Previous Owners and The Truth

I am going to share a true and tried method of knowing when a previous owner is telling you the truth or not.

This is not based on tarot cards, body language, or any other supernatural phenomena.

To know when the previous owner is not telling the truth....

Look, do not listen, at the face of the previous owner,

and if it's lips are moving, they are lying...

Hope this helps...

 

Ouch.

But true. Don't even get me going on the PO of my daughter's 2008 Chinese scooter...

 

:lol:

And quote for epic truth!

 

yes you are right. i just bought a cb750 and the PO told me that the carbs were rebuilt, not just cleaned but rebuilt. this was not true cause i pulled them off and cleaned them and they were not rebuilt at all. he said the tank was just sealed, once again not true. somebody just dumped some sort of sealer in the tank right over the large amounts of rust and now its all coming out and the tank is pretty much ruined. told me it had been rejetted for the kirker header, again not true has stock jets in it. everything he said was basically a lie. i have been through this before when buying stuff but i am just the kinda guy that likes to give people the benefit of the doubt, but from now on i am not going to listen to the people i am buying stuff from and just try to look at what i can and make my own decision on what the machine or whatever it is. the only problem is, is that it is hard to really check something out like a bike when the seller is there breathing down your neck trying to tell you all this crap. the problem with the cb750 i bought was i couldnt ride due to where is was located and it didnt have tags. also almost every bolt or screw on the bike is either stripped out or the head is stripped out, but from now on i am going to be more careful.

 

Those two things would make me walk right away. I don't work with pushy sales people.

 

If a PO doesn't have sales receipts for the parts he's replaced or work he's had done, well, then I'm skeptical. That's why I keep all my receipts. I mean, how hard is it to keep receipts?!

 

When you're looking at a 30+ year old bike, only a few things actually matter.

And they're not the brakes or the tires or whether the forks leak. You're going to replace all that stuff anyway. Or even if the carbs will need attention or not; simply assume that they WILL despite what anyone says.

What does matter?

-Degree of tomfoolery: Is it ALL THERE; or are there missing parts, obvious incorrect fastener substitutions and electrical-tape rats nests? Too much prior molestation and you lose me; it's too easy to find one that ISN'T all buggered up.

-Is the mill solid? GET A COMPRESSION TEST. An XJ will run seemingly "OK" on 3 1/2 cylinders.

Always, always, always make your OWN assessment of the bike; don't believe anything the seller is telling you (unless it happens to actually square up with what you're seeing.) Receipts only substantiate that the bike was taken to a shop; they're no guarantee that said shop actually knew what they were doing.

 

see I guess I am one of those people that have always been
way too honest
I will tell the truth.. only to save the next owner headache
however, this might just be me

 

It's not just you, any true enthusiast does that. As does any honest person.

Most people you're buying a bike from are NOT true enthusiasts. Nor are they necessarily honest people. Quite honestly, motorcycles seem to have fallen into the wrong hands a lot. Especially '80s bikes, a lot of people who bought them originally weren't enthusiasts, it was a "lark" and they were so cheap at the time. Some Yamaha dealers were selling 650 Secas "two for the price of one" in 1983.

That's where my 650 came from; PO and his brother each got one because it only cost what one bike would have. Then he proceeded to neglect and drop the poor thing for 2 or 3 seasons and 13K miles, then parked it in the corner of the garage and forgot about it. Put new tires on it about five years later and made a half-assed attempt to get it running; and when he couldn't it went back in the corner of the garage until I bought it a couple years ago. With a nice full tank of 1991 vintage gas and brand new 20+ year old tires...

At least he was 100% honest about the history of the bike, the neglect, and the fact that all he really did was abuse it.

 

Just happened to me. Drove 140 miles to buy an XJ550 Maxim in "excellent condition". I walked away from it even though the engine was in great shape. It was all the other stuff that made it much less than excellent. Even then I would have bought the bike if it had been a reasonable price.

 

Works for politicians too, all of them :x

 

You've learnt a lesson the hard way. If you know the right questions to ask you won't get stuck with a lemon. As for the owner breathing down your neck, I always take the bike for a ride and THEN go over it out on the road.