How to buy a used motorcycle.

Written By Alex Trevizo

(a beginners guide)

For some people buying a used motorcycle can be a daunting thing. Here I’ll lay out some steps to take, on how to make sure you’re getting the best possible deal you can. Some of these suggestions can be omitted but you’ll have to learn that with experience.

Check list:

  1. Check the price of the vehicle

  2. Check fluid levels & for leaks

  3. Check chain

  4. Check tires

  5. Check suspension

  6. Ask for service history / mileage

  7. Do a history check on common problem with the bike

  8. Get bill of sale.

  9. Character check

  10. Post purchase of bike

checking the price of the vehicles.

  • The first thing in anybody’s research should be is to check the current pricing of the vehicle. There are two commonly used ways to check the value of motorcycles. The first being checking the NADA ( National Automobiles Dealers Association ). And the second is KBB Motorcycles. Here are two links provided to find both values.

  • After you have put in the information requested to find the price of the vehicle you should have at least 2 prices. One of the prices would be the trade in value. This represents what the value of the bike could be if it’s sold to a dealership. The second value could be if you were to buy the bike from a dealership. So the closer or lower to the trade in value when purchasing from a third party the better.

checking fluid levels

  • You should be checking all the fluids. All bikes aside from electrics will have oil in the motors. Other fluids could be engine coolant, brake fluid, clutch fluid, and gear oil. On the rare occasion you might have separate engine oil and transmission oil. Aside from checking for the correct levels, the other things to remember is to check and make sure none of the fluids are leaking.

    • engine oil - When checking the engine oil level the bike should have been up to operating temp. Meaning, let the bike run for about 5 min and wait about 2 - 5 min after shutting it off and then check the level. The bike should be on level ground. If the bike has a sight glass look through that and make sure its within tolerance. If it has a dip stick, pull that out, wipe it off and place it back and remove one more time and check the level. The oil should be within the hashed area of the bottom of the dipstick.

    • coolant - checking the coolant should be performed when the bike is cold. And in short you should be checking the coolant reservoir. This is a small expansion tank that hold the excess coolant from the motor. The coolant should be within the low and full marks located on the reservoir tank.

    • brake fluid / pads - check both brake fluid reservoirs, front and rear. The fluid level and color should be visible. They can be seen without having to remove any plastics from the bike. The color of brake fluid will should look clear or a light yellow gold color. If the color looks reddish or a dark color then it’s most likely old or burnt and should be changed. Some exceptions may apply but since this is a beginner friendly guide we’ll leave it at that. When checking the brake pads the smallest pad material that should be there is 1mm. If its at this min thickness or less then they should be changed sooner than later.

    • clutch fluid - If your bike has a hydraulic clutch then it will have clutch fluid. To check fluid level you would have to remove the reservoir cover to see this fluid level and condition. This fluid is commonly ( dot 3 / 4 / 5.1 ) and on the other occasions it is mineral oil. It's important to check the cap or owners / service manual to know which one your bike takes. You can not confuse the two unless you want to destroy your brake system.

    • gear oil - ( you can’t really check this one unless you’re changing it, I’m adding this section because I can. ) Bikes that do not have a chain or belt drive system will then have a drive shaft. Drive shaft driven bikes will have what’s called a final drive. It’s located at the rear wheel. The final drive is where the gear oil will be held to lubricate the gears that mesh with the drive shaft.

    • Transmission oil - This is for bikes that have separate transmissions from the engine. For bikes like this it would have two separate areas to be filling the oil from. This would be the same procedure for checking the engine oil. Please see above.

Checking the chain.

  • Checking the chain, this should be one of the best tell tail sign if a owner is taking care of their bikes. The chain is one of the most basic of service maintenance items that should be done on regular basis. When checking the chain it should be at least clean enough to be presentable. The slack should be within spec per manufacture recommendation. That means before going to look at a potential bike, you should have a sense of what the spec should be and how to check it. You can find the chain clack specs in the owners / service manual.

  • Additionally you should check the sprockets for excessive wear. The teeth on the sprockets should look like chubby pyramids. If they are starting to look like death spikes or waves then these should be changed.

Checking the tires.

  • When checking the tire there are 4 common things to look for.

    • Checking the thread and making sure there is an adequate amount left. You should be using the TWI ( thread wear indicators ). These are found around the tire at the bottom of the threads. These are found by locating the TWI printed on the side of the tire or there might be a arrow on the edge of the tire as well. When checking, the meaty part of the tire should be above the thread wear indicators.

    • Checking the condition - This should take about 15 second per tire. Its checking to make sure the tires aren’t physically damaged with cut or things sticking in or out of the tire. Also especially check the side walls for cracks or damage.

    • Age of the tire - This too can be found on the side wall of the tire. It will be 4 numbers and usually encompassed by an oval. But the first 2 numbers are the week in the year and the second two are the year of the tire. Typically tire life spans are 5 - 7 years on the bike. What can happen is the tires become dried over time and become hard and thus less sticky.

    • Last is the air pressure. Also one of the easiest things to maintain especially when trying to sell a bike is the tire air pressure. Tire pressure is usually labeled on the bike on one of the stickers. If not, then this can be found in the owner or service manual. Now once again this may be an exception. If they didn’t happen to fill the tires up before you inspect the bike, use best judgment based on all else provided.

Checking Suspension

  • When checking the suspension, you should sit on the bike and grip the front brake. Then press down hard and allow it to return back to the up position. What it should feel like is a smooth action both going down and up. It should also feel controlled. It should not feel like a pogo stick. Also, when checking the front forks you can move your finger across the thinner part of the forks. The shiny silver section. If you finger/s come back greasy or oily looking, then the forks may be leaking and the fork seals should be replaced. Same applies for the rear shocks.

Asking for service history and mileage. What is a PPI?

  • This should go without saying. Ask for the service history and mileage. If the seller has is it, then great. If not then you may have to do a little more digging to determine if the bike is properly maintained. It can be normal for people to not keep records of service done on their bikes. If the seller doesn’t have service history then what could be asked is to get a PPI ( Pre Purchase Inspection ).

  • This is where a dealer does an inspection of the vehicle and gives you a current status / condition of the bike. This will cost money if a dealer does this. It would be good form that you should cover the cost if you buy or offer to split it if you don’t buy. This will give you peace of mind, and it will give the seller information they may previously didn’t have. If sellers prefers not to spend money doing an inspection, that’s fine to. The best recommendation in that instance is to bring someone knowledgeable about bikes. They can help inspect the bike on the spot.As best practice, it’s a good idea to change all the fluids if no service history is provided.

  • As for mileage, you can’t solely rely on this alone to determine the condition of a bike. As different bikes accumulate mileage they wear differently. As an example 30k miles on a sport bike is not the same as 30k miles on big cruiser. This is only one data point and you will have to use best judgement. Use what has been written out both above and below to determine quality of a used bike.

Do a history check on common problems with the bike.

  • As with with any vehicle they will inevitably require some sort of maintenance. If there are known problems or quirks that the bikes have, you’ll want to prepare to handle those when / if they come up. One thing to keep in mind of course when buying a used bike is that yes in most cases the bikes are used. They are not new, and not off a show room floor. There will most likely be some sort of maintenance needed to get them back into running condition for a new owner. This is very normal as used bikes are as they are “USED”. It’s about being prepare for what’s ahead.

  • Once again this is for beginners, so the more experience riders/tech’s can skip this section if they want.

    • Some of the best places to find information is guest what, your dealerships, and service shops. These are the people that are going to be working on the bike. They are the ones who see the most issues and do the maintenance on the bikes. You should build a good relationship with them especially if you are not going to be working on your bike.

  • Another great resource is the forums. But, here is the catch with forums, everybody’s a technician. But not everybody is a good tech. You’re going to have to sort out and determine if the information being provided is good information. The best way to do this is cross referencing the information across different forums. You can getting a general consensus or sentiment about whatever you’re looking for.

Bill of Sale

  • A bill of sale in short is a legal document (handwritten, typed or printed by the seller or buyer) that serves as proof of a transaction of a vehicle. It is separate from the pink slip / title of the vehicle. It does not provide proof of owners ship. Only a pink slip / title has that legal authority.

  • Here is the standard DMV bill of sale form - DMV form reg 135

  • How it benefits the seller - serves a proof that the buyer purchase from them and releases seller of liability.

  • How it benefits the buyer - documents current condition of the vehicle. Protects you is seller didn’t disclose any known damages.

  • in either case it prevents fraud against the other.

Character check

  • ok this one is going to be a bit shallow. But I’ll keep this section short. What I mean by a character check is really just getting a sense of the seller based on what they have and how they present themselves.

  • Based on what they have meaning, that if they have something like 3 bikes, a couple cars and a big nice house, it probably means they have the money to properly take care of their bikes as well. But don’t just assume that’s the case refer to what has been provided for guidance.

  • The opposite is also true. If all the person has is the bike, it can still be well looked after. But odds are if they have the money, the bikes are usually well maintained. And you should still exercise best judgment if even that’s the case.

Post purchase

  • Once you have decide to purchase the bike what would happen is that you now have to fill out the pink slip / title of the bike for the transfer of ownership. Once complete you would then have to file this form with the DMV.

  • Three things you must have in order to file new registration with the DMV (at least in CA)

    • proof of insurance

      • I’d highly recommend have full insurance as a newer rider, especially if riding the bike. You never know what can happen as soon as you take off on the bike. This is for your protection against losses.

    • A motorcycle license - You should really have this anyways. If you don’t then get it, also once again it’s for your own legal protection. (disclaimer, I’m not a lawyer)

    • And paying the fee associated with a new transfer. Yes this to will cost money, but gatta pay to play.

  • Unlike car and trucks motorcycle do not require smog checking.

Remaining thoughts

  • Always use best judgement. If you are unsure always seek or ask advice from those with more knowledge and experience.

Bonus Tip

  • If you’ve read the blog this far congrats, it’s a lot to read but you made it to the end.

  • Last Bonus tip: Have fun and don’t worry. Enjoy the ride and rubber side down. 🏍 <- moto emoji

Alex Trevizo https://alextrevizo.com
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