Sold the GS and bought a....

[reminor]

..Decided on the FZR.
Took the FZR to the Yamaha dealership to be checked out.
...

Forgive the noob question but how do you take a bike to a mechanic?  You did not buy it yet right? So how does the seller trust a nobody to ride his (still his!) bike somewhere? What if you wreck it or kill somebody? I am just curious how it is usually works. I never had any such experience..

Do you leave a full-price deposit with the seller? Do you take him with you? Do you ask him to ride his bike to the dealership? Do you put a contingency in the Bill Of Sale that if the bike is not mechanically sound the deal is off?

TIA

[nightrider]

..Decided on the FZR.
Took the FZR to the Yamaha dealership to be checked out.
...

Forgive the noob question but how do you take a bike to a mechanic?  You did not buy it yet right? So how does the seller trust a nobody to ride his (still his!) bike somewhere? What if you wreck it or kill somebody? I am just curious how it is usually works. I never had any such experience..

Do you leave a full-price deposit with the seller? Do you take him with you? Do you ask him to ride his bike to the dealership? Do you put a contingency in the Bill Of Sale that if the bike is not mechanically sound the deal is off?

TIA

trailer it, ride it insured or not (bad idea), have him ride it. pay him gas or for his trouble if absolutely necessary. total cost should not come out to more than $200 which u may well gain in bargaining power at the mechanic.

[reminor]

trailer it, ride it insured or not (bad idea), have him ride it. pay him gas or for his trouble if absolutely necessary. total cost should not come out to more than $200 which u may well gain in bargaining power at the mechanic.

I see. Thanks. But doesn't it defeat the purpose having the seller with you if the mechanic says "If you don't buy it I will", i.e. giving the SELLER more bargaining power because the bike is in great shape? At your own expense, too! It's not a secret that all of us buyers hope to slash at least 10-20% off the asking price.

Too bad I don't have a trailer. And in MA you cannot insure it till it's yours, so riding yourself is not an option.

Any more ideas folks? Greatly appreciated!

[darb85]

meet the seller at the dealer... or dont, bikes are worth what they are worth do your homework and you wont get ripped off, taking it to the mechanic only will tell you if there are issues with it, and should be used more to cancel the deal than to try to get a deal...

Just my 2 cents

[nightrider]

trailer it, ride it insured or not (bad idea), have him ride it. pay him gas or for his trouble if absolutely necessary. total cost should not come out to more than $200 which u may well gain in bargaining power at the mechanic.

I see. Thanks. But doesn't it defeat the purpose having the seller with you if the mechanic says "If you don't buy it I will", i.e. giving the SELLER more bargaining power because the bike is in great shape? At your own expense, too! It's not a secret that all of us buyers hope to slash at least 10-20% off the asking price.

Too bad I don't have a trailer. And in MA you cannot insure it till it's yours, so riding yourself is not an option.

Any more ideas folks? Greatly appreciated!

you are overthinking this waaay too much.

[reminor]

Thanks for replies. Overthinking? Well, I don't know.. I just want to know how it is done.

As for pricing for any used vehicles it's really almost ALWAYS a moving target. Blue Book, Black Book, TMV, etc? C'mon. Those only vague guidelines. Dealers usually have it right but on the high side. Craigslist sellers sometimes have no idea whatsoever about pricing, also thinking mods are adding a lot to the price, or asking more just because of all the effort they've put into their machine and all the bonding they have developed with the bike or car. Which is fine and understandable, but personal affection has little effect on the market value. And that seller stubborness it's often times the most hard-to-overcome factor. So you need FACTS to finght the price down. For the seller you are just one of them come-n-go fellas, so he'd rather wait for another guy than just cave in for your low-ball offer.

So we all assume in this selling-buing game that the seller is ALWAYS asking more, and we it's up to buyer to bargain down. I am sure we all have seen outrageous price once in a while advertised for a bike so we went like "WTF!" I have seen it for cars offered by private party, a lot.

So, am I still overthinking it all too much?

[Suzuk-E]

..Decided on the FZR.
Took the FZR to the Yamaha dealership to be checked out.
...

Forgive the noob question but how do you take a bike to a mechanic?  You did not buy it yet right? So how does the seller trust a nobody to ride his (still his!) bike somewhere? What if you wreck it or kill somebody? I am just curious how it is usually works. I never had any such experience..

Do you leave a full-price deposit with the seller? Do you take him with you? Do you ask him to ride his bike to the dealership? Do you put a contingency in the Bill Of Sale that if the bike is not mechanically sound the deal is off?

TIA

I test rode 8-10 bikes. Took 2 to dealerships to be checked out.

In my case I had "cash in hand" and my endorsement so the owners seemed to be good with that. The dealerships I went to weren't far from the seller. The seller was right next to me when the mechanic gave us the evaluation of the bike. The price had already been agreed upon so there wasn't any debating the price. It was in as good of shape as he said. The inspection cost $70 by the way, I definitely recommend it if you find a used bike you want to purchase.

I suppose it depends on the situation but I think to some degree letting someone ride your bike is an inherent risk if you want to sell it.

[Kasumi]

The only way to be safe when letting someone test ride your bike is 1.) make sure they have the cash or at least a deposit equating to 10% of the bike's value. This they leave with YOU
when they go to test ride the bike. 2.) You need to check that they have a license, also ask them to bring along their insurance certificate (depending on whether they had a bike before) some insurance at higher levels provides cover to ride other motorcycles. 3.) Have them sign a piece of paper along with yourself agreeing to pay for any damage they incur during the test ride which was their own fault. Both sign this and if you can have a witness your neighbor or someone else sign it.

This is in no way full proof, it is based on riders being allowed on the roads uninsured (not allowed here in the UK, if you wana test drive you have to be insured, either by your own comprehensive insurance or dealer insurance) but in some states in the US you don't have to be insured i don't think. You do all these things to make sure if something did happen and the test rider wouldn't pay up you have a good case in court. Also make sure that the test ride would comply with laws in your state regarding license's and insurance. If they don't you could be held partly responsible for letting them take your vehicle when they aren't covered.

[reminor]

^^^ Those are precicely the concerns I thought about when thinking it over. So looks like it is still somewhat a gray area from both legal and trust prospective. "Proceeed at your own risk" type of thing.

Well, the worst thing is when you let somebody ride and there's a mishap, the guy can just walk away (if uninsured, and no assets to sue him, like a piss-poor student type of thing) and you'll be the one stuck with the bill/lawsuite. It is your vehicle caused the damage, so you are the one to pay.

I may be wrong but it's only when somebody drives away without your permission that's when they will be covering it at their own expense (minus your deductible, and you may even get points on your record so you'll be paying more in premiums for next several years). Yuck!!


When I sell I will prolly' ride it myself (unless he has his own mechanic 50 miles away or something, then no way). As for buying, luckily personally I am quite good with wrenchin' so I will probably be my own mechanic next time I buy a bike. How many of you did that? Maybe it's time to start a poll??

But thanks for all the thoughts and replies guys anyway!

[bettingpython]

Test rides are simple, provide me with a copy of your license having a valid motorcycle endorsement, and 100% deposit in cash. You drop it you bought it. Insurance varies from company to company in the U.S. I use State Farm so I will use them as an example. My existing vehicle policies will cover me on any vehicle I borrow, and for purchases of a vehicle for a period of 24 hours or until the next business day so I can legally operate that new vehicle until I can get to my agent to have a policy written for it. My policy also covers any authorized operator,(someone I loan a vehicle to).

Now If I get pulled over operating a vehicle I have borrowed or just purchased I can be ticketed for not having proof of insurance on that vehicle. You have to get to your agent and they provide vehicle specific proof so that you can go to the court clerks office and have the ticket dismissed. But be forewarned in a situation like that most court's charge an administrative fee to dismiss a ticket in such a manner locally it cost's $10.00 to do so here.

Your best option is to know your insurance policy inside and out when test riding or allowing someone to test ride your bike.

[Kasumi]

I think one of the safest ways to get round all these problems is to find the bike you want. Go to a dealer that has one in even if its newer or older so long as it has the same spec as the one your looking to buy. Get a demo ride on it - dealers bikes are insured for anyone to ride so solong as you have a license you can test ride. Then after the test ride ask them about any known problems with the bike and just say it doesn't put you off but you wana know what sorta costs you might incur with ownership. Then go to the bike you wana buy and check for those faults you chatted about with the dealer. You've already test rode one to see if you like it so aslong as mechanically the bike is sound and nothing is bent it should ride similar.

Thats how i have done it before.

[Suzuk-E]

Test rides are simple, provide me with a copy of your license having a valid motorcycle endorsement, and 100% deposit in cash. You drop it you bought it.

nuff said'.

[gaspy]

Newbie here - can someone elaborate on the difference between mid 90s liter bikes and new ones?

-G

[bettingpython]

With the exception of the Honda CBR900RR the mid 90's saw some very heavy liter bikes. The modern liter has fuel injection lighter weight better suspension. The handling is vastly improved over the older liters as well. As I have said before the modern liter bike is not your dads liter bike of the late 80's thru the mid 90's.

Your modern liter will handle as well as or better than your older 600cc supersport the have come to a point where they can handle almost as good as the current 600's and out handle your older 600's.

That being said neither one is really a good learner machine the twitchiness associated with highly tuned carbed bikes is just as bad if not worse than the smoother more linear predictable fuel injection response.

An experienced rider can make the jump from the GS to a liter without much difficulty but if your looking to move up the 600 or 750 is the next logical step. plus the Grin factor of the 600 is just a blast. I like having the extra torque of my bike on the street but the wifes 600 is a hoot to really get out and rail on. 

[Willy Willy]

congrats. nice buy. 

[Suzuk-E]

the twitchiness associated with highly tuned carbed bikes is just as bad if not worse than the smoother more linear predictable fuel injection response.

aint that the truth.

[bettingpython]

I don't know about other parts of the country  Kasumi but if you walk into a dealership here looking for a test ride on a sportbike the sales staff will most likely fall on the floor in spasms from laughing so hard. Dealers here don't have Demo bikes they won't even service a new bike out with battery oil etc... until the deal is done and it is time for the new owner to roll it out the door. I don't know of any local dealers who will let you test ride a used bike either. What they do offer is a 72 hour 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you take your new machine home and do not like it you can return it for a fulll refund or trade for another machine. I have heard many dealerships across the U.S. do this because of the high liability litigation risks here.

Basically their test ride policy is the same as mine 100% deposit

[Suzuk-E]

I went into Aurora Suzuki here in Seattle. The sales guy starts chit chatting with me about my riding experience, ask if I have my endorsement, then ask me if I want to take a new SV for a spin.