Ebay motorcycle buying

[Dochunt]

Anybody out there has any experience in buying a motorcycle off of ebay.
With all the cheats out there I suspect there might be some issues.
Thanks for the responses.

[kopfjäger]

I bought my 03 800 off eBay, but I contacted the owner and gave a price and she shut the auction down. Everything went smooth.

[EEL]

This is cheating but it works. I've negotiated it a few times for various products (not motorcycles).

1) You find bikes near you (driving distance).
2) Send a private message to sell the bike to you outside of ebay

A lot of the times the seller will agree because ebay is getting a gigantic kickback for the sale and most sellers hate the buyer protection policies. Also, since most operate an online business, they could avoid the tax implications with a cash sale.

You'd save a good 5-10 percent (if not more) by doing this and since its local, you can go look at it yourself.

If you are talking about long distance buying, I've known one person who has done this and he himself told me that its a crap shoot. Once in a while you hit the paystreak. (He picked up a mint VFR800 with 7500 miles for 4,000)

[Dochunt]

The prices on ebay seems a lot cheaper than on Cycletrader.
Makes one a little nervous on long distant buying.
If one is close enough then it makes sense to go and check it out.

[Nibor]

I bought a bike on eBay, had it shipped down to me. It had an extra 100,000km on it (been around the clock), that the seller knew but didn't disclose.
Neither eBay or PayPal covered me, so I lost out.

I do know where he lives.....


Only buy what you can physically inspect yourself.

[Howie]

Used is used, with it go the associated risks, even more if you are looking a few states away.  If close enough, inspect the bike.  Not close enough?  Maybe a board member can help you out.

[yamifixer]

I bought a vintage Benelli off Ebay. All I can say is buyer beware. I wanted one of these bikes and it was listed as complete and in need of love. well it was all there. and i love a good project.

As stated above try to go see it or have someone you trust check it out and never bid with stars in your eyes.

[Dochunt]

Thanks.
I am looking for a 250 -400 cc dual sport so I can ride to the local dirt tracts. Want to keep the cost down, as I will also use it to teach my 15 year old son how to ride.
I don't think that I am the sort that would ever buy anything without giving it a good inspection.

[Auslander]

I bought both a 1098S and an S2R off of eBay. Both sellers had really good ratings. The Monster was local so that was easy enough. The S was in over 1000 miles away so that was a bit trickier. Had him send a lot of extra photos. But to complete the deal I, paid the deposit, then chose a dealer in his area. I called them up and spoke to the GM. I sent a bank check, made out to the seller, for the balance to the GM. I Paypal'd $100 to the shop for mechanic labor and storage. Then the seller dropped the bike off at the dealership and sent me a pic of the mileage. Once the mechanic had a thorough look around the bike, the GM released the check a day later. Then I had a shipping company pick the bike up directly from the dealership. Worked out well.

[Dochunt]

Thanks, I will keep looking, I want something not too expensive that I can look at and trailer home.

[Speeddog]

This sounds like a really good way to go:

I bought both a 1098S and an S2R off of eBay. Both sellers had really good ratings. The Monster was local so that was easy enough. The S was in over 1000 miles away so that was a bit trickier. Had him send a lot of extra photos. But to complete the deal I, paid the deposit, then chose a dealer in his area. I called them up and spoke to the GM. I sent a bank check, made out to the seller, for the balance to the GM. I Paypal'd $100 to the shop for mechanic labor and storage. Then the seller dropped the bike off at the dealership and sent me a pic of the mileage. Once the mechanic had a thorough look around the bike, the GM released the check a day later. Then I had a shipping company pick the bike up directly from the dealership. Worked out well.

[abby normal]

not ebay, but i purchased the 851 from a lying pos stealership in chicago
which is now i believe out of business.  my fault ultimately for believing
them and not making the trip, or simply finding something local.  i wouldn't
do it again ... meaning i need to see / touch / smell / fondle / leg-hump anything
im going to put real money on.

the issues were:  lots of aftermarket stuff when i specifically asked if it was stock.
when i called them on it, the douch-nozzle sales yob actually retorted with, "well,
the air in the tyres isn't original either.  is that a problem?"  for a period of about
a year, until i got the bike restored, i would have torched the place given the
opportunity.  in the end ... bike is fully restored and original, rescued i guess from
unappreciative squids.

it just bugs me that honesty takes a back seat to profit.  your experience
may vary.  caveat emptor.

[Bill in OKC]

One thing I would say is not to plan on riding a used bike any distance home.  If you know the seller and history of the bike maybe - but trailer it if at all possible.  If you can get it home and then go through it or have a mechanic go through it to check out brakes, tires oil etc before riding it at any speed or distance.

[TitanMonsterS4R]

As others have said, protect yourself because very rarely do the stars align when it comes to their description and what you mind paints a picture of based on that.

Seller: Gently ridden/ I flogged the shit out of it but never redlined it
Buyer: just putted around town never really rode it fast or aggressively

Seller: Never dropped (I dont count the time I dropped it while moving it in the garage and dinged the tank)
Buyer: Never been laid down period for whatever reason stupidity or not

Seller: Mint condition (except those paint nicks on the frame, discoloration on the engine covers, scratches around tank where body meets bike)
Buyer: Not a single thing out of place. Looks like it's lived at Bologna and never been touched, rider humped or anything

You get the drift. The stars rarely align so go see it before pulling the trigger or know the risk you run

[1.21GW]

Thanks.
I am looking for a 250 -400 cc dual sport so I can ride to the local dirt tracts. Want to keep the cost down, as I will also use it to teach my 15 year old son how to ride.
I don't think that I am the sort that would ever buy anything without giving it a good inspection.

Check advrider. Lots of DS bikes. And you can look at the person's post history and get a good sense of if they are a loud mouth jerk or a sensible guy. If they have a lot of posts and are active, there is less chance they are a cut-amd-run con person. Also, you can see how they used the bike, maintained it, etc.

I bought my DR650 off of advrider from a stranger 1000 miles away. The deal was too good to pass up, so I just read all 80-or-so of the buyer's other posts to get a sense of what kinda of guy he was, had an acceptable email exchange, and decided to pull the trigger.  Felt much more confident than of I had bought off of eBay or cycletrader.