Buying without a test ride?

Been trying to get as many opinions as possible on this and so far its a very mixed bag of responses.

I went to view 2 Vstroms at the weekend, One in Sheffield (Sheffield Motorcycle Center) and One in Derby (East Midlands Superbike)

Now the bikes are as follows

Sheffield
Black 2011 plate with 5k miles. Looks to be in immaculate condition but has no extras apart from handguards and engine bars. Rode wonderfully apart from a slightly niggly little buzzing at certain rev ranges and speeds coming from the front end (sounded like the fairings) and I wasn't sure if this was normal or not but I guess I could live with it.
Price £4300

Derby
White 2009 plate with 9.5k miles. Looks to be immaculate condition as well (I have this bike a real going over) and had plenty of extras, Bar ends, Oxford Hot Grips, engine bars, Exhaust protector, Skid Plate, Center stand, Light protectors, Handguards etc etc... But here's the kicker No test ride (They do not allow it without full cost of bike up front) and bike wouldn't start due to someone leaving the heated grips on.
Price £4250

Now I really want the one from Derby as it just looks better, Has more toys and appears to be in very good condition. It was last taxed in March so has essentially sat since then and they aren't really willing to budge on the cost of the bike (Negotiated them down £50 due to it having no tax yet wouldn't budge further) and it comes with 3 months warranty (not including wear and tear), will receive 12 months MOT and a full check/service before leaving and also has a 14 day 100 mile return policy.

The guys in Sheffield were very eager to sell the bike and have offered to get a Center stand fitted and Oxford Hotgrips installed at a cost of £400 (so they say and probably isnt far off) for an additional £150 me but will not go any lower on the price but being reaistic, My budget was already stretched at £4300.

Any ideas? Would you buy the white one given the choice or would you go for the black? Or even walk away completely.

Thanks

Are they both 650's and is the white one facelifted?

Both 650s and both same model so no face lift

depends on what you want, newer bike & less miles... with no mods (that's the fun of having a bike, to mod it to your own taste)...

or older = more corrosion and more miles but with the mods done for you...

personally I would go for newer, but that's just me.

I checked the bike over, and I mean gave it a good looking over and could not see any corrosion at all. I expected to see some around the forks or on the bars but could not see 1 spot, even on the exhaust pipes and nuts/bolts around the engine. Everywhere I would have expected to see at least some wear on both bikes there was none, So its either been hidden or well looked after. Black was self maintained so no service history but white has FSH

[Biker Biggles]

They both look bl00dy expensive to me,but if you want one Id go for the newer lower mileage one with FSH as you will lose less on that one when you come to sell it.To put it another way,the 09 bike is four years old,and therefore getting towards old bike status and they still want 4.25k for it?A year from now it will only be worth about 2k.Can you afford that sort of loss?

A year from now it will have 28k (give or take) on the clock so will be dropping steadily in price anyway. Just not sure I can justify the extra cost. Plus its black bah I hate making decisions

Originally Posted by Woogie

A year from now it will have 28k (give or take) on the clock so will be dropping steadily in price anyway. Just not sure I can justify the extra cost. Plus its black bah I hate making decisions

defiantly go for the newer one then, the 2009 goes for £2500-2800, the 2011 goes for £3000-3500...

so agree with Mr Biggles over priced...

I got my BRAND NEW sv650 for £4500 with 0 miles and fairing lowers

for either I would not be paying more than £3000 but that's my 2c

shop around bud, there are plenty of offers / places open to negotiation.

Brand new - £4400

2011 - 439miles - £3650

2011 - 850miles - £3794

and that's just on ebay....

Vstroms? Where in the hell can you find a brand new Vstrom for £4400