspected. Barely made it to the gas station. Sputtering and idle keeps climbing up. was almost 3k at one point. Seems like a vacuum leak to me. Ill have to check over everything after work today. If I cant figure it out I might part it out. Im just done with motorcyles for now.

Sorry bigfitz52 if I came off rude. I appreciate your opinion and I will respect it.

 

Don't part it out because you can't figure it out.

Sell it in one piece; but lower your price target a tad is all.

 

For marketability, it may be wise to remove that surface rust, especially on the exhaust, just use 00 steel wool to clean up the chrome.

<-- reference my avatar: That's the '81 xj550 Maxim I had in the late 80's and really liked it. Same color as yours.

BTW - From your photo, seems the grab handle is missing. In case you are interested, I happen to have some xj550 parts including a grab handle for sale: http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/mpo/4137043996.html

 

Don't mean to sound stupid, but whats a "grab handle?"

 

I should say, passenger grab handle. It's the 3-piece bar that wraps around the seat. In my CL ad photo, you should see the chrome side parts (zip tied together back to back) as well as the rubber covered middle par. The sides bolt to the middle part.

 

I agree with bigfitz. Shine it up and wait for spring if at all possible. Although if you are buying another bike then you will be selling high and buying high so If you can't wait then sell it now.

Most importantly do not sell it on here. Ebay, Craigslist, Local forums not dedicated to the bike will get you the most hits. If you have a Subaru, selling it on the Subaru forum will yield you the least ammount.

 

In my opinion , $800 is still steep. I paid $500 for my1981 xj550, Im the second owner, And the bike now has 14k miles on it. You can check my gallery and see what I purchased.

 

Thanks for the input everyone. I would like to sell before winter so that I have room for a project with 4 wheels but I can make room for 1 winter. Thanks!

 

Depends where you are...........$800 is a reasonable price around here. If the bike is in real good condition. I did not see "shim clearances adjusted" on the list, so I would personally use that as a bargaining chip if I were looking at the bike.

If that were one that I were to sell, I would make sure the carbs are cleaned and synced, and the valves adjusted, as well as decent sneakers to at least get the first season of riding in before having to put new ones on.

With that done, I'd price it around $950 and not go below $800 in negotiation. Again, that also depends on location, and also the time of year. You can get a little higher price at the beginning of the season, but may have to settle low at the end if you really need to sell.

Usually, if I put one up and it doesn't sell by the end of the season, I just keep it and put it back up in the spring. I still own it.......it's not hurting anything to keep it in the meantime......

It IS a nice looking bike you have there.....

dave

 

We covered that way back. It was one of the reasons I said $800 max to begin with.

 

oops.....missed that.

Dave

 

I think if you could get badges for the tank, and gave everything a good cleaning you could get 1000 in the spring. Where are you located. Here in MN the first month of riding weather bikes are expensive and sell fast it seems