Service history, are you bothered?

TripleT · 26 May 2015 at 17:54

Coming from a car driver service history's means a lot to me but I'm seeing loads of bikes with part or no history. Should I discount them straight away or worth a risk still?

Seen a bike locally from a 2nd hand dealer, pretty much what I want 12k on the clock but has no history and just a few old MOT's.

Don't know what to do and don't know what really to look for nor do I know anyone who does.

I use the bike every day so can't buy a lemon!

wazza300 · 26 May 2015 at 18:03

no history at all? some might help esp the first two or three services

listen for top end rattle,or any engine rattles,12k miles isn't much anyway but the valves need adjusting early on if I remember rightly around 18k miles

acemastr · 26 May 2015 at 18:03

Impossible to find a bike with service history here, or car for that matter. Oil changes are essential in a bike so I'd be cautious unless someone can prove they've been done every 3-4k miles

VoG · 26 May 2015 at 18:59

Depends on the age of the bike really, if it's a newish bike & it's got no service history I would find it off putting, but an old bike with no history wouldn't bother me too much.

edd1e · 26 May 2015 at 19:14

I wouldn't

wazza300 · 26 May 2015 at 19:18

id feel safer from a dealer,private id have a good look over it and listen

TripleT · 26 May 2015 at 20:13

Its 10years old so not new. But yer I find it hard to believe that if someone had taken the time to service it themselves they'd keep receipts etc.

Think I'll give it a miss.

wazza300 · 26 May 2015 at 20:18

12k miles is nothing on a bike,upto you really but 10year old bike aint that old either

my 04 bike came with 11k on it

Yaayuh! · 26 May 2015 at 20:19

Depends on the owner, the bike, it's age and mileage.

If no history at all, then I would be put off. If there was a list out together of stuff done by a guy that seems to know his stuff then yeah, I'd be fine with that.

TripleT · 26 May 2015 at 20:45

I've been told no history at all var a couple of old MOT's. If there was receipts of oil changes done by the owner periodically then I'd be OK with it, but nothing at all worries me.

And its from a small 2nd hand dealer so can't even judge off the owner, he probably picked it up at auction.

The bike look clean from the pics but its not hard to give it a polish etc.

VoG · 26 May 2015 at 21:04

wazza300 said:
my 04 bike came with 11k on it

My 02 bike came with 6K on it, 1 owner from new with a full service & MOT history, some years the poor bloody thing had barely managed a couple of hundred miles.

wazza300 · 26 May 2015 at 21:09

it should show you the mileage from previous years on the newer mot's

you'll see how much its been used

ShakenNstirred · 27 May 2015 at 07:26

never bothered with it on any of my cars or bikes
and when I got my new CBR6 I had the free first service, then did everything myself.
im not paying a shop to do work I can easily do myself just for a stamp in a book.

TripleT · 27 May 2015 at 09:50

That's fine, but do you document / keep receipts when you do do work on it?

Fireskull · 27 May 2015 at 10:18

Never that bothered, I will check what work claims to have been done but also I wouldn't buy a bike that looks like its been poorly maintained.
I do 99% of work myself, don't log any of it for selling on purposes as with my luck the bikes get written off

I just remember when I last did an oil change, plugs etc..

spp · 27 May 2015 at 13:13

Depends. If I'm buying a modern bike, like my S1000RR, then yes, I want to see FSH. If I'm buying an older bike, like my 30 year old Superdream, I'm not bothered.

ttaskmaster · 27 May 2015 at 16:34

My bike came from a DVLA auction, with 11 previous owners, so good luck getting any paperwork there!!

Bike Trader magazine used to have a few pages of advice for both buying and selling 2nd hand bikes, with a lot of good advice on what to look for when checking out a potential purchase. I assume they still do that, or have it on the website somewhere.

A dealer's PDI is OK, but it depends greatly on the dealer and the individual that did the inspection. Some only with a very limited warranty, certifying it as sound at the point of inspection (kinda like an MoT test), so be mindful of the small print.

wazza300 · 27 May 2015 at 19:03

actually I think the amount of owners would put me off more than the mileage,some just abuse the hell out of them

MowyTone · 28 May 2015 at 07:14

wazza300 said:
actually I think the amount of owners would put me off more than the mileage,some just abuse the hell out of them

More this than anything. I'd rather know the bike was looked after rather than have a booked stamped and then ragged to death

ttaskmaster · 28 May 2015 at 12:20

wazza300 said:
actually I think the amount of owners would put me off more than the mileage,some just abuse the hell out of them

Depends on the bike.
Mine is an absolute tank and while it's generally amazing, a short period of many owners suggested it was more about them not getting on with the few common niggles it has... like the weight. No substitute for actually checking the thing over, of course, but even if they had managed to rag it in the short periods of ownership, you could recoup more than your money's worth from selling it as parts.