So, I bought a new/used motorcycle for my wife 2 weeks ago - she's been riding her 650 for 2 years and was ready to step up to a full size cruiser as she wanted more creature comforts.
And here's the story. It could have gone all sorts of wrong, but thankfully the seller was honest and it went all sorts of right, but...
Before we go any further, I know I've seen the comments on both sides of the fence.
- Nobody rides my bike when I'm selling it. Once they own it they can ride it, I'm done with it, deal done.
- I've bought lots of bikes, never test rode any of them, never had an issue.
So, we found a nice Vstar 1100 for her to move up to. Impeccable condition, only 45K on it (not bad for an 03), and some tasteful farkles courtesy of a previous owner. Price was on the moderate-high side for said bike, but it had some key accessories we wanted already on it, so that was cool..and the seller was a nice guy, and the bike was clearly well maintained.
Unfortunately the bike was not plated or insured when we looked at it so aside from listening to it in the sellers driveway that was about all we could do. Everything *seemed* good.
Came to an agreement on the price, and asked the seller to certify it. All good.
The night to pickup the bike arrives - we get there (having already arranged insurance and plates and such, so we would just ride it home) - we exchange the money, sign over the ownership etc, and it's all looking good, but (thankfully) he offers to let me take it for that test ride now before we part ways.
It was a good thing I took him up on it. I didn't get 50 feet out of the parking lot at and I felt the clutch slip in second gear. And then it slipped more in third gear. In fourth and fifth I could freely rev the engine at will without a lot of acceleration happening.
I returned to the parking lot and discussion ensued. Needless to say I was polite, but firm - I couldn't take the bike like this - it needs a clutch! If it was a $1500 bike I would be willing to buy the parts and wrench on a brand new (to us) bike, but at what we paid, not so much.
Anyhow, the seller was very understanding, if not totally aware of the issue, but I think it was a genuine misunderstanding on his part - if he'd been trying to hide something he'd have left without the offer of a test ride before calling it a deal, right? We exchanged texts for a few days discussing the issue (it wasn't that we were trying to bail out on the deal, we WANTED the bike!) and eventually he informed me that he was getting the clutch replaced for us.
A week later we picked up the bike. No more clutch issues! The seller was actually amazed he said when he rode it home - he'd thought the bike was low on power, not realizing that it was just massive clutch slippage.
Anyhow, our story ended well - my wife has about 400KM on the bike now in the last week and is loving it, and the seller made good on the repair, but it could easily have gone all sorts of wrong as well had the seller been unscrupulous.
So, once again, I'm reminded that I will never, ever buy another bike/vehicle/whatever without being able to ride/drive it. Just too many risks - this could have ended up costing me a minimum of $150 for the parts (possibly more if it needed more than just the friction plates) plus some busted knuckle time in the garage, something I really would not have appreciated on a "brand new" bike.
Lesson learned.
And here's the story. It could have gone all sorts of wrong, but thankfully the seller was honest and it went all sorts of right, but...
Before we go any further, I know I've seen the comments on both sides of the fence.
- Nobody rides my bike when I'm selling it. Once they own it they can ride it, I'm done with it, deal done.
- I've bought lots of bikes, never test rode any of them, never had an issue.
So, we found a nice Vstar 1100 for her to move up to. Impeccable condition, only 45K on it (not bad for an 03), and some tasteful farkles courtesy of a previous owner. Price was on the moderate-high side for said bike, but it had some key accessories we wanted already on it, so that was cool..and the seller was a nice guy, and the bike was clearly well maintained.
Unfortunately the bike was not plated or insured when we looked at it so aside from listening to it in the sellers driveway that was about all we could do. Everything *seemed* good.
Came to an agreement on the price, and asked the seller to certify it. All good.
The night to pickup the bike arrives - we get there (having already arranged insurance and plates and such, so we would just ride it home) - we exchange the money, sign over the ownership etc, and it's all looking good, but (thankfully) he offers to let me take it for that test ride now before we part ways.
It was a good thing I took him up on it. I didn't get 50 feet out of the parking lot at and I felt the clutch slip in second gear. And then it slipped more in third gear. In fourth and fifth I could freely rev the engine at will without a lot of acceleration happening.
I returned to the parking lot and discussion ensued. Needless to say I was polite, but firm - I couldn't take the bike like this - it needs a clutch! If it was a $1500 bike I would be willing to buy the parts and wrench on a brand new (to us) bike, but at what we paid, not so much.
Anyhow, the seller was very understanding, if not totally aware of the issue, but I think it was a genuine misunderstanding on his part - if he'd been trying to hide something he'd have left without the offer of a test ride before calling it a deal, right? We exchanged texts for a few days discussing the issue (it wasn't that we were trying to bail out on the deal, we WANTED the bike!) and eventually he informed me that he was getting the clutch replaced for us.
A week later we picked up the bike. No more clutch issues! The seller was actually amazed he said when he rode it home - he'd thought the bike was low on power, not realizing that it was just massive clutch slippage.
Anyhow, our story ended well - my wife has about 400KM on the bike now in the last week and is loving it, and the seller made good on the repair, but it could easily have gone all sorts of wrong as well had the seller been unscrupulous.
So, once again, I'm reminded that I will never, ever buy another bike/vehicle/whatever without being able to ride/drive it. Just too many risks - this could have ended up costing me a minimum of $150 for the parts (possibly more if it needed more than just the friction plates) plus some busted knuckle time in the garage, something I really would not have appreciated on a "brand new" bike.
Lesson learned.
