Is it important to make sure bike is safetied just prior to buying it? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Is it important to make sure bike is safetied just prior to buying it?

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orang

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I'm looking to purchase an 89 ex250-f from a seller on Kijiji for $1000, and asked if it was safetied/offered to pay to have him go and safety it. He said "It passes safety, it's still licensed and insured." I've never bought a motorcycle, am I required to have it safetied when I try to insure it myself? Or because it's insured right now is it okay?

Thanks
 
orang said:
I'm looking to purchase an 89 ex250-f from a seller on Kijiji for $1000, and asked if it was safetied/offered to pay to have him go and safety it. He said "It passes safety, it's still licensed and insured." I've never bought a motorcycle, am I required to have it safetied when I try to insure it myself? Or because it's insured right now is it okay?

Thanks
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You need the bike safetied in order to transfer title. The fact that it's currently licensed and insured is irrelevant.


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You'll need a valid safety certificate when you try to transfer the title/register the bike with the MTO. Just because a bike is currently registered/insured/riden, doesn't mean it'll pass safety.
 
Just like when you buy any vehicle you need to have it certified as fit for the road. It has to have been inspected by a licensed mechanic and have been signed off as safe. It's an official government paper. Just because it's on the road does not mean it's safe. The safeties are good for 30 (maybe 36, can't remember exactly) days. After that you need to have another safety to transfer ownership of the bike and put I on the road. The safety usually costs an hours labour, but also any work that has to be done in order to make it pass (tires, brakes, etc.). You can put it in your name without a safety, but you will not be able to plate it or get stickers for it. Don't buy it until you've seen the safety.
 
JoePalma said:
You need the bike safetied in order to transfer title. The fact that it's currently licensed and insured is irrelevant.


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No, you need the bike saftied to get a license plate but not the ownership papers.

You can transfer ownership of any motorcycle without a safety certificate, insurance or a license plate. I have two bikes with 3 frames in total that are in my name and do not have safeties or insurance on them (track bike, project bike and spare frame). You just pay the tax on the sale price and for the ownership papers.

For the OP, just because it's currently plated and on the road does not mean it's guaranteed to pass the safety. For example, the previous owner has worn down the brake pads and tires, dropped it and broke a turn signal, or maybe worn out/put a flat spot in the steering head bearings. Any of those could of happened the weekend after he got his own safety.

Ask the seller if you can take it to a shop to get a mechanic to do the safety. Ask him to come with you. If you're really interested in the bike, offer to pay for it if it passes. If it doesn't pass, he'll have time to fix what's needed and won't have to pay for it to get looked at again (I think it's 10 days grace period?).
 
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Others have already answered you'll need a safety.
My thoughts are its 25 ? yrs old, it will be a miracle if it needs nothing. Its a pretty simple bike, but some of the bits may pricey and/or hard to obtain given its age.

OP, since you are new to this, you offered to pay for a safety and the owner says it fine, either he doesn't want the hassle or he's hiding something. On a $1000 bike, could go either way. Be cautious.
 
Thanks for all the replies, because the owner doesn't seem too open to the idea of getting it safetied prior to me buying it, I think I'm going to look at some other bikes. I'll still probably be buying old though so I'll definitely make sure to see the safety before I buy any bike.
 
orang said:
Thanks for all the replies, because the owner doesn't seem too open to the idea of getting it safetied prior to me buying it, I think I'm going to look at some other bikes. I'll still probably be buying old though so I'll definitely make sure to see the safety before I buy any bike.
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OR offer him a much lower price and be prepared for a bit of a project ? If it runs okay its likely worth $500-700, certainly no more.
 
A safety dos not mean anything to you unless it was taken to a place by you in whom you trust and have no doubt a proper safety will be done.

for those in the know a safety can be done sight unseen, certain things passed that shouldn't and so on,

so if this is new to you, make sure you are sure in the place and persons doing the safety..
 
orang said:
Thanks for all the replies, because the owner doesn't seem too open to the idea of getting it safetied prior to me buying it, I think I'm going to look at some other bikes. I'll still probably be buying old though so I'll definitely make sure to see the safety before I buy any bike.
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It's winter? Who wants to drag the bike to a mechanic. Safety means nothing btw. A bike could be a mechanical wreck and pass it and then again a mint bike with a worn tire will not.
It's best to look at the vehicle yourself and go from there.

I would not pay $1,000 for a '89 EX250 btw. 500-700 bucks max, based on the condition and mileage.

If it runs smooth and everything works then you don't have much to lose if you buy this for the right price. If you don't like the bike, you can always flip it at the beginning of the riding season for same money or more. There will be newbies looking for an affordable first motorcycle.

And once again - it's astounding that people even attempt to answer OP's original question when they clearly know nothing about the process.
Safety and transferring the title have nothing to do with one another.
 
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I'm definitely going to try to get the bike for cheaper, I hope to knock at least $200 off the price when I get there to see the bike. You're right about it being the winter though. The seller offered to write that it's pending safety on our reciept, and said that if for some reason it doesn't pass that I could bring it back. Unless another bike jumps out at me I'll probably go with this one and try to get it at a discount, because I do expect something to go wrong with it.


Another semi-related question - how much do new tires increase the price of a used bike? I don't have specifics but apparently new tires were put on this bike last year, and I'm trying to figure out how much that's factoring into the $1000 price tag.
 
orang said:
The seller offered to write that it's pending safety on our reciept, and said that if for some reason it doesn't pass that I could bring it back.
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Just be warned that this means little if he decides not to honor it, which he may very well decide to do. A used vehicle is buyer beware and even if he writes that on the receipt it won't stand up in court if you decided to take it there.

Why is he so against getting the safety done (at a facility of your choice) if you offer to pay for it, as well as expenses required to get the bike to/from the shop? If it's still licenced and insured it's as easy as asking him to ride it there for you, simple.

Honestly, I would be VERY reluctant to buy a nearly 30 year old bike on a "promise" it will pass safety - if something major is found, remember, getting parts for a bike of this age may not be a simple endeavour, nor necessarily cheap.

Another semi-related question - how much do new tires increase the price of a used bike? I don't have specifics but apparently new tires were put on this bike last year, and I'm trying to figure out how much that's factoring into the $1000 price tag.
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Depends on the brand/quality of the tire he installed really, but the tires alone were probably $200-$250 minimum so it's fair to keep that in consideration, although to some extent putting new tires on an old bike doesn't make it a new bike - it's still an old bike with new tires.

IMHO if it passes safety and the tires are indeed basically new (check the date code) the price isn't too crazy so long as it's in good condition . But even with new rubber, Honestly I'd try to negotiate in the cost of the safety as part of the deal at that price, but the price isn't crazy either way, again, in my opinion. Unless it's beat up.
 
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PrivatePilot said:
Why is he so against getting the safety done (at a facility of your choice) if you offer to pay for it, as well as expenses required to get the bike to/from the shop? If it's still licenced and insured it's as easy as asking him to ride it there for you, simple.
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Apparently because it isn't riding weather yet. He has a safety certificate from 2016 but it's obviously outside the 30 day window and doesn't reassure me at all that something hasn't happened to the bike recently.

Thanks for the input on the tires, too
 
Safety is good for 36 days. Needed only to get plates to put it on the road, NOT to transfer ownership or get ins. Transfer would be done with bike as UNFIT condition. You do need it safetied eventually, so easier to have it done right away.

For something like this, either know what to look for or take someone that does have a clue. Especially if it's your first bike. It could have nothing wrong with it and if the tires are fresh(not just new...i.e. made in the last few years) you are good to go. Tires "generally" are useless over 5 years. Minor things like signals and brake pads are easy fixes. A good condition running bike is worth $1k for the most part.
 
orang said:
Apparently because it isn't riding weather yet.
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As long as the roads are not covered with snow, salt, slush, or sand...and you're not asking him to ride it more than 5-10 minutes, it can be ridden this time of year.

Worst case, if you have a vehicle with a trailer hitch, UHaul rents purpose-built motorcycle trailers for $15/day - tell him he's welcome to come along for the trip to get it to the shop and you'll provide the trailer. Honestly, he shouldn't have an issue with that, especially this time of year - the market for a 30 year old bike is slim as it is, and it's *incredibly* slim in January. If I was in his situation I'd bend over backwards to help make the sale.

If it passes, done deal, you hand over the cash and you own a bike. If not, well, you load it back in the trailer and bring it back to his place.
The actual safety is usually no more than 30-45 minutes so long as you have an appointment. Favor a real motorcycle shop vs a place like Canadian Tire or whatnot - again, this time of year you shouldn't have a problem getting same-day service for a safety at most shops, they're not exactly busy.

Really...if he stonewalls on the safety, I'd walk away - NOT worth the risk, safetied last year and new tires...or not.
 
As a rider of an older bike I'll ask you the same question an old Honda mechanic asked me. Do you want to ride or wrench, meaning an old bike needs lots of care, parts are hard or impossible to find and you could be off the bike waiting for parts. I bought a spare parts bike so the parts are no problem for me and I do wrench and chase down those gremlins that come up in a vintage bike. $1000 should buy you something newer at this time of year. Happy riding whatever you decide.
 
Thanks for the comments on the wrench work required for these older bikes, I'm not hopeless mechanically but I'll keep it in mind. I think it's going to come down to whether or not the seller is willing to come with me to have it safetied, because that's really the only red flag in my mind about this purchase.

And yeah, I thought I'd be able to get something newer for $1000 too but after a few months of waiting this is the best thing to come up.

So I've told him that if he doesn't want to ride it i'll transport the bike and pay for the safety, but I can't buy the bike if I don't know it passes inspection right now
 
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this one?
$_27.JPG


This one should go for just over $1k:
http://www.kijiji.ca/v-sport-bikes/london/99-kawasaki-ex250r-ninja/1230601495?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

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