Buying a bike from Ebay?

Wonderful, thanks a lot guy's, most useful and informative. I know it sounds like sacrilege but it look's like I am going for 1200 bandit. I really love my curvy but on long journeys 2 up with luggage after 250 miles both my wife and I were in absolute agony. I will let you know what happens, once again fanx

Hey, it's a Suzuki, a lovely bike, and great for two-up touring with luggage. You'll probably love it.

What's the bike you are going to bid on?

[jamesterror]

Sold mine on there, bought my old SV from a member who had a low post count on here who contacted me out the blue.

The majority of bikers are decent, friendly and more than welcome for you to view before you buy. I always ask for more pictures because I find that's a test whether there is something to hide in some way.

[BoltonSte]

Originally Posted by 454697819

Some HPi's do cover you thats one of the points of checking via HPI it can come with cover to protect u.

I'm pretty sure that you can check on the DVLA site fo when tax is due on a vehicle, so check the site, then check with the seller when it's due (honest buyer question) if they don't add up then there's something iffy.

Just another check

Ste

If you can get the VIN number and MOT due date you can check previous MOT failures as well on a government website.

I cant see buying from ebay being different than any other method, aside from the auction based sales on some listings.

Originally Posted by mcgrimes

I cant see buying from ebay being different than any other method, aside from the auction based sales on some listings.

It is if you haven't seen it in person.

My positive comments above aside, I had to move a H**ley Sportster bought from ebay once and it had a few bits hanging off that shouldn't have been. That said I don't know what it was bought for.

[yorkie_chris]

But you still haven't bought it until you hand over the wodge of cash, you're just bidding to look at it. Exactly the same possibility of wasting time as looking on autotrader

[Jayneflakes]

I have bought two bikes from E-Bay.

The first was a Honda CG125 BRJ 1990 model that had endured a hard life. It cost a small fortune to fix up and I passed my tests on it before selling it to another lady learner. I was actually so sad to see it go, I wish I still had it for those local work commutes because no matter what the weather, time of day or where I was it always ran. The clutch wore out after a hard training session once and the throttle cable snapped. However, there was no way that the bike was ever not worth the money. I learned a lot from that bike, it was awesome.

The next bike was my XJ400 Jap import. That was problematic from the start, the exhaust was damaged, the rear shocks were damaged and the bike had been modified with bits for a Harley! It was gross. What we did not know was that it had been crashed and then left in the garden. We found the evidence later and spent another £100 repairing it. Be cautious of sellers who "are busy at the time of sale and have to rush off to a wedding!" even if they are a couple of young dykes who "only bought the bike to get married on!"

The bike was bought in August and the engine blew up in January while being ragged on the motorway. A new engine was £120 and we are currently servicing that one before fitting it. Buying old bikes super cheap on E-Bay will land you with some work, we knew this when we bought it, but it required more than we first thought. Was I ripped off? No, not really. I knew that it was thirty years old and had been stood for a while. It was bound to need some bits, but what I did not expect was to buy a horrible hack that I would actually grow to love nearly as much as my SV. Will I sell the XJ? No, even though I can see it becoming a money pit if I am not careful.

If buying from E-Bay, be careful and watch out for obvious duds. However if something is going cheap, ask yourself why that is and are you prepared to put money into something that has unknown costs attached? If I am completely honest, even with the trouble that we have had with the XJ, I do not regret buying it, it is an old, unusual bike and has had a tough life, but she is great and has style that you do not get on modern small capacity bikes.

E-Bay can be great if you are cautious and bid right.