Older (sort of) 250 mx'ers

You can get ball park figures for used bikes at kelley blue book, www.kbb.com

Most MX bikes are high performance, and this usually equals relatively high maintenance if you want to keep the bike running its best.

Eric Gorr's book has lots of excellent info on used bikes. He has a guide on what to look for and how much to estimate for likely repairs. I got my copy at Barnes & Noble, but you can order it online. It is money very well spent BEFORE you buy a bike and will also give you maintenance & set-up tips.

Bikes a few years old canl run well if properly maintained. They may just be a little more ragged. Your best bet is to find one thats hardly ridden, and doesn't have alot of hop ups. It's been my experience that the more hop ups are on a bike the harder it was ridden. And the harder it was ridden the more problems you'll have. Having said that, my last used bike I bought all hopped up (susp, big bore kit, the works) and I really like it, I was expecting some wear, and am now rebuiding the engine. Just my $.02 good luck.