Certainly in my case, my garden is not maintained because I work every waking hour... any spare time I get is spent riding or maintaining the bikes. Garden is bottom of the priority list 😂
I thought I was the only other person that judged the seller by how he keeps his house up. I look at their vehicles, shop, or garage too. I have found 100% of the time when I roll up to a cruddy kept place the bike sucks too.
Being able to give out your home address to potential buyers says a lot about this Canadian honesty we hear about. Do the same in Perth, Western Australia and you can expect to get burgled that night...
Common sense and very valuable advice, unlike so many other superficial "best motorcycle tips" channels. Thank you, Chuck!! ❤❤❤ Recently bought a 32y old, 120.000km BMW R100GS where the seller was very transparent. The bike turned out to be in perfect condition, 11.5 compression; like new, just rolled off the factory floor, compression! 😮😊
always evaluate the person. So many stories about buying bikes, the sellers and also covering things up. Learned some new tricks on the shifter and foot pegs.
One more obvious one is wheel condition. A poorly maintained wheel is my version of a sloppy shifter. A fun one for Hondas is how many letters are worn off the seat, “H” -150hrs’ish. “O” 300hrs “N” it’s a project.
Pulling the pipe on a 2 stroke is a must. Same with compression testing a 4 stroke. I always look at the wear on contact points as Chuck said, including the frame paint or protectors, clutch cover, magneto cover, etc. Wear on those areas tells a story about how much and how hard a bike was ridsen. If there's a skid plate, always look under it to check the frame for dents and cracks. If it's a KTM, ask what their chain slack is set at. If they say any measurement using "fingers" you'll need to consider that the chain tension is likely wrong which can cause serious damage. Head bearing play or crunchiness is common on older bikes that have been neglected, since it's not the easiest job. Same with swingarm and linkage bearings. I agree with Chuck about control setup - if the bike is setup really poorly, with levers against the grips and pointed down, old torn grips, dull foot pegs and brake pedal, pedal and shifter super low, etc, the bike hasn't been in the hands of someone who knows what they're doing. Especially bent levers, pedals, and pegs - these are so cheap, and if someone didn't bother to replace them then they didn't bother to maintain the bike overall.
100% on pulling the pipe...if a seller balks at me asking to take two minutes to pull the pipe, I don't take the time to go any further, I walk right there.
I drove 2 hrs each way to look at a dr650. I showed up and the bike was running....and steaming because he was washing it! I wasnt there 2 minutes and I was on my way home. You really need to do your homework before driving a good distnce to look at a bike. In my case it was dumb to go that far for such a common bike, but there wasnt many available local at the time. As far as an unkept yard I dont take that in too much consideration, def not a red flag.
The quickest transaction I had was meeting the guy at a gas station with the bike. From the pictures and talking to the guy I was fairly certain I would buy the bike. I drove from Calgary to Red Deer to pick it up. He said it probably needed a new battery (which it dit), but fired it up and I took it. It was a clean low mileage café bike. Off-road bikes I've only bought one from an ad and it was okay. I really bought it to find out how it handled as I had read magazine articles. I didn't keep it long, but it ran fine.
I went to look at a 2011 300xcw and when I got there it was way worse than in the photos ,wasn’t a great neighbourhood the guys house was dirty and messy and the bike was filthy with weeds on the rims in was shocking but me and my dad went through it and got it started as it wasn’t starting the idle was way to high we had to get new fuel and oil it was a mess but it fired up we test rode it and took it home and I’ve done 120+hours on it and we bought it at 281 and the only thing we have done is change the piston rings and runs like a dream I mainly ride hard enduro occasionally riding a sand track and it’s proven to be great 👍🏼
Like a few others have noted, I thought I was a judgmental bugger looking at people's houses and cars on Google Maps! I'm yet to be burned on a bike, but I've recently been burned on a car purchase and I can put it down to being too excited and not following my normal processes.
The only comment I would add is that, the percentage of owners who actually are aware of this stuff is very small. I work on/ride so many bikes with tons of throttle free play, or controls that are set up wrong/worn out, etc. most riders aren’t even aware of this stuff. I don’t think they are all cheapskates or out to scam people. Most people just aren’t mechanically aware. I wouldn’t write off a bike just because of some of these things, but it is good to know what you’re getting in to. At least that’s my experience, and mostly with older bikes.
I'm also judgemental about what fluids were used, as well as brand of tires. If a bike has lived on the cheapest fluids and low quality gas, and is sitting on partially-worn junk brand tires, it hasn't received quality parts and maintenance under the current owner.
Here's s wierd one. Lets say you're buying a 500 and it's been undisclosed that it was used as a snowbike, not logging mileage and no or disconnected hourmeter. I think a buddy of mine got burned like this. Any specific inspections for snowbike use? You guys in Canada must be savvy to this one.
Yep. The big telltale is inspecting the fork tubes. The bottom inch usually shows where the ski bracket was clamped on. They’re often slightly dented there.
Yup someone who says they don't know anything about it has driven the wheels of the machine most likely and now it's gonna puke soon so they try ro sell for 3 times it's mint value.. the air filter on my sons bike was a joke! Didn't have the correct wingbolt,no plastic housing for filter either. Filter was full of sand and dust,no oil at all. I knew we would be doing the engine rebuild rite away while it still ran. Then again he made a good trade and bike only cost him 400$
People will sometimes proudly tell you how badly they maintain the bike. One time I simply asked the guy whether he changed the piston or anything else on his KTM 2 stroke. He proudly exclaimed no, it's "all original", and started telling me how these bikes are bulletproof and can easily go 400 hours without changing anything. Similarly, they'll try to impress you with how the bike has been so reliable for them they haven't had to touch it with a wrench for years. People are weird.
If riding hard enduro type terrain at low rpm’s KTM two strokes do easily go several hundred hours as long as the oil and air filter have been kept clean.
@@gpaull2 Well, you'll have to admit that's a lot of ifs. I've seen plenty of KTM two strokes go up to 400 hours without a piston change, and without particularly great maintenance either. The only trouble is when they're at half that point the bike runs like a turd and the cylinder is ruined. It's cheaper to just replace the piston every 100 hours or so.
@@javierpallalorden If you're not riding that much then you'll get to 100 hours probably in two years. Putting 200 bucks every two years towards not risking cylinder damage and having a nice fresh motor doesn't seem that much to me, esp. given that you paid like 10k for the bike. Anyway, do what you like.
Pulling the pipe on a 2 stroke is less than a 5 minute job... Two springs, and two bolts. If a seller won't allow that, pass. Same with compression testing a 4 stroke.
@@NMAdv when I sold my last bike I told the people on the phone I had the pipe off so they could see the piston and bore were good (about 25hrs since top end was done ) ..it made the sale, they didn’t even haggle about price…
@@zm6771 Removing the spark plug on a four stroke can be a pain in the ass, you have to remove the fuel tank and before removing the fuel tank you have to remove all the plastics, remove the seat, remove the luggage holders etc. etc.
@@javierpallalorden yep. And if you don't test compression, you're taking a huge gamble on the engine. Dirt bikes are made to disassemble easily. It's a 10-15min job.
Certainly in my case, my garden is not maintained because I work every waking hour... any spare time I get is spent riding or maintaining the bikes. Garden is bottom of the priority list 😂
I thought I was the only other person that judged the seller by how he keeps his house up. I look at their vehicles, shop, or garage too. I have found 100% of the time when I roll up to a cruddy kept place the bike sucks too.
Being able to give out your home address to potential buyers says a lot about this Canadian honesty we hear about. Do the same in Perth, Western Australia and you can expect to get burgled that night...
Common sense and very valuable advice, unlike so many other superficial "best motorcycle tips" channels. Thank you, Chuck!! ❤❤❤ Recently bought a 32y old, 120.000km BMW R100GS where the seller was very transparent. The bike turned out to be in perfect condition, 11.5 compression; like new, just rolled off the factory floor, compression! 😮😊
always evaluate the person. So many stories about buying bikes, the sellers and also covering things up.
Learned some new tricks on the shifter and foot pegs.
Good advice on the shifter. 👍
One more obvious one is wheel condition. A poorly maintained wheel is my version of a sloppy shifter. A fun one for Hondas is how many letters are worn off the seat, “H” -150hrs’ish. “O” 300hrs “N” it’s a project.
Excellent information, thanks.
Pulling the pipe on a 2 stroke is a must. Same with compression testing a 4 stroke. I always look at the wear on contact points as Chuck said, including the frame paint or protectors, clutch cover, magneto cover, etc. Wear on those areas tells a story about how much and how hard a bike was ridsen. If there's a skid plate, always look under it to check the frame for dents and cracks. If it's a KTM, ask what their chain slack is set at. If they say any measurement using "fingers" you'll need to consider that the chain tension is likely wrong which can cause serious damage. Head bearing play or crunchiness is common on older bikes that have been neglected, since it's not the easiest job. Same with swingarm and linkage bearings. I agree with Chuck about control setup - if the bike is setup really poorly, with levers against the grips and pointed down, old torn grips, dull foot pegs and brake pedal, pedal and shifter super low, etc, the bike hasn't been in the hands of someone who knows what they're doing. Especially bent levers, pedals, and pegs - these are so cheap, and if someone didn't bother to replace them then they didn't bother to maintain the bike overall.
100% on pulling the pipe...if a seller balks at me asking to take two minutes to pull the pipe, I don't take the time to go any further, I walk right there.
The best used bikes I’ve bought have all been from old dudes in the suburbs who seem well off but didn’t have time to ride
That’s the most perfect seller. 👌
I drove 2 hrs each way to look at a dr650. I showed up and the bike was running....and steaming because he was washing it! I wasnt there 2 minutes and I was on my way home. You really need to do your homework before driving a good distnce to look at a bike. In my case it was dumb to go that far for such a common bike, but there wasnt many available local at the time.
As far as an unkept yard I dont take that in too much consideration, def not a red flag.
Nice!
The quickest transaction I had was meeting the guy at a gas station with the bike. From the pictures and talking to the guy I was fairly certain I would buy the bike. I drove from Calgary to Red Deer to pick it up. He said it probably needed a new battery (which it dit), but fired it up and I took it. It was a clean low mileage café bike. Off-road bikes I've only bought one from an ad and it was okay. I really bought it to find out how it handled as I had read magazine articles. I didn't keep it long, but it ran fine.
I went to look at a 2011 300xcw and when I got there it was way worse than in the photos ,wasn’t a great neighbourhood the guys house was dirty and messy and the bike was filthy with weeds on the rims in was shocking but me and my dad went through it and got it started as it wasn’t starting the idle was way to high we had to get new fuel and oil it was a mess but it fired up we test rode it and took it home and I’ve done 120+hours on it and we bought it at 281 and the only thing we have done is change the piston rings and runs like a dream I mainly ride hard enduro occasionally riding a sand track and it’s proven to be great 👍🏼
Like a few others have noted, I thought I was a judgmental bugger looking at people's houses and cars on Google Maps! I'm yet to be burned on a bike, but I've recently been burned on a car purchase and I can put it down to being too excited and not following my normal processes.
That's not a 2009....small diameter frame came in 2011 on the XC model. I agree with all you say.
You’re right. It’s a 2011. Realized after I edited the video.
The only comment I would add is that, the percentage of owners who actually are aware of this stuff is very small. I work on/ride so many bikes with tons of throttle free play, or controls that are set up wrong/worn out, etc. most riders aren’t even aware of this stuff. I don’t think they are all cheapskates or out to scam people. Most people just aren’t mechanically aware. I wouldn’t write off a bike just because of some of these things, but it is good to know what you’re getting in to. At least that’s my experience, and mostly with older bikes.
I agree. Most people have no malicious intent. It’s about looking objectively at all the information that’s available.
I'm also judgemental about what fluids were used, as well as brand of tires. If a bike has lived on the cheapest fluids and low quality gas, and is sitting on partially-worn junk brand tires, it hasn't received quality parts and maintenance under the current owner.
That’s the idea. 👌
Here's s wierd one. Lets say you're buying a 500 and it's been undisclosed that it was used as a snowbike, not logging mileage and no or disconnected hourmeter. I think a buddy of mine got burned like this.
Any specific inspections for snowbike use? You guys in Canada must be savvy to this one.
Yep. The big telltale is inspecting the fork tubes. The bottom inch usually shows where the ski bracket was clamped on. They’re often slightly dented there.
You wouldn’t be able to hear a bad crank bearing?
Sometimes, but not usually.
@ ok, and when the roller bearings are dry on the ktms when spinning cranks Witt top end off are those bearings noisy
Yup someone who says they don't know anything about it has driven the wheels of the machine most likely and now it's gonna puke soon so they try ro sell for 3 times it's mint value.. the air filter on my sons bike was a joke! Didn't have the correct wingbolt,no plastic housing for filter either. Filter was full of sand and dust,no oil at all. I knew we would be doing the engine rebuild rite away while it still ran. Then again he made a good trade and bike only cost him 400$
People will sometimes proudly tell you how badly they maintain the bike. One time I simply asked the guy whether he changed the piston or anything else on his KTM 2 stroke. He proudly exclaimed no, it's "all original", and started telling me how these bikes are bulletproof and can easily go 400 hours without changing anything. Similarly, they'll try to impress you with how the bike has been so reliable for them they haven't had to touch it with a wrench for years. People are weird.
If riding hard enduro type terrain at low rpm’s KTM two strokes do easily go several hundred hours as long as the oil and air filter have been kept clean.
@@gpaull2 Well, you'll have to admit that's a lot of ifs. I've seen plenty of KTM two strokes go up to 400 hours without a piston change, and without particularly great maintenance either. The only trouble is when they're at half that point the bike runs like a turd and the cylinder is ruined. It's cheaper to just replace the piston every 100 hours or so.
@@__kvik Replacing the piston every 100 hours is fine if you race it, but doing some kind of free time enduro is wasting your money.
@@javierpallalorden If you're not riding that much then you'll get to 100 hours probably in two years. Putting 200 bucks every two years towards not risking cylinder damage and having a nice fresh motor doesn't seem that much to me, esp. given that you paid like 10k for the bike. Anyway, do what you like.
Also, I don't know any seller who will let you completely disassemble their bike before you pay for it.
Pulling the pipe on a 2 stroke is less than a 5 minute job... Two springs, and two bolts. If a seller won't allow that, pass. Same with compression testing a 4 stroke.
@@NMAdv when I sold my last bike I told the people on the phone I had the pipe off so they could see the piston and bore were good (about 25hrs since top end was done ) ..it made the sale, they didn’t even haggle about price…
@@Eric_4Di use a spreadsheet so i can show the buyers my maintenance schedule which is pretty diligent.
@@zm6771 Removing the spark plug on a four stroke can be a pain in the ass, you have to remove the fuel tank and before removing the fuel tank you have to remove all the plastics, remove the seat, remove the luggage holders etc. etc.
@@javierpallalorden yep. And if you don't test compression, you're taking a huge gamble on the engine. Dirt bikes are made to disassemble easily. It's a 10-15min job.
Anyone buy a used bike that actually “needs nothing”?