...good used XT225s are in high demand, and when and if you do find one, it is likely to be expensive. The word is out about just how good the XT225 is, especially compared to newer dual sports. There are a lot of people on the advrider.com XT225 thread looking for decent condition bikes, and not finding them.....
Years ago, in '08 when I first took the plunge into XT225s, every week there were a number of local XTs listed for sale on Phoenix Craigslist. You could take your pick and go home with an XT for an extremely reasonable price.
The first three XT225s I owned I rode each bike for a time then came across an XT I wanted instead and sold the one I had to make that happen. There never seemed to be a shortage of XTs to choose from, and moving from one bike to another always worked out well.
In about 2013 I decided I wanted one of the newer XT250s. I found one available, so I sold the XT225 I had and bought the 2012 XT250. Rode it for a time but found it different in too many ways from the XT225s I had enjoyed - heavier, 5 speeds instead of 6, wasn't as managable off road - so I sold it to a fellow from Yuma recouping my investment.
Soon after that I moved 2 1/2 hours away from the Valley to Arizona's White Mountains. Went from 1100 ft. elevation in Tempe to 6500 to 7000 ft in Heber/Overgaard, escaping the oppressive heat and congestion the Valley is famous for.
Wasn't here too long before I started looking for another '06 XT225. After some weeks I came across one in Pennsylvania. Worked out a deal with the owner and the transport company, and had that bike trucked to my front door. It was as nice as the owner said it would be, and I rode it for a couple of years.
After a brutally cold snowy winter I sold that XT and drove to Flagstaff where I picked up a '93 XT225 at a bargain basement price. Had a couple of things I needed to fix on it, but nothing too difficult. With the '93 in hand, not too much later I drove to New Mexico where I picked up yet another '06 XT225. Got it at a much better price than what I paid for the '06 XT I got from Pennsylvania, so that trip paid off.
Traded the '93 to a local guy, a carpenter, for completing a construction project I needed done. Came out well on that deal, and the '06 I got from New Mexico meant I hadn't missed a beat as far as riding was concerned.
A year of so later, after a real scare riding solo single track not far from my place, where I came close to loosing the XT to a steep side hill with me going over with it, I stepped away from riding and sold that bike thinking I didn't want to be tempted again.
Retirement from riding didn't last long. I started looking for a bike locally that I could replace the '06 I sold with. Took a long while to turn up anything, and XT225's simply weren't available anywhere reasonably close. But I came across a one owner '08 Honda CRF230L, just 30 miles away, and brought that bike home with me for $2000.
Sweet little bike, the CRF230L. Different again from the XT225, but similar in many ways - engine size, low seat height, light weight, 6 speed. Road it until a couple of years ago, then sold it to a guy from Phoenix for a considerable profit over what I had in it. Once again I thought of myself as 'out of the riding game', figuring the Honda would be my last bike.
That second retirement didn't stick any more than the first did. But finding a replacement bike took a long time. Finally I came across an excellent '02 XT225 in Prescott Valley, the first XT I've seen for sale anywhere near me in years. Made the 2 1/2 hour drive, bought the bike and returned home with it a few weeks ago. It has proven to be one of the best XTs I've had, and at 81 I'm determined to keep this bike as long as I'm comfortable with the local riding I do.
All that to say, Jerry's right!.. XT225s today are in high demand and not readily available like they were years ago. So if you want one, or you know someone looking for one, when you do find one if you're serious you won't haggle too much or the next guy who comes to see it will take it home with him..