Kurt Arbuckle | Houston Personal Injury Attorney

Houston, TX Personal Injury and Car Accident Attorney

Question You Should Ask When Buying a Used Motorcycle

By Leave a Comment

motorcycle

Photo Credit: dfirecop via Compfight cc

Used motorcycles are not hard to come by. Good ones are, though.

Buying anything that is previously owned is cost-effective, but is also extremely nerve-wracking. We always hope that what you see is what you get, but it is hard not to be fearful that you are about to make a faulty purchase. Just like you can’t judge a book by its cover, you can’t just buy a motorcycle if it just “looks okay.” Faulty purchases can lead to horrible accidents and major injuries.

To avoid this outcome, the most important part of your used motorcycle purchase is seeing it in person and talking to the seller. Whether you are a novice or a pro, it is hard to know what questions to ask. Even if you ask the questions, how do you know if the seller is answering them truthfully. 

After reading through some used motorcycle tips, here are five questions we recommend asking the seller:

  1. Has the bike ever seen the ground? Crash damage should be evident, but it is always good to ask. If they respond “no,” but you see damage probably caused by a crash, ask for an explanation.
  1. Has the bike been raced? If you see ragged edged tires and safety wire, this bike has probably seen a race or two.
  1. What is the maintenance history? When was the oil last changed? If the owner is shaky on this information this should be a clear sign that the bike hasn’t been taken care of.
  1. Has the bike been modified? If the seller responds with a long list of modifications, you should avoid this purchase.
  1. Ask the owner why they are selling the bike? If the seller hasn’t revealed anything negative already, you may be questioning why in the world would a person want to sell a perfect bike? What’s wrong? Why didn’t they like it? If it has anything to do with maintenance, safety, or recurring issues you should be immediately turned off from purchasing. The owner’s answers to these questions will be the true testament of how quality the purchase is.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *