Teach me about buying a used bike

[ecr959]

Hello everybody

I want to learn from the veterans in this forum, the Do's and Don'ts of buying a used bike. From an individual.
For example: I show up at the guys house, I like the bike, test ride it maybe, so I pay money.
How do I ride it home without plates ?
Will he allow me to use his plates until I get my own plates ? IF not, then how can I take it home ?
I see alot of ads (Craiglist, for example) where the owner says "bring cash and take it with you"
Are they assuming that I will bring a truck and load the bike on it ?

Here's a good question: Can I bring the plates from my GZ and put it on this bike ? Just to ride it home ?
How have you guys handled sales of used bikes ?

I need to learn these things, because I want to shop around for a bigger bike, maybe in 6 months.

[mrlmd1]

Check with your state DMV. In many states, like here in Fl., if you have a signed bill of sale you can ride the bike home, and to the tax office if you have to, until you get a plate. Call up the insurance company immediately and get the bike covered.

[Peachy140]

Theres a few things ive learned from buying and selling bikes. Ive never owned a brand new bike because the insurance companies here wont offer fully comprehensive cover for motorcycles, infact they wont even cover you for fire... third party only.

1. Never view/test ride a bike in the wet. For one thing rain does a pretty good job of cleaning bikes for people who dont care enough about them to spend the time doing it themselves. It also does a niffty job of hiding scratches and other tell tale signs of wear or minor damage. For another thing if you come off for any reason on a wet road you may be unfamiliar with you will be liable for the damage.

2. In countries where insurance is mandatory, make sure you are covered. If you get stopped by the boys on blue whilst on a test drive and you are not covered you could lose your license.

3. Check for things like cracked or worn tyres, cracked or damaged fairing, cracked or worn seals or grease on the forks. If in doubt take it to a garage and have a mechanic give it a quick look over. Most experienced mechanics Ive met can tell you in about 2 minutes whether or not to give it a wide berth and Ive never been charged for it yet. If the guy selling the bike has a problem with this, walk away.

4. Check for signs of respraying or rust bubbles under the paint. If you see bubbles the bike has gone rusty and has been painted over without first treating the rust.

5. If the wheels are spoked, check the condition of the spokes. Very often on used bikes they can fade and just look worn. This isnt a problem as long as they arent loose. Check that all spokes are present and tight.

6. This one should have gone first but its only just come to mind now. Do your homework first, save time and money by reading reviews online. Forums like this one are an excellent resource for finding out what to expect when youre expecting in the second hand bike world. I also use http://www.reviewcentre.com/

7. When possible pay with a check. Cash is a great way of bringing the price down on a used car or bike. But I have paid cash for a used car before and had it die on me on the way home. If you are buying from a garage or used showroom you have some limited protection in this sense. If you are buying second hand privately, good luck proving that the bike was broken before you bought it. Paying with a check means that if something does go wrong with it within the first few days, you have a record of when you bought it, how much it cost you and if the worst comes to the worst you can put a stop on the check whilst you and the seller can come to an amicable agreement.

8. Always make sure you get the sellers details such as name, address, contact telephone number and always get some form of receipt.

9. Do a background check on the bike before you buy it. Make sure that the bike belongs to the person you are buying it from, that it isnt attached to a loan and that there are no other legal or financial issues with it. A friend of mine who is a debt collector stopped me from making a costly mistake once. I was talking to him about a bike I was going to buy and he said he knew the bike. The previous owner had a loan attached to the bike and didnt pay his bill. He then took the bike to a trader who would agreed to sell the bike for him and take a commission. My friend told me that as soon as he saw it on the road he was legally within his rights to repossess it.

10. Avoid bikes which have been modded up with power bands and racing exhausts etc... alot of these racing mods require more maintenance than the stock parts and often they get none. Your always better off buying a stock bike and fitting your own mods so that you know exactly whats been done to it.

These top 10 tips of mine are by no means the be all and end all. But these are things that Ive picked up over the years and I hope they will serve you well.

[alantf]

Originally Posted by Peachy140

the insurance companies here wont offer fully comprehensive cover for motorcycles, infact they wont even cover you for fire... third party only.

Pretty much the same in Spain. No fully comp. They do cover fire, but not theft. As an experienced rider, I pay €124 ayear. How much is it in Gibraltar?

[Peachy140]

It varies from place to place. Im with Ibex and with a good discount for being a loyal customer who has brought them a lot of business on top of my 5 years no claims, including green card to cross into Spain costs is costing me £95 at the moment.

[alantf]

That's about €108 at today's exchange rate - so it's roughly the same. (with AXA)

[ecr959]

These top 10 tips of mine are by no means the be all and end all. But these are things that Ive picked up over the years and I hope they will serve you well.

Peachy, I know your answer to my post was a long time ago, but I thought your "top ten" list was great, it gave me alot to think about. I never got around to saying how much I appreciated your post , until now. Those tips were great. Thanks alot.

I am enjoying my gz every day, and now I'm riding to work, and I might start a new job next week and its 18 miles away. I'm gonna be riding alot pretty soon. I'm thinking of getting a good used bigger bike, I was thinking about that back in October when I first post my questions, and I'm thinking more about it now.
I like the smaller cruiser, I just want to have a slightly bigger cruiser than this GZ I got.
MAybe when I'm ready , I can sell my GZ right here in this forum.

[Water Warrior 2]

Eddie, make a short list of potential up grades and start lurking on their forums. You will get a good idea about the bike(s) and that will help when the actual hunt begins. A good indication of a decent bike is the amount of time riders ride and install stuff as opposed to just fixin that POS. Even a good bike can go bad now and again so just get a general feeling from the forum members.

[Dupo]

There is a sticky in "General" for this.

Here is the link for the website.

http://www.clarity.net/~adam/buying-bike.html

[dentheman]

A little late, but here is what I have to say: Concerning insurance...I recently bought a used bike. Once I had the VIN #, I got on line to progressive insurance (I had previously compared companies for rates). By entering the VIN #, the make/model/year/cc's, etc all came up on their site without me needing to enter it, and it took me about 5 minutes to fill in the other blanks. I was immediately given a policy number, and was also emailed the number. Once I had the number written down and on my person in case I needed it, I was insured. The paper policy and insurance cards arrived in the mail a few days later.

By the way; I paid cash (a credit union check) to get a good deal from a well known, reputable dealer. When I had problems with the bike, I took it back and it was fixed at no charge even though there was no warranty (they offered me a loaner while my bike was in the shop, but I declined as I didn't feel confident enough to use someone else's bike). The manager said "We want you to be happy with your purchase". They also called a few days later to see if I was satisfied. This is a family oriented dealer who also sells four wheelers, kid sized dirt bikes, and boats. There are always families with kids whenever I drop in. The bike was delivered the next day after purchase on a trailer, it had new oil and filter, new air filter, everything checked, and the temporary tag. All paperwork, registration, sales tax, etc was handled by the dealer and was included in my 'out the door' offer (no hidden charges). I recieved my tag and title in the mail a couple weeks after purchase. The place gave me a 'warm' feeling when I first walked in, something I didn't get from the other dealers I visited. I think all of this is something to consider when buying a used (or new) bike. This experience has made me more inclined to buy from this dealer in the future, rather than an individual. To make a long story short: In My Opinion, when looking for a bike, you should consider dealers as well as individuals. A dealer takes care of most of the concerns you mentioned, and is more likely to stand behind the product.