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I always try to buy from an old fart like me who took good care of the bike and didn't ride it much. The ad itself tells me a lot about the seller, if it's written by a 3rd grade dropout I stay away.
There are three things I look for more than anything. The airbox. I want the owner to take the seat off so I can see in the airbox. Takes care of checking for overtightened/stripped seat bolts, and I can look at the air filter, and most importantly see the airbox. I am meticulous when it comes to my airbox. No dirt, no dust, no buildup, PERIOD. I realize most aren't like this but I want to know they at least kept it basically clean. Don't you love it when there is that 1/8th thick grime at the bottom thats made up of mud/filter oil?
Then check the linkage and swingarm bearings. Hardly anyone I know actually takes the swingarm bolt out and greases swingarm bearings, and the linkage needle bearings. Pretty easy to spot sloppy bearings, and a quick squeek lets you know its popcorn fart dry and rusted inside those races.
Finally the steering head bearings. Quick back and forth on the handlebars is usually all it takes, along with a glance under the bottom triple clamp and you'll see the lack of maintenance. Usually all the bearing grease is gunked up and dusted over down there from years of neglect.
What else from my years of buying used bikes.
-Aluminum skid plate that had an entire tubes worth of RTV silicone around the frame where it met the plate. Literally used 4 razor blades cutting that off.
-Swingarm needle bearings that literally had disintegrated into pieces inside the race. All rust, no grease. Seals and bushings roached. Had to use an entire propane bottle and hydraulic press to get the old races out and press new ones.
-Bought a 250 two stroke from a guy, fired it up, it ran fine. Smoked a little bit much but he said he ran golden spectro at 30:1 on pump gas and that made me nervous but I figured a quick carb cleaning and better oil/gas would fix it. Also had the top/bottom end rebuilt by LA sleeve, with receipts to prove it. Once in my hands and after riding it once and draining the gear oil to check it, and getting all of about 100 cc's, I knew something was up. They cheaped out on gaskets, re-used the old centercase gasket, and did not replace crank seal bearings. The bottom end was burning up gear oil, and it was also leaking gear oil once it got up to running temperature. Something you wouldn't see by firing it up in the driveway and running it for a minute while its cold.
-Wheel bearings. Why no body ever replaces wheel bearings is beyond me. However whats even worse is when you pull the axle bolt out and its completely smeared in grease. FML!!!! Then after you clean it off and see the nice two grooves in it from spinning on the hub, you get to deal with frozen wheel bearings. Hell has a special place for these people, same room with those who waste good whiskey.
-Ever bought a used bike that used wood lag screws, sheet metal screws, or tek screws to hold plastics? I HAVE!!! (only on bikes I was going to completely restore anyways)
-My personal favorite. A GYT sticker on the radiator plastics of a CR250 I bought as a restoration.
He got all busted up r, had 2 surgeries on his leg. Never broke a bone in his life. I asked if he's done racing a few weeks ago and he said no "I'll just stick to what I know 2 stroke 250."
94/95 he went down to Lorettas and got 14th both years in +30. So I want to give him back that bike restored. Just don't know if its going to cost me a zillion dollars.
Wtf is tge relavence of this? I've been looking for a early nineties bike to restore and just about every ad says this.
"Never been raced" as said earlier, this also means, "Never been maintained"
Mismatched plastics
No graphics at all on it
Bald tires
Bent handle bars
Missing non-essential pieces.
Pit Row
Assuming the ad isn't too bad, you go to check out the bike
The guy selling it acts like an asshole, like I'm dumb for asking questions that you don't know the answer to. Playing tough guy does no good when you're trying to sell a dirt bike.
On to the bike itself. "Hmm, that's odd this looks nothing like the picture in the ad." "Yeah that was a pic from when I first brought it home, it was the only one I had." Now it's got some shitty plastics, some shitty stickers and a nice ding in the pipe.
Last but not least - won't consider any offers!! If you want a certain dollar amount out of your used piece of shit, price it $500 above your target amount. Who goes to check out a used anything expecting to pay the asking price? No one.
Wellp, enjoy trying to sell your bike for a year.
Just found this one on CL: "this bike has soo much custom parts its wicked fast just tired of running from the police "
Bike is 3-5 yrs older than the advertised year
Hardware store bolts everywhere
Wrong bodywork for the year of the bike
"Never been raced"
"Professionally maintained" (and the swingarm bearings are roached, along with the wheel bearings, and the chain looks like a piece of spaghetti draped over a chinese star, oh and the brakes down to the backing plate, and the rotors are paper thin in the middle)
"Bike is sick fast"
"Has a powerband in every gear"
"Just put new powerbands in it"
The list goes on...
Last used bike I bought is a 97 RMX250. Seller told me it needed swingarm bearings...even had them new in the package...I declined the bearings because I had a set in my garage. I paid 25% less than his asking price, and raced that bike the next morning at a harescramble. No issues.
Last bike I sold was a 1991 RM 250. The buyer asked me if the bike had been raced...I told him it had 200 practice hours on it, and 70 racing hours over 35 races in the previous year. I had freshened it up prior to selling it, and still had a stack of old receipts,pistons, tires, brake pads, etc (I'm lazy about getting rid of my old parts)....got my asking price because I could prove the maintenance.
Other then that, I can fix anything if the price is right.
Or "needs a new top end, but that's only 65 bucks per the local dealer". Ah, yeah.. for the piston only! duh...
I also hate when people have Pro Taper bars and then have Renthal stickers plastered on their bike. I just don't like mismatching stuff and thats probably one of the first things I notice.
I don't mind a dirty bike so much, as long as the motor is decent and the wheels arent ready to fall off. I go through my bike and replace just about everything when I buy used and that would be the only way I felt safe on the thing. Its best to just make sure the major stuff is in good working order and go through the bike yourself after you purchase it.
Like others have mentioned, I HATE when people over tighten every damn bolt on the bike. There is a torque spec for every bolt. Yes, you don't torque your seat bolts but why do people use a breaker bar to tighten their rear axel???
And you know a squid owned the bike when the levers are pointed at the ground and they have the throttle housing pointing straight up!
When I look at an ad, I imagine taking about 10% off during negotiations. If I feel the listed price -10% is too much then I don't go look at it. If the bike isn't as described when I get there, I determine if I want to negotiate a lower price or just skip it.
Post a reply to: Buying used - what are your pet peeves?