Older with low miles vs newer with higher miles

[iprofiter]

Hi I am getting a new bike for the first time and was checking out my local craigslist to see what was out there. I am interested in a Kawasaki Ninja 300 because they are within my price range and not to powerful.

That being said, there are two which I am interested in and cost roughly the same. One being a 2015 with 600 miles on it and another being a 2017 with 4,000 miles on it.

Would it be smarter to get the slightly older one with few miles or the newer one which has been used more?

[Evil Hans]

[Evil Hans]

[Riejufixing]

[Freddyfruitba...]

[Polarbear]

[Riejufixing]

[chickenstrip]

Otoh, maybe neither of them work. OP needs to find out detail about both. Mileage and age are just two of a whole list of things to look at before buying.
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Chickenystripgeezer's Biking Life (Latest update 19/10/18) Belgium, France, Italy, Austria tour 2016 Picos de Europa, Pyrenees and French Alps tour 2017 Scotland Trip 1, now with BONUS FEATURE edit, 5/10/19, on page 2 Scotland Trip 2 Luxembourg, Black Forest, Switzerland, Vosges Trip 2017
THERE'S MILLIONS OF CHICKENSTRIPS OUT THERE!

[rpsmith79]

[thx1138]

[el_oso]

ninjas have always been green, except the black ones. Good black ones are invisible.
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Duke 390
Previous: '05 XR125L | '96 XJ600S Diversion |'05 Suzuki GSXR1000 | '05 Honda CBR125-R | '97 YZF 600R Thundercat | '11 Honda CBR250
Car: Jeep Wrangler 4.0L

[DrSnoosnoo]

[arry]

[chickenstrip]

[Kawasaki Jimbo]

I've noticed at work and at home that a machine used regularly is more dependable than one used rarely. Not excluding the 2015, 600-miler but 4000 miles is nothing.

Other considerations might be;

colour (green ones are faster ),
miles to next service, and cost of that,
can you use the existence of one advertised bike to drive down the price of the other, based upon the pros and cons of each?

[Pjay]

[stevo as b4]

Condition!

And yeah a regular used and we'll maintained bike that's seen some use will always be more reliable than an unproven garage Queen! And putting the garage Queen into service will take longer to expose any faults or issues it might have.

On a well used bike you might notice for example a leaky coolant hose, split header tank or holed radiator etc. The shiny bike in the garage that looks stunning but hasn't been used for ages, well the cooling system hasn't been put under pressure so that dodgy hose might not split until your 10th ride down the motorway etc.

Anything thats been sat around for years needs time to sort out niggles and prove itself capable of regular reliable service.

[mentalboy]

[DrSnoosnoo]

[chickenstrip]

[DrSnoosnoo]

[chickenstrip]

I can't really talk. My H2 was metallic purple with a big pink stripe down the tank, and to this day, I'll swear blind it's the only colour to have one in

Otoh (here we go again!), my brother had a Mk1 Escort painted metallic purple, with black imitation fur seats. I can't help but think someone was right when they tipped it over into a ditch
____________________
Chickenystripgeezer's Biking Life (Latest update 19/10/18) Belgium, France, Italy, Austria tour 2016 Picos de Europa, Pyrenees and French Alps tour 2017 Scotland Trip 1, now with BONUS FEATURE edit, 5/10/19, on page 2 Scotland Trip 2 Luxembourg, Black Forest, Switzerland, Vosges Trip 2017
THERE'S MILLIONS OF CHICKENSTRIPS OUT THERE!