Owner of SV650S for one week!

Well, it's about time I signed up to the forums.

I bought my 2000 SV650 S Curvy a week ago and absolutely love it. Howeveeeeer... There have been problems, a lot of sweat blood and tears to get it to where it is now.

The bikes backstory:

The bike was bought brand new in 2000 by a guy who was in a group who went out every weekend for long trips and occasional track days with it.

It was then handed over in 2009 to his son, who used it mainly for track days. In 2014 he sold it for £1900 to the guy who I bought the bike off, and he was using it mainly for commuting as he had his other bikes for track days.

I thought that it was a well looked after bike and it was going to be such a pleasure riding it and there wouldn't need to be anything done with it. I took a test ride and everything worked perfect. But the test ride was about 10 minutes.

I agreed at the price of £1100 and I organised a day to collect the bike(In wales) it is about 3 hours 40 minutes by car/bike to get there so I took the train(About 7 hours and 3 - 5 stops/change trains).

I got there and the guy quickly signed all the paperwork and I was off. I set the Garmin Zumo 390LM up on the handlebar and got moving.

About 15 minutes into the ride I went in the middle of the red overtake lane to filter through traffic when I heard what I thought to be a stone or something hitting the wheel fender. I thought that everything was ok so ignored it and kept going.

I started using the brakes about 40 minutes into the trip(because of an accident) and it was juddering the whole bike. I thought to myself "**** have I bought a dud".

When I got about 30 minutes from home I started "Feeling" something weird on the foot pegs. It felt like something wasn't right, that is the best I can explain. Once I got into the 30mph towns I started hearing a clonking sound when taking off at traffic lights, 1st > 2nd gear then it would stop when moving into 3rd year. I thought it might not be anything but it was odd as it wasn't happening when I test rode the bike or when I first picked it up and rode it through the towns for an hour or so.

I got home and inspected the bike. Nothing seemed out of place.

The next day with the help of my friend we took all the fairings off, including the tank and had a good look around.

To my amazement these are the problems we found...

1. The Front Indicators were only held on by a Coca Cola bottle cap. So they have drilled a hole in the cap, put the indicator bolt through then used cheap adhesive to stick that to the fairings. Both of the front indicators were like this.

2. The was water streaming out of the black plastic that is covering all the wires, almost every part of the bike that had the black plastic over it had water in it.

3. After taking apart all the brakes, the majority of them were seized.

4. The dash back lights were not working.

5. The horn wasn't working

6. The rear tyre was waaaaaay below legal limit it some spots

So in short, I learnt that a 10 minute test ride is definitely not enough!

The part I'm not to sure on what will happen is that it had its MOT 1 hour before I collected the bike. NO ADVISORIES.

The previous 4 MOT's all got advisories for no chain guard, the bike did not have a chain gaurd on it and got no advisory.

I called VOSA and they had asked me to attend my local bike MOT station(About 20 minutes ride) last Thursday(About 6 days after having the bike). They MOT'd the bike and found that as its current state(Indicators, Horn, Tyre, Chain guard and noticeable knocking sound which apparently affects the handling) That it has failed. They told me to fill out a form, which was basically giving details of the MOT station that done the original test and that persons name.

I got a phone call on Friday from Said MOT station and it was the guy who had passed the MOT. He had asked me what was wrong with the bike and said that when he tested it none of that was on the bike. he claimed I had deliberately messed with it so he could get in trouble.

The guy who sold the bike is his best mate(From what he told me by text messages which I've also sent as evidence that because they are friends he may have turned a blind eye)

I called VOSA again and they said that the bike will be collected that day to be taken back up to the original MOT station for another check up and relevant forms to be filled in by the tester.

I've received the bike back today with a notice saying that the bike was not in roadworthy condition and that relevant paperwork/letter will be sent to me within the next 7 days regarding next steps. The seller has contacted me this morning and told me to look in my bank account and he has sent me £450 to get "Things sorted but just drop the thing on my mate he doesn't want to lose his job".

Long story short, threw the money at my friend and we have quite a few "Fixes" on their way. Will post more photos soon !

There is my really long horror story. To think someone would sell someone a bike thats not roadworthy when they know that person has over 3 hours on a motorway to get home. Anything could of happened. Thank god I'm ok.

[CLARKYsv]

Your Nativity will be your downfall my friend.........

Take the seller to the small claims court for a full refund and compensation, assist in any action that you can with regard to this MOT tester, these two clowns are not funny and are indeed putting lives in danger. You are morally bound to help in anyway you can to bring them to book in order to protect other inexperienced people from them.

Geoff.

[Bibio]

private sale of second hand bike = sold as seen and up to the buyer to check the bike over before handing cash over.

you say that you heard a noise and never stopped to check things out and that the bike started to make noises and again you never stopped to check things but continued on your journey. what if the bike had seized would you have blamed the seller?

i think the seller has been more than kind giving you £450 towards putting the bike right. there are not a lot of people who would do that.

as for the MOT. well i hope the tester looses his job for letting an unsafe bike out on the road and possibility of someone loosing their life, buuut the bike is only MOT worthy at the time of the MOT.

good luck and ride safe

I would argue that if the MOT is corrupt and this can be verified by VOSA then the transaction is fraudulent and therefore criminal. once VOSA's findings are available I would be taking advise on this.

[Dave20046]

If you think about it you've done pretty well, in the grand scheme of things those defects are pretty minor; brakes can need degunking every year, the horns never work/need repositioning..they cost a fiver, tyres (did his MOT tester check your eyes for you?), no chainguard no biggy (waterlogged electrics , okay a little concerning - needs a good inspection)...but you got a running bike for £650.

I was reading it thinking uh oh you bought a dud, you should have checked a few things - but then the saving grace is this guy's clearly said to his mate 'the bike's fine please just pass it so I can get shut and this MOT tester is either gullible and has been let down big time or is completely reckless. He's then gone completely the wrong way about it and tried to intimidate you, which is definitely not on.
I'd let them sweat it a bit longer scare his mate and then probably drop it , or if you really want your money back offer it him back minus costs.

It is a bad day (on the day) but it seems to have worked out, I definitely wouldn't kick yourself over it if anything I'd congratulate yourself.

[Blapper]

With that history I wouldn't have bought it in the first place, but with what you've found out since, if it were me I would go for him taking it back plus costs. People like that need to be shown the error of their ways.

On the other hand, if you are looking for something to do with your spare time, i.e. discovering problem after problem and paying out for parts to repair them as opposed to buying a genuine bike and just riding it, then keep it.

T.B.H. I think you have done well to get some money back to fix the faults.
ebay is a big market and many sellers use it to get rid of their ****ty **** stuff.
it horrifies me that you knew something was wrong but you carried on riding, what if it was your wheel bearings giving up. you would have been in a world of ****. i do hope you get the bike sorted, and just enjoy. please remember it's getting on in years now and like us all needs to be maintained

i must add that i also purchased a curvy off ebay and paid well over the odd's for it. you may think why did you do that, the reason is that i checked the bike over, i even took a multi meter with me and when i test rode the bike it was set up perfect for me. have owned it for near on 2 yrs now and love it. only thing i have changed is the r/r and put a race can on it.

My take is, you have got some money back, and a bike that you now know ALL the faults on.

From there, shouldn't be too difficult to get it to a standard that is acceptable to you, within the budget you now have.

Personally thats what i would do. I'd continue with letting VOSA do what they are doing though, as a duty of care to others.

You jumped on a bike for a journey of over 3 hours and didn't have a quick look at the tyres or check the oil before you set off! If you had been stopped on the way home the tyre would have cost you 3 points. It is up to you to make sure your bike is road worthy.
Personally I'd use the money back to fix the bike up and move on. By all means drop the MOT guy in the dwang. I would recommend that you pay a bit more attention to detail when buying a bike in the future.