Bike inspection vs. safety certificate and test ride when buying used bike | GTAMotorcycle.com

Bike inspection vs. safety certificate and test ride when buying used bike

F

fool

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Hello,

I'll be getting my M2 soon and am looking at buying a used bike for the first time. Looking at the Ninja 300 and those are relatively new.

How important is it to do my own bike inspection before buying? I will look to get a motorcycle mechanic certify the bike for safety, anyway. Will a safety certificate, along with a test ride be good enough to see it's in good order?

Despite all the written material on how to do an inspection, I don't think I'll be able to do a good one.

Thanks.
 
I'm sure there's someone on here nice enough to help you look at the bike. I would but your too far from me. If you get a safety it should be in good order unless you get it safetied at crappy tire they don't know ****.

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A safety inspection just makes it worry free for transferring into your name. That is unless you take it to your own mechanic and ask him to inspect it more than just a safety.

As for test rides, some people will let you and some won't. I've test ride every bike I've bought, but wouldn't let people test ride when I sold them. I just sold my drz and told the buyers that I was more than happy to ride up and down the street to shift and brake. I wasn't taking the chance of them dropping it and causing damage that they may or may not pay for.
 
Safety inspection has very little to do with safety. Think of it as a piece of paper you need to plate your bike. If you want a proper inspection, that needs to be specifically requested from a mechanic (or knowledgeable friend) that you trust.
 
A safety certificate is the minimum level of safety required by law, so that your bike can legally be on the road. As stated above, this does not necessarily mean your bike is either safe or reliable. The safety certificate is also a snapshot in time, meaning the next day the bike could fall apart and still get a plate. Do not get these concepts misconstrued. You really need a good bike mechanic to check out your bike for reliability and safety, to a level by far above the bottom of the barrel level of the safety certificate.
 
Got it. Thanks! For a test drive, I would get the seller to just ride it around. For good mechanic inspection, I am thinking of using any Kawasaki dealer near the seller. Looks like Snow City which is closest to me has good rep for mechanic although not for sales.
 
For a bike as new as a Ninja 300, you might want to have a Ninja 300 enthusiast look at it for you as well as a mechanic for the certification process. Aside from what the aftermarket buzz and salesmen say, the closer it is to original the more value it will have. Having someone on hand who can spot the differences between a stock and altered bike (includes damaged). A keen eye will also spot missing hardware, tool marks etc. Lots of forums for this style bike, there's gotta be one guy in the city who'd tag along.
 
Thanks for the helpful advice. I found another forum on the bike. And I'll look for a consultant when I'm ready.
 
TorontoBoy said:
A safety certificate is the minimum level of safety required by law, so that your bike can legally be on the road. As stated above, this does not necessarily mean your bike is either safe or reliable. The safety certificate is also a snapshot in time, meaning the next day the bike could fall apart and still get a plate. Do not get these concepts misconstrued. You really need a good bike mechanic to check out your bike for reliability and safety, to a level by far above the bottom of the barrel level of the safety certificate.
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Close but I think the bike has to remain relatively safe for a month. That doesn't mean it has to start, keep the battery charged, not shed paint, make strange noises, show surface rust, go over 13 kph etc.
 
I've had number of bikes over the years and have had pretty good luck accepting only a safety and not a full inspection. My thinking has been that the investment is relatively low (in the bikes I chose anyway) and therefore so is the risk. If it's good enough to pass safety (which is admittedly the very bare minimum) AND it runs without it screaming red flags at me in the form of noises that shouldn't be or anything else that seems off, then it works for me.

I usually bring it in for a thorough service before riding it much just so my relationship with it starts off right. On my Softail I learned that I was approaching mileage which required a timing chain replacement. I got the bike at such a good price, and was opening things up to add chrome anyway, that the added expense worked out to about $400. Acceptable, and now I'm forever away from needing it again. That's about as bad as I've had it. YMMV.
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