I don't know if this has been post or not, but in any case I think it should be made a sticky. Alot of people look to used bikes for good first bikes or if they just cant afford a brand new one. This website offer a very thorough evaluation guide for anyone looking at a used bike.

http://www.clarity.net/~adam/buying-bike.html

Thank you for that, I have printed it off for my brother! graemlins/cheers.gif

Just happy I could be of help.

very good reading! http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/applause.gif

I agree, that was very informative. Most people would forget to look at all of the things that are listed to check. Like inside the gas tank for one, I would have never thought to look in there. http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/bash.gif

I agree, very interesting reading.....

Wow! thats a great site! http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

Not sure if this will help anyone or what, but this is what I take when bike shopping. It allows me to focus on every part of the bike and then come up with a quick list of problems etc to haggle about. I rate everything one to five, etc, and anything that scores below a four I put some thought into. I've never bought a bike new so I guess that's not a problem but for bikes a few years old I find this pretty useful, hope someone else does too.


I include little blurbs about testing some of the stuff because sometimes I forget if there's some guy standing there trying to hustle me. Maybe no one else has this problem but I get a bit flustered by high-pressure salespeople.



GENERAL



PAINT/BODY 1 2 3 4 5
Front and back, side to side
FASTENERS 1 2 3 4 5
Stripped or gouged
MIRRORS 1 2 3 4 5
Symmetry and condition
FAIRINGS 1 2 3 4 5
Symmetry



CRASH EVIDENCE

UNUSUAL PAINT 1 2 3 4 5

DEEP PARALLEL SCRATCHES 1 2 3 4 5
Especially above footpegs
BROKEN SIGNAL STALKS 1 2 3 4 5

NON-STOCK MIRROR(S) 1 2 3 4 5

NON-STOCK CLUTCH/BRAKE LEVERS 1 2 3 4 5

TWISTED/BENT FORKS 1 2 3 4 5
Sight from seated position
BENT MOUNTING BRACKETS 1 2 3 4 5

BROKEN MOUNTING TABS 1 2 3 4 5




RACE EVIDENCE

SAFETY WIRE HOLES IN FASTENERS 1 2 3 4 5
Front brake caliper, exhaust, casebolts, etc
TIRES 1 2 3 4 5
Balled rubber, in ragged strips
RACE COOLANT N Y
Pink or clear
STOCK ENGINE COVER N Y




BRAKES

ENGAGE SMOOTHLY FRONT 1 2 3 4 5
Bike in neutral, rolling forward
ENGAGE SMOOTHLY REAR 1 2 3 4 5
Bike in neutral, rolling forward
BRAKE DRAG FRONT 1 2 3 4 5
Release lever while rolling
BRAKE DRAG REAR 1 2 3 4 5
Release lever while rolling

STOP FRONT WHEEL 1 2 3 4 5
While rolling in neutral
STOP REAR WHEEL 1 2 3 4 5
While rolling in neutral
BRAKE DRUM WEAR 1 2 3 4 5

BRAKE PAD WEAR Front 1 2 3 4 5

BRAKE PAD WEAR Rear 1 2 3 4 5

ROTOR THICKNESS Front 1 2 3 4 5
4mm
ROTOR THICKNESS Front 1 2 3 4 5
4mm
ROTOR WARPAGE Front 1 2 3 4 5
12 thou - raise fw spin w/brakes app.
ROTOR WARPAGE Rear 1 2 3 4 5
12 thou - raise rw spin w/brakes app.
LIGHT ILLUMINATES Front N Y

LIGHT ILLUMINATES Rear N Y

FLUID COLOR 1 2 3 4 5
Light amber
HOSES & LINES 1 2 3 4 5




CLUTCH

SMOOTH ENGAGEMENT 1 2 3 4 5

DRAG 1 2 3 4 5
Spin rw w/ clutch in
SLIP 1 2 3 4 5
Engine revs w/o match in speed
MILEAGE 1 2 3 4 5




GAS TANK

OEM KEY WORKS GAS CAP N Y

DENTS 1 2 3 4 5

RUST 1 2 3 4 5
Inside
COATED 1 2 3 4 5
Milky plastic coating inside
NEW GAS N Y
Dark in colour-necessitates fuel system cleaning



SEAT

CUTS OR TEARS 1 2 3 4 5

OEM KEY WORKS N Y

LATCHES ON SNUGLY N Y



TIRES

CONDITION 1 2 3 4 5
Bald, dry rot, squared off
BURNOUTS 1 2 3 4 5
Bald in center, edges fine
FLAT SPOTS/UNBALANCED 1 2 3 4 5
Rhythmic thumping or shaking
OLD 1 2 3 4 5
Check date code



ELECTRICAL

HEADLIGHTS 1 2 3 4 5
Highbeam and Lowbeam
TURN SIGNALS FL FR RL RR

OIL PRESSURE LIGHT N Y
On with ign, off when eng starts
NEUTRAL INDICATOR LIGHT N Y

HORN N Y

IGNITION N Y

SIDESTAND CUTOFF N Y

KILLSWITCH N Y

BATTERY 1 2 3 4 5
Headlight brightens with revs 2500/7000
STATOR 1 2 3 4 5
Good battery but lights still brighten



SUSPENSION

RECENT FORK SEALS 1 2 3 4 5
Last 15 - 20k miles
FORKS PERFECTLY SMOOTH 1 2 3 4 5

FORKS STAY CLEAN WHEN PUMPED 1 2 3 4 5
Some dirt first pump ok
SUSPENSION MOVES SILENTLY 1 2 3 4 5

NEW FORK OIL 1 2 3 4 5
Three years max
REAR SHOCK GOOD 1 2 3 4 5
Jounce test




WHEELS

DENTS 1 2 3 4 5

SPEEDOMETER/ODOMETER N Y
Spin front wheel in air or run eng in gear
SPIN FREELY N Y

SPOKES 1 2 3 4 5

CHAIN/SPROCKETS/BELTS

SERIOUS WEAR 1 2 3 4 5
Pull chain back, expose more than 1/2 tooth
HOOKED SPROCKET TEETH 1 2 3 4 5

ROLLERS SMOOTH/SHINY 1 2 3 4 5

MASTERLINK CLIP STILL THERE N Y
Facing direction chain moves
TIGHT SPOTS KINKS ETC 1 2 3 4 5
Eng in nuetral, tire in air, spin wheel by hand
TENSION 1 2 3 4 5
1 inch of play botton center



EXHAUST

HOLES/LEAKS/CRACKS 1 2 3 4 5
Listen and look
HEAT TEST 1 2 3 4 5
All cylinders firing



ENGINE/CARBURETORS

COLD START 1 2 3 4 5

SOUND AT IDLE 1 2 3 4 5

SOUND AT 7500 RPM 1 2 3 4 5

SMOOTH ACCELERATION 1 2 3 4 5
In neutral
ALL GEARS ENGAGE 1 2 3 4 5
Bike on centrestand at idle
ENGINE OIL LEVEL 1 2 3 4 5

ENGINE OIL QUALITY 1 2 3 4 5

THROTTLE MOVES FREELY 1 2 3 4 5

COOLANT LEVEL 1 2 3 4 5

COOLANT COLOUR 1 2 3 4 5

COMPRESSION TEST 1 2 3 4 5

OIL LEAKS 1 2 3 4 5


CENTRESTAND CHECKS

FRONT AXLE BEARINGS 1 2 3 4 5
Move fw back & forth while in air

HANDLEBARS MOVE FULL L TO R 1 2 3 4 5
Notchy = steering head bearings

SWINGARM PIVOT 1 2 3 4 5
Rw in air, side to side play



ACCESSORIES

TOOLKIT N Y

OWNER’S MANUAL N Y

AFTERMANKET EXHAUST N Y

TANK BRA N Y

TANK BAG N Y

AFTERMARKET SUSPENSION N Y

PAPERWORK N Y

HI I HAVE BEEN RIDING ABOUT 4 YEARS ON A HONDA CBR 600 AND A GSXR 600. I WANT TO GET A BIKE THAT WILL STUNT ALL DAY. I HAVE TONS OF EXPERIANCE WITH WHEELIES STOPPIES ETC. WHAT DO GUYS THINK.


Ricky :cool: :fu:

HI I HAVE BEEN RIDING ABOUT 4 YEARS ON A HONDA CBR 600 AND A GSXR 600. I WANT TO GET A BIKE THAT WILL STUNT ALL DAY. I HAVE TONS OF EXPERIANCE WITH WHEELIES STOPPIES ETC. WHAT DO GUYS THINK.


Ricky http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/flipa.gif

Hi all,

Can some of the more experienced owners post some of their comments on choosing a used gixxer.

Common and expensive problems to be avoided and what to expect, etc.

The model history is pretty small, but if there are any unusual points, please make my day

My apologies if this has been posted previously, I couldn't find any.

Cheers

mike

morrisr said:

I agree, that was very informative. Most people would forget to look at all of the things that are listed to check. Like inside the gas tank for one, I would have never thought to look in there. http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/bash.gif



Yep when I bought mine I noticed the very old gas inside the tank and that was the main reason it was running like crap but that helped me to buy it off the other guy for way less than what he was asking for. http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Thanks for the info...it will be very helpfull when i go to purchase my first bike. I will be on the look out for all of those things.

Very helpful post!

http://www.clarity.net/~adam/buying-bike.html

Thats a great site with a whole lot of info on what to look at in a used bike.

How many miles are considered "a lot" for a bike?

To me once a car hits 100K it has a lot of miles on its motor. At what point is this for a bike? Thanks.

Dude, thanks a whole bunch for this... i just bought a 2002 600m telefonica, and the online guide helped so much. it saved me from buying 2 crappy bikes..

i dont agree with the safety wire comment.. i dont race my busa but am wanting to safety wire my brake calipers and drain plug and any other bolts where it may look trick.
i have known people to have brake pads replaced then once back out on the road the bolts backed themselves out and they were dragging a caliper.. not a good thing if u are at freeway speeds..
instead i would say talk to the owner nonchalantly about the track and stuff and see what he says. if he says yeah ive been there and all yeah the bike may have been raced otherwise the bike may not have been and he did it for the same reasons like me.

I wish i woulda read taht before i bought my first bike, when i first brought it home the first thing my dad said was "what is this piece of shit", i was certain that it was a good bike, but the more i looked at it in depth i would realize new bad things about it, i finally sold it and bought a new unused bike!

Test

Thanks for the guide..loved the pictures of what to look for!!

Thanks for the buyers guide. I asked guy I'm about to buy my new bike from some of the questions and his story seemed to check out. A great evaluation!!

~Joe

great link and will prove to be very useful

So, what's considered 'high mileage' for a sportbike?

i should have read this first i bought a bike with bad gas and poss cloged injecters

Hi I am from Lithuania and I want buy Suzuki GSX-R600 2005 .What can you tell me about this bike.

Printed out 3 copies ;)

Thanks!!!

Valued Information...

Mileage is hard to tell. An odometer only tells you how many miles it has traveled. Not what kind of miles it has traveled. For a bike about 3-5 years old, my opinion is anything above 25,000. Now you can take a bike that has been abused with 3,000 on it and it might be a worse bike. It just depends on the bike. A friend of mine has 49,000 on a sportser. But it is still a good bike.

one other little thing....check the under-tail..i noticed mine was rashed but not bad...the kid said it was from taking off the fender. when i did my rear blinkers i had the tail off and the subframe was trashed from 12 o'clockin and going too far....things like that are indicators.

very helpful guide. i studied this kinda stuff for awhile before i went out and bought my first bike, which is a used bike. my bike is great and everything is good with it, but for any new person to bikes, I would highly recommend bringing along a friend who has experience around bikes and experience riding. In retrospect, I feel stupid for not having done so before I had the knowledge I do now.

laz thnx for the guide man, very helpful printed one out for my buddy... :punk

For those interested, I've put the information from that initial link into a readable/usable checklist you can print out and bring with you when you go to see a used bike. I've uploaded it here: http://rapidshare.com/files/451424802/Used_Bike_Inspection_Doc.pdf

Please let me know if there's any major changes. I tried to contact the author to let him know I re-organized his stuff into a document but I never heard back.

Unfortunately I never got to go through the checklist because my girlfriend surprised me with a bike for my birthday. Well, I guess that's not that unfortunate after all :D

Hope this helps somebody out there!

Man, I wish I had seen this before I bought my bike. I seen the bike on Craigslist and all my friends had bikes and were bugging me daily (I work with these fools too) to get one. I should have at the very least brought one of them when I went to go look at the bike. I seen it, road it and bought it all in 24hrs. I just wanted one so bad. After taking it to the house and having them go through it I found out that I overpaid and the bike needed some work! :suicide

The seller lied to me about several things which my friends pointed out to me. I was screwed too because the phone the guy used was one of those pre-loaded phones from Wal-Mart and we never met at his house/garage.

It was a lesson learned and I'll never make the same mistake twice. But this guide is worth hundreds...literally.