Looking to buy a bike, does this seem okay?

haz_pro

haz_pro

haz_pro

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Joined
11 Dec 2009
Posts
1,603
Hi all,

Looking at getting my first bike; I have seen a 2006 k5 bandit for sale for 2,000. Please see description below:

"Hi I have a immaculate gsf 650 for sale. This is a stunning bike I ain't had her long brought her from dealership. She does have a hpi check aswell all clear. I love the bike just want to do my car test and give bikes a rest for abit. She has got full MOT and 6 months tax got 22,000miles on clock got all paperwork 2 keys standard air box aswell. She has had a dyno jet stage kit 1 in her plus all racing k&ns and racing oil filter. Got a beuwulf exhuast carbon sounds sweet. Looking for £2,000CASH no lower if interested text me or call me on xxxxx"

Pictures of it look decent:

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One thing that did ring alarm bells a bit is that when i asked him if there is anything he wanted to tell me before meeting he said that the tax disc got nicked the other night. I checked on askmid and it is taxxed until December. Do you think he may be sending it in to get a refund?

Look forward to see other peoples views. I have never bought a motorcycle and I got screwed over when I bought my first car so I am nervous.

Thanks
 
looks ok,you would need to look it over and hear it running ect

ask him to knock the price of the road tax off?

don't be scared to walk away either,plenty bandits out there
 
Thanks for comment.

That is a good idea about knocking the tax off, that would only be about 30 quid.

Reason I want to be 99% sure that I won't walk away is that we will be meeting in MK, the bike is in Loughborough and I am in Surrey. I wouldn't want to go all that way and mess him about.

To be honest I found it odd that he was willing to travel to sell it, I wouldn't...
 
I would travel to the sellers address if you can. I have seen lots of stuff on tv about people agree to meet half way and then 2 weeks later the police pull the over and take the bike away because it is stolen. Have you run any checks on the bike yourself. maybe see if there is a professional that can look over the bike to see if the bike is stolen!

Also he is asking for cash and not a bank transfer so be a bit careful on that as well.
 
Be careful with K5 Bandits that have been tuned or modified. That one had pod air filters and an after market can so it would have needed a dyno run but... I could not find a jet kit for it when I had mine and was advised to keep the baffle in on an aftermarket can incase it ran too lean and to my findings I did run it with and without a baffle in and found it pulled smoother with the baffle in on stock air filter.

If it was me I would leave that one and find one with normal air filters.
 
William-Mathew said:
I would travel to the sellers address if you can. I have seen lots of stuff on tv about people agree to meet half way and then 2 weeks later the police pull the over and take the bike away because it is stolen. Have you run any checks on the bike yourself. maybe see if there is a professional that can look over the bike to see if the bike is stolen!

Also he is asking for cash and not a bank transfer so be a bit careful on that as well.
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Hi, I have also seen horror stories like this. I asked him about meeting halfway as I didn't want to travel 120 miles. Yeah the cash thing I found a bit odd too, and it's a bit of a pain for me. I have run some checks and it seems to be fine, insured, taxed, not registered stolen. He has also sent me a picture of a HPI check done in April and that is all clear.

William-Mathew said:
Locate the VIN numbers on the bike and see if it has been changed. If there are stickers with the VIN on it, see if it comes off easily
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I can't do this until I view (if), but maybe I could ask for photos of the VIN on the bike initially.

Brackish said:
Be careful with K5 Bandits that have been tuned or modified. That one had pod air filters and an after market can so it would have needed a dyno run but... I could not find a jet kit for it when I had mine and was advised to keep the baffle in on an aftermarket can incase it ran too lean and to my findings I did run it with and without a baffle in and found it pulled smoother with the baffle in on stock air filter.

If it was me I would leave that one and find one with normal air filters.
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Thanks for this, he actually offered the original air filter equipment with the bike if I wanted it. This presumably means that it isn't stolen but who knows.

I was really keen on this bike but I think I have put myself off it now.
 
If I remember right the pod air filters on a bandit were normally used with a stage 2 kit and a fair few guys would put a bigger oil cooler just to be safe.

Have a look around for the same bike, they are a good bike and have tons of spares or after market bits.
 
haz_pro said:
I'm going to keep looking, 100% now as I just found this

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-27055841

The lad on the right is the guy selling this motorcycle!!:eek:
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Woah, hang on. The chav on the far right of those 3 is the selling the bike you were going to buy?! :eek:

Run. Run fast. Run hard. Don't look back.

Chance of that bike being stolen? I'd say 99.9%. Funny that he doesn't mention reason for sale is "Going to prison for 5 months".
 
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the bike might be ok, it looks alright to me

but theres plenty out there to choose from,id look at another
 
I think its a little over priced tbh, you can get a GSF650S for the same price so ide shop around, i mean it's not like the Bandit 650 is hard to come by.
 
You can afford to be picky with this bike and at this price point.

In fact, I would be looking for an unmolested example first and foremost, as it won't of been ridden by budget stuntmen and wannabe road warriors.
 
I don't think I could afford to be picky at this price point. I will take your comments on board though.

Any places I should look outside of eBay and BikeTrader?
 
haz_pro said:
I don't think I could afford to be picky at this price point. I will take your comments on board though.

Any places I should look outside of eBay and BikeTrader?
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Gumtree, MCN, pistonheads classifieds.

The main three I looked on were autotrader, gumtree and ebay. Gumtree will be the best one for bargain bikes locally.
 
Hi all,

The sentence before should have read: "I didn't think I could afford to be picky at this price point. I will take your comments on board though."

Thank you for the link also, I called one of the bikes that looked like a bargain but it had gone. I asked and he said it was on the website for 2 weeks, damn me for not checking that website before.

I got myself a helmet and ordered some basic leathers today, exciting!
 
This is a list of stuff I post when people ask about buying a bike.
Hope you find it useful.


Things to keep an eye out for...

-Check the discs dont have a massive ridge at the edge.
-New brake pads
-Ask about the wheel bearings, put it on the centre stand and spin the front wheel, and the same with the back. Check for a grinding/knocking sound from the centre of the wheel > if so then new bearings.
-While on the centre stand, sit on the bike, lean back so the front lifts a few inches and slowly move the bars from left to right. If you feel and notches then you will need new headstock bearings, ballache of a job to do and costly on labour if you got to a garage to get it done.
-Check chain and sprockets
-Listen for a knocking sound from the engine.
-Ask the seller not to start the bike until you get there, you want to see how easy it starts from cold.
-Feel the engine before it starts to see if it has been warmed it up. If it has, ask why. If you don't like the answer walk away.
-Look on the downpipes for any holes, and feel/listen for any blowing from the downpipes and exhausts pipe and can.
-Take the oil filler cap off and look for any white cheesy looking gunk > water in the engine not good.
-The gearbox should make a re-assuring "THUNK" when you knock it into 1st gear. The clutch may rattle/rustle a little and it should stop when you pull the clutch in.

If at any point you get a bad vibe, not to be mistake for a scared of the power vibe, then walk away. there are thousands of other bikes out there.
 
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