General buying advice please

I’ve arranged to see 3 bikes this weekend. A SV650, 600 Bandit (faired) and a 1200 Bandit. I’d class myself as being reasonably mechanically minded which is to say I can do the basics on a car maintenance wise and know what’s what under a bonnet. But when it comes to bikes I know diddly squat. So my question is what should I look out for and what questions should I ask?

All the bikes are below my 2k budget, the SV has 10k miles FSH 02 reg and is £1950. Spoke to the seller of the B600 and he’s willing to go down to £1500 so I reckon there could be more scope to get a little more off it it’s done 30k miles and also 02 reg. The 1200 is up for £1850 04 reg with 19k miles. The SV is from a dealer the other two are private sales.

When it comes to servicing what tends to be the norm with bikes? Do people tend to DIY? I’m happy with that providing they can show me receipts for parts etc. On a bike what should be changed, when and how often?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Cheers

the curvy is too expensive mate-be looking at 1500-1600 max

Cheers mate, thought as much with it being a dealer. TBH it's the only one local so it was more to get a feel for what the model is like then would have probably looked for a private one if I liked it. When did the face lift models come in and what dort of budget are you looking at for one?

The B1200 looks too cheap to me book is about £2450 on them.

where are you based mate?-you'll find that there might be someone on here near you selling -pointys are from 03 onwards

I'm based in West Cumbria about 40 mins south of Carlisle.

Cheers

In terms of servicing, it's a bit of a mixture... I have had two "official" services and as the last one was a rip-off I now do it all myself, keeping receipts etc.

I'm not familiar with the Curvy parts that tend to reveil a hard life, or are weak points. On the Bandits check out the collector box on the exhaust (where the headers meet under the bike). The collector box steal is a mid-grade and not full stainless, they are known to corrode.

Needless to say, but if you have any doubts - walk away.