Buying a used bike

Stovepipes · 11 Mar 2015 at 22:02

Assuming all goes well I'll have passed my Mod 2 on Friday and purchase my first motorbike soon after that but nothing scares me more than spending large amounts of money and potentially buying a dud. I'm probably gonna pay by credit card and buy something from a trader but I've seen a few bargain bike from private sellers that look incredibly tempting and far cheaper than the traders bikes, I'm just wondering if there is a way to get the bikes inspected pre-purchase to make sure they're not money pits.

I'd also like any recommendations for good beginner bikes for around £2500-£3000 for commuting into central London. :eek:

Stovepipes · 12 Mar 2015 at 00:59

wazza300 said:
you could take someone with you if you know anyone knowledgeable

Lol everyone always says this but if you had someone surely you'd have thought of asking them

wazza300 said:
Service history is a bonus but I wouldn't be put off by high mileage,just listen for any abnormal knocking or rattling sounds

Really? high mileage completely puts me off especially with the miles I'm planning on putting on it. With my budget I've specifically been looking at under 10,000 miles, ideally under 5000 and as new as possible.

wazza300 said:
As for first time bike o think a 600cc is ideal,its up to you though which type of bike,sports bike,touring,adventure style etc

Agreed. I was even looking at 250/300c cause I commute into London but weirdly the insurance quotes were pretty much the same

wazza300 said:
Could look at the popular Honda hornet,Suzuki sv,Kawasaki er6,Yamaha fazer

Yeah I almost bought an ER6F the other day but thought I'd wait til I actually passed unfortunately it's now been sold

I also had my heart set on a Yamaha MT-03 but then read a review that suggested it doesn't like slow speeds & surges and I really need it to be competent at slow speeds as I require that for filtering in London.

GothicGhost said:
I can't help with advice on buying used bikes I had my father in law help me out, but wanted to say good luck on your test.

Just remember stay calm and everything will go as planned.
I fail my mod 2 first time as my brain was going crazy overload and then I messed up
Second time much calmer and passed.

Thanks, with a bit of luck I won't let my nerves get the best of me like I almost did on the Mod 1, in my mind the Mod 2 is passable where as the Mod 1 seemed almost impossible to me.

Stovepipes · 12 Mar 2015 at 23:09

gcaster said:
I found Mod 1 much worse than mod 2. Mod 2 is just going for a slow ride out, easy.

If you like the MT03 maybe have a look at the MT07.

Yeah from the training I did today Mod 2 seems passable whereas I'm still kinda shocked that I got through the Mod 1.

As for the MT07 I do like it particularly the Moto Cage one but it's way outta my budget.

Stovepipes · 13 Mar 2015 at 19:11

Well I passed and now I need a bike. Annoyingly everything I was looking at 2 days ago has been sold now, they go that quickly eh?

I'm kinda interested in Cat C/D bikes too or should I avoid them.

Stovepipes · 13 Mar 2015 at 19:36

Ta very much, I'm stunned I got through it.

I'm having such a hard time finding bikes right now. A week ago there were loads but I guess it got sunny and everything is selling quickly now.

Stovepipes · 17 Mar 2015 at 20:08

Well I got a bit impatient and bought a 2009 Kawasaki ER6F. It's a nice looking modern bike and supposedly the best fit for beginners only things that I don't like about it is that it feels a bit small for me, the aftermarket exhaust is just way too freaking loud, good for filleting in Central London but my neighbors will hate me and it's done more miles than I was hoping for the money. Still at least it was local and I have 3 months warranty.

Stovepipes · 17 Mar 2015 at 22:10

wazza300 said:
how many miles?

I like the style of those bikes

It's done 11,600 and I paid £3200 but I've seen some seriously low mileage bikes over the last few weeks and didn't plan on purchasing one that had done over 10,000. Still it's prettier than the one I had originally planned on getting.

ElliorR said:
How tall are you? I had an ER6f and at 6'2" I was tall for it but it served me well. As for the exhaust, has it got a baffle in? If not and you don't have one it might be worth contacting the manufacturer and buy one.

Also when I traded it in it have covered well over 50k miles and still going strong.

I'm just 6ft but it feels smaller than the 2014 CBF650 I learned on and I kinda had my heart set on an adventure style bike like the CB500X but budget and insurance wouldn't allow for that and my god how expensive is the bloody insurance. I'm 34 and some quotes were between £2000 and £3000 quid.

As for the exhaust I think it has a baffle in but I'm no expert, I'll take a pic when I have access to a camera, but it's just crazy loud. I mean it literally makes me the center of attention and being a newbie rider that's kinda my worst nightmare.

Stovepipes · 18 Mar 2015 at 20:24

ElliorR said:
11.6k miles for a 6 year old bike? Less than 2k a year is low mileage especially for a workhorse like the er6.

You've got yourself a decent first bike. Look after it, save your money and in a few years trade it in for a bike you want.

Yeah it's not bad but I still have in mind that 2010 Yamaha XJ6 that I missed out on for £3300 with a mere 2000 miles

Still the Kawasaki is better looking imho

Stovepipes · 18 Mar 2015 at 22:11

If I get time I'll post a video of the obnoxious exhaust, I'm really not sure I can live with the thing, it's crazy loud. Just wondering how much it'll cost me to get something quieter.

Kreeeee said:
The XJ6 is a crap bike, you lucked out there!

Really

it's well reviewed looked like a great beginner bike, what's wrong with it?

Stovepipes · 19 Mar 2015 at 17:06

It's a Delkevic exhaust, there is something in there which I assume is the baffle but I'm not sure if the video quite captures how ridiculously loud it is. I now ride with headphones jammed in but I suppose at least everyone knows I'm around

View My Video

Stovepipes · 19 Mar 2015 at 17:13

ElliorR said:
Is that indoors? If outside that seems to be quite loud.

Yeah that's indoors so even worse but even outside it's bloody loud, another biker will pull up alongside me and I can't even hear them lol
I like being heard but it's a bit much.

Stovepipes · 25 Mar 2015 at 18:26

I'm pretty sure the baffle was in there from having a look at bikes with the baffle out but doesn't matter anymore because at some point in the last 24 hours someone stole my bike.

Oh and I have a £1,000 excess too so that's the end of biking for me.

Stovepipes · 25 Mar 2015 at 20:11

TripleT said:
Gutted for you

Why would you take an excess of £1k though? I've seen though policies, never been tempted.

Didn't have any real choice. Only 2 insurers offered fully comprehensive policies under £1,000 and both had very high excesses (£800+).
In the end I stuck with my insurer and went for TPFT which only cost me an additional £260 or thereabouts but the excess is £1k so I'm probably done with biking for a long while cause not only can't I now afford a bike I almost certainly won't be able to afford the insurance and now I know I can't leave it outside my house.

Apparently I can't have nice things. In less than a year I've lost a car I loved and my first bike. I give up.

wazza300 said:
ohh god!!!

where they steal it from? I feel for you

did you chain it up?

It was just outside my house on the road right next to my scooter which they surprisingly left. No chain, my fault as I wanted to wait til payday to get an Abus Thatcham approved one, not that I really have anything to chain it to except for my scooter which is getting sold.

Stovepipes · 25 Mar 2015 at 21:44

gcaster said:
Where in London do you live? Being about to move to London this worries me!

That said...
...nothing like making it easy. Was it under a cover and did it have a disc lock or anything?

I'm in SE London/NW Kent Border and yeah I did make it easy for them although it's usually not there overnight as I work nights and it would have had some Thatcham approved security just after payday but it's my fault for thinking I could get away with that for any length of time.

Edit: oh an car wasn't stolen just written off by a rear hit.

Stovepipes · 25 Mar 2015 at 22:36

I'd like to say I'm not put off but I am bit. More importantly though is the position it's put me in. Best case scenario is that they agree with the bikes valuation and pay me £3200 minus the £1000 excess, so £2200. I'm not even sure what kinda bike I'd get for that money and how much will insurance be now.
Plus I still have to store it on the road. If I want to store it in my front garden with an insurance approved ground anchor and chain I'll have to pay for the wall to come down and the whole thing paved and at the moment I'm kinda broke.

Honestly though more than anything it's made me want to move as far away from here as possible and get a driveway if not a garage.

Stovepipes · 26 Mar 2015 at 00:55

wazza300 said:
It does sound a bad area,I thought I lived in a rough place,Birmingham area

Problem is I never thought it was that bad. My neighbour's bike has been parked out front for years although he had the sense to put a chain on the back wheel still it's not connected to anything and my brand new scooter has sat there since November. I knew it could happen I just expected it to happen anywhere but home. Even though it's unlikely I'll have a bike for a while if I get the insurance money without much hassle I'll invest in a Thatcham approved disc-lock with alarm and a big ol' chain plus I'm seriously looking into moving now.

Stovepipes · 26 Mar 2015 at 20:34

So I have to wait 40 days to find out what if any settlement will be received. I have a horrible feeling I'm gonna get screwed.

Stovepipes · 17 Apr 2015 at 02:13

Well they offered me £2800 which isn't bad considering that I almost bought another ER6F for that exact amount although minus £1050 excess and that leaves me with £1750, although I've been informed that I took out excess insurance so I might be getting the entire amount. Still this means I really can't afford to lose another bike as the excess insurance is a one time thing.