Buying A Second-Hand Motorbike
Motorbikes are a big investment and, especially when buying second-hand, you should always be wary about your safety.
Because of this, there are some things you need to look of for before you buy a second-hand motorbike, and we’ve detailed them below to give you a head start.
Beware of Dodgy Sellers:
For the most part, the people you’ll come across in your search for a second-hand motorbike will be genuine sellers, but you should still keep in mind that there are people out there who won’t have the best of intentions.
It can sometimes be hard to tell who’s being genuine and who’s not, but if the person you’re planning to buy your bike from says anything like the quotes below, it may be time to start looking elsewhere:
- “I’m selling it for my friend who’s abroad at the moment.”
- “I just moved house and haven’t got the V5 back from DVLA yet.”
- “It’s been serviced by my mate who’s a mechanic.”
- “I fitted that alarm myself.”
- “It hasn’t had its MOT yet but it’ll fly through one.”
Walk Around:
It’s monumental that you do a walk around in daylight (it’s even better if it’s on a dry day) before you even think about putting down a payment on a bike. All you need to do is walk around the bike, inspecting it as you go, keeping an eye out for hairline fractures and weld tears.
Start and Listen:
In the majority of cases, engines on modern motorbikes are going to be reliable enough, but it’s in your best interests to check for any noises that sound ominous. If you feel out of your depth, here’s how to diagnose an engine problem just by listening to it.
Look at the Boring Details:
Although you may want to bypass anything tedious before you buy your bike, you really should check out all of the boring details and ask certain questions.
We spoke to motorbike buying and selling experts, Motorbike Trader, who said: “There are always some questions that you one hundred per cent need to ask before you even think about putting a payment on a bike – especially if you’re going for second-hand.”
“Firstly, you need to ask the all-important questions like has it ever been crashed? If it has, how badly? Does it have any modifications? Then, you should move onto to other questions such as how many owners its had and asking about its service history.”
Test Drive:
If you’re happy with everything you’ve seen after carrying out the above steps, it’s time to do the test drive. However, you should never test drive a motorbike if you’re unhappy with its condition or you think it may be unsafe.
Test driving is used to ensure that the bike is a good fit for you and to help you spot any issues that may not have been picked up on before the test drive. To find out what you should be looking out for before you test drives a motorbike, this post will tell you everything you need to know.