What to ask when buying a used motorcycle

Here are a few tips on what to ask when you are deciding to buy a used motorcycle. The first thing I need to stress is never buy a motorcycle just from seeing pictures. I know I might get flack from the auction website fans of the world but frankly I don’t care. If you haven’t seen it and rode it don’t buy it. Period.
The distance you are from where the bike is located geographically is often critical when it comes to agreeing on price. If you live hours away from the location of the bike then the seller usually knows you want to buy it that day and will play hardball with you. If he knows you live a block away there is a good chance you are going to be able to negotiate some with him because he knows you will just walk away and that you don’t have a 5 hour drive roundtrip invested already into maybe buying this bike.
The third thing you need to understand is what you should ask on the phone of the seller prior to even seeing the bike. This is doubly important on older model motorcycles.

Here is a quick list of things I ask when i’m on that initial phone inquiry about a motorcycle I found in the paper or swapper mag, internet, etc.

* What’s the prior history of the bike?
* Are you the sole owner? If not when and at what mileage did you pick it up at?
* What did you pay for it? Never be afraid to ask this question…..
* Why are you selling it? (the more verbose the story the more likely it is a total lie and can be a way to gauge the trustworthiness of the person selling you the bike)
* DO you winterize it? (if there are a lot of pauses without a clear concise answer on this one, again it’s not a good sign of the sellers credibility)
* Are there any know problems with these models? They will either be honest and say, “yes” or I don’t know, or “No”… “No” is the worst answer because every model year of every bike ever has some sort of a know issue that pops up and the bike is known for. (for example: I have a 2003 Harley FXDL and every 4-8k miles the brake light stops working. It’s not the bulb it’s not the wiring but it’s actually a 10 dollar part called, the rear brake light sensor) It’s so simple to replace and if you do it right you don’t even have to bleed the brakes. It’s just a part that is known to repeatedly be problematic on my year and model Harley.

Once you’ve decided that you are still interested in seeing the bike then set up a time to go see it. Make sure to bring a buddy along. Two sets of eyes are always better than one. I’ll be writing up what to look for when inspecting the bike in my next post.