Buying a used motorcycle:
If you're new to motorcycling or you're not into greasy clothes and
skinned knuckles, this list probably seems intimidating and excessive.
If you are only spending a few hundred bucks on the bike in the first
place and you'll never be very far from home, you probably should just
check the stuff that doesn't require special tools or facilities. On
the other hand, if you're paying more than 1K for the bike and you expect
to do some touring, it might be cheaper to pay a dealer 50 to 100 bucks to
run these checks for you than to find out about problems the hard way
on the road. In other times, you might have lost a good deal by
delaying long enough to get all these questions answered. Right now,
though, it's a buyer's market (at least where I live) and you have
quite a bit more leeway (and leverage).
I recommend the following as good bullet-proof bikes for newbies: Honda
CBxxx, Kawasaki GPZxxx, Kawasaki KZxxx, Yamaha Seca xxx, Yamaha
Maxim xxx, Suzuki GSxxx. (The xxx means this bike came in several engine
sizes; for example, Suzuki GS500, GS550, GS650, GS750, etc.)
- Find out the riding habits of the current owner. If the bike is used
only for a short commute on a regular basis, it may not get warmed up
enough to evaporate moisture in the engine and exhaust system and rust
and lubrication contaminants will result.
If the rider spends a lot of time in hot stop-and-go traffic, the
engine may frequently be subject to excessively high temperatures.
- Look for low odometer mileage. Bikes seem to have about half the
odometer mileage of cars in the same model and year class.
- If the seller claims the bike has never been down, check the lower
engine parts, brake and clutch lever ends, handgrips, footpegs,
pipes, and case guards for telltale abrasions.
Make sure the handlebars are aligned exactly perpendicular to the bike
longitudinal axis.
- Don't buy anything older than 10 years unless you're willing to spend lots
of time and energy finding parts.
- Look for rust in the gas tank.
- Look for missing hardware, e.g., nuts, bolts, brackets, cotter pins.
- Check for pitting, gouges, or fluid seepage on the front forks. The
upper tubes should be pristine.
- Check cables for binding and wear or improper routing.
- Block up the engine so the front wheel is off of the ground and check for
play in the front forks (grab them and try to move them front to back or
side to side. There shouldn't be any play if the steering head bearings
are any good. Rotate the forks and check for smooth movement, if you
feel bumps or catching, the steering head bearing races may be worn or
notched.
Be sure the front tire rotates smoothly, doesn't squeak, and is not bent.
- If the bike has air shocks, check the pressure with a gauge. Make sure
you can pump them up to their maximum and that they will hold that
pressure.
- Ask to see the owner's manual (if the owner doesn't have the manual,
maintenance may not have been done when it should have been).
- Check chain play and adequacy of lubrication of the chain. Look for
sprocket wear (clean off a few teeth and check quality of metal finish
and symmetry of features). Check for chain wear or have someone
check it (good shops have wear gauges or can eyeball it fairly accurately.)
- Check the brakes for sponginess & loose feel. If the bike is more than
five years old, the original hoses may be due for replacement. Look for brake
fluid leaks at cylinders, calipers, and hose connections. Check fibre
pad thickness (most pads have maximum wear indicators that tell you when
pads should be replaced). Operate brake levers and hold them operated
for a while to check for weakening of resistance to the applied pressure.
- Ask owner if brake cylinder kits have ever been replaced. Yamaha
recommends installation of new cup seals every two years.
- Find out if brake fluid has ever been replaced. Dot 3 fluid absorbs about
5% water per year and should be replaced at least every two years (Yamaha
says every year.)
- Check for smooth finish of brake discs.
- Find out if fork oil has every been replaced.
- Find out if owner(s) has done self-maintenance. If so, does current owner
have a torque wrench? Does he/she know what a torque wrench is? Over-
torqued fasteners and stripped threads are no fun.
- Does the bike have a tool kit and does the tool kit appear to be all
there?
- Pull spark plugs and check for consistency of appearance, dryness, light
gray appearance. Make sure spark plugs have never been cross-threaded
(look for heli-coil inserts in cylinder head.)
- Look for deteriorated insulation on wiring. On bikes that don't protect
wiring with conduits or tape, look for insulation cracks. Check
connectors for signs of corrosion and water build-up.
- Check steering head lock to see that it works and that the locking shaft
hasn't been snapped off.
- If you have a compression tester, check compression on all cylinders. I
don't know about other brands, but Yamaha parts fiches have the minimum
and maximum compression listed, or any dealer can tell you this information.
- Pull the timing cover and check to see that parts haven't been abused or
subjected to kludgy modifications.
- If you can find a shop with a leak-down tester, have them perform a
leak-down test of all cylinders to verify valve and ring sealing.
- Look at the oil. If it's dirty, forget the bike. There are too many good
ones for sale that have had regular oil changes and routine maintenance.
- Check the battery box (i.e., the metal platform on which the battery sits)
and terminals for corrosion.
- Check the screws that secure light lenses (turn, tail) for corrosion.
You can usually see this as darkened area in the plastic around the
screws.
- Check the clutch and brake levers for smooth operation and proper
adjustment.
- Make sure you get to see the bike started cold (so you can verify that it
WILL start cold.) After it has warmed up, kill the engine and crank it
several times with the kill switch on to see if the battery can handle
the repeat loads. Check battery fluid level. If the battery is constructed
so that the plates are visible, check for fuzzy looking growth on plates
(sulfation).
- Make sure the lights, horns, gauges, etc. all work. Check for proper
voltage regulator operation by watching headlight brightness
while you rev the engine.
- Listen to the warmed-up engine for excessive tappet noise, clutch noise,
or transmission noise. Make sure the bike will idle at the RPM specified
for idle. If the bike has multiple exhaust pipes, check that the pressure
pulses emitted from each pipe are similar and regular by holding your
palms a few inches from the opening to feel the pulses.
- On shaft-drive bikes, check for excessive drive-train play. Some 'clunk'
is normal on the bigger ones, but lots of it means u-joint replacement
time (or worse, ring/pinion/drive gear or bearing replacement time).
Check for oil leaks on the rear wheel drive unit. Oil in the drive
unit should be absolutely clean. Wipe the wheel rim dry on the drive
unit side before you ride the bike. Check it with a clean tissue
afterward to see if any lubricant has been flung off of the drive unit
onto the wheel.
- Check for the air filter. Avoid a bike that's been run without one.
If the filter is present, check integrity of the airbox. A popular
technique for decreasing intake restriction is to drill holes in the
airbox. If the holes are between the carbs and the filter, the filter
is essentially useless. If aftermarket low-restriction filters have
been put on the bike, make sure they're oiled.
- Ride the bike very slowly and do a few tight turns. Look for wobbling in
the front end. Check cornering stability at low and high speeds.
- If the bike has adjustable shocks, adjust them to their various settings
and make sure you can feel some difference. Replacing the rear shock
in later model mono-shock designs can be VERY expensive.
- Make sure the bike doesn't pop out of gear under heavy loading in
all the gears (especially second gear).
- Make sure that crankcase breather hose is still hooked up.
- Check tires for wear & proper inflation. If it's an older bike, make
sure that you can still get tires for it. Find out if the owner has
recently used Armorall on the sidewalls. This may compromise traction
and deteriorate the sidewalls.
- Have the swing-arm bearings checked. This usually requires dismounting
the rear wheel and suspension. My manual recommends periodic lubrication
of the bearings at ~10K intervals.
- Write down frame and engine numbers. They should agree. Check with
local Police Department to make sure bike isn't stolen. Call
manufacturer's office in USA and ask for first owner's name and place
of sale (Yamaha keeps track of this stuff, others may also). You may be
able to check maintenance records with original dealer.
- Ask if any netlanders have the model and find out about potential
problems. A lot of friendly and helpful people read this newsgroup,
and I've learned things here that just don't seem to get published
anywhere else.
- Make sure you fit on the bike and that the bike fits the riding you
plan to do. Make sure you are strong enough to stand it back up if it
falls over. Make sure you can push it a few blocks in case you have
to do this on the road.
- On Japanese bikes, check both sides of the bike for deterioration of
the clear acrylic overcoat they put on brushed aluminum and chrome
engine and body parts. Flaking or splotchiness of finish is a sign
that the bike has been exposed to a lot of UV and, if primo finish
is important to you, you'll end up doing some restoration of these
parts.
- On bikes with alloy rims and engine parts, look for stains in the
metal. If these were caused by exposure to cleaning chemicals
like alkaline cleansers, you may not be able to get the stains out.
- Make sure there is a reputable dealer in your area. The best way to
do this is to ask other bikers. Also, in locations which have several
dealers for the same brand, check out what each dealer charges for
replacement parts. I've found everything from standard 15% discounts
to 30% above retail overcharges.
- Check back issues of motorcycle magazines at your library to see when
the bike was produced and for how long. If you are going to be adding
accessories, check the catalogs at any dealership to see if the aftermarket
suppliers were ever interested in that model.
- Ask the dealer to check for factory recall and repair alert bulletins
which may apply to the bike. Yamaha includes these on current parts
microfiche. Make sure any mandatory safety upgrades have been
installed on the bike.