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Hypothetical Question


RDMcD

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If you were selling an 18 year old vfr to a mature experienced rider and they drove three hours with cash in hand. Would you refuse them a test ride even if just up and down the street in front of your house?

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You sir are correct! I didn't make the fall ride so I'm looking at a second vfr. lol

Nice bike, difficult seller.

Hope you guys are having a blast!

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I would never sell a bike without cash in hand.  If they drop it or damage it, they bought it.  Experienced riders drop and wreck bikes but some sellers are not so risk averse so it's up to you. FWIW.  

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Just to be clear, I'm the buyer and the seller refuses a test ride. She believes having it certified (safety inspection) is insurance enough that there are no issues with the bike. I've never experienced this before. I'm serious about buying it just need the ride to finalize the deal. Didn't think I was being unreasonable.

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I realize it was a long trip, but a safety inspection doesn't guarantee suspension, transmission, or engine condition, just that it is road worthy. VFR's are ridden to a higher standard!

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Its always situational. Sounds odd that she won't let you ride it with cash in hand. I would go with your gut. Tell her exactly why you want to ride it. Safety inspection means less than nothing to me.

 

I bought my present 99  VFR with out a test ride. It was immaculate. Guy is a BMW MC sales manager at a local dealership. His garage was immaculate. He even offered me a test ride. Probably not the smartest move but I said I'll do that on the way home. no regrets.

 

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^^^^^^^^^Yeah, basically the same situation when I bought mine. It was about a year old, had less than 3,000 miles on it and had never been parked

outside in the sun, was absolutely pristine, but the guy wouldn't let me ride it. I bought it anyway, it was just too clean and there weren't very many

used ones on the market.

 

Too little too late, but probably should have confirmed the test ride before visiting. I'd really have to think long and hard about an old bike that I couldn't

test ride. And of course a lot would depend on the number of miles and overall condition. Mint condition would help convince me. But a test ride isn't

out of the question at all.

 

Do you have a lot of tattoos, gold chains, chain drive billfold, piercings, and show up with your buddies: Mad Dog, Devil Man, and Cannibal?

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If cash is in hand (and handed over for the test ride) there's no reason not to allow it imo.

 

That being said I did buy my 98 VFR without a test ride. It had 1199 miles on it, and fresh rubber. I wasn't overly concerned about anything else lol.

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1 hour ago, PirateRiderBen said:

I would never allow a test ride unless it was someone I knew personally. I’ve never had anyone ask either. Probably sold a dozen bikes that way. 

 

So if the person put the full asking price in cash in your hand, and asked for a test ride, you wouldn't allow it?

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11 hours ago, PirateRiderBen said:

I would never allow a test ride unless it was someone I knew personally. I’ve never had anyone ask either. Probably sold a dozen bikes that way. 

 

That's a hard arse way of thinking, I'm the other way, I would never buy a bike I can't ride, what are they hiding?

And if you get the money, who cares? what could they possibly do?

I recently called about a 5G a bloke has had for sale for a long time.

One owner, under 20,000km and he states it has never been over 6000rpm or ridden in the rain.

He wants stupid money for it, but worse, he wants someone to treat it the same.

What the hell does he think he will achieve by this?

I admire he's keeping of the bike, but he wants to dictate what happens after he sells it.

 

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FYI, in the UK it is illegal to ride a bike without insurance--or to permit someone else to do so.  It's considered a serious offence (about twice as serious as minor speeding), so not something a seller would want to risk.  Proof of insurance would need to be more than just the buyer claiming to have insurance--a valid insurance policy covering the rider to "ride other bikes" or specific insurance for that bike would need to be seen.  Of course, this is something that is not often enforced, but it can arise if the test rider triggers a speed camera or gets stopped by the police, or has an accident...

 

However, the last bike I bought in the UK was purchased after a test ride.  I had obtained temporary insurance for the bike already (I was expecting to buy it), but the seller never even asked.

 

Ciao,

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That is very different to here.

In Oz insurance (third party and comprehensive) sits with the bike registration, so no matter who uses it is covered.

Third party is compulsory and you can't register a vehicle without it, but comprehensive sadly is not.

 

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In case you are wondering how the story ends, here goes.

The bike for sale was a 2000, Candy Tahitian Blue with only 34000 km  or 21000 miles . Asking price $3000. Bike also came with a rear rack and top box, but otherwise was completely stock. After asking the usual questions and some negotiations we arrived at a sale price of $2700. The bike was described as well maintained, in excellent condition and needing nothing , being sold with a safety certificate. After arranging a Saturday morning viewing I mentioned that I would like to take it for a quick ride up and down the street in front of the sellers home with the cash in her hand and the understanding that the bike would come back as it left or she could keep the money and the bike was mine. She flat out refused under any circumstances. That's when I posted the question here and asked a couple friend what they would do. Thanks for the replies and valid inputs.

Against my better judgement I agreed to travel almost 4 hours to view an 18 year old bike with no chance of a test drive, in hopes that it was the low mileage gem described to me at what I thought was a fair price for here in Canada.

Saturday morning I arrive at the address to find a blue 5th gen in the driveway and the seller sitting un the front step ...good. I introduce myself, we exchange pleasantries then I start going through some of the papers she had for the bike. It showed that she was the third owner having bought it in 2011 with 28000km meaning 6000km in 7 years. This was odd since she had told me she had bought it about 4 years ago but after some discussion she agreed that it must have been 7. She also mentioned that the tires were new 3 years ago right after she bought the bike???  So over to the bike to look at the tires and found production dates of 2010...not good. Now that I'm close to the bike this is what I find. The rear wheel, swing arm, and front sprocket area are caked with a thick layer of old dried blackened lube, probably never having been cleaned in her 6000km of ownership. The chain and sprockets were original to the bike and in need of replacement. On the right side of the bike were scratches on the clutch cover, chips in the lower body paint and a slightly bent foot peg and brake pedal, from a low speed tip over. She was unaware of any of the damage and blamed previous owners. Moving to the front of the bike I lifted the front wheel as I explained it was to check the head bearing. She happily informed me that her mechanic had replaced that part and when I asked what type of bearing he used she replied "a new one" .

As I began to look at the left side of the bike she let me know that none of this was her fault, her husbands cruiser had tipped over in a truck and they failed to notice it for some time. What I saw was a 3 inch dent in the tank, showing bare steel. Also there was a black stripe about half an inch by 8 inches on the rear cowl below the seat where the paint was wore away and the abs had flat spotted the beautiful blue, rare bodywork... starting to feel a bit discouraged.

With her permission, I started the bike on the centre stand and ran the bike through a few gears... everything seemed well enough... it's a VFR after all. I turned off the bike and decided I'd seen enough. I asked one last time about a test ride and she immediately said no. I began to explain that without the test ride and considering the condition of the bike I wasn't comfortable paying the agreed upon $2700, but I would give my original offer of $2500 just so I didn't have to go home empty handed. This is when she let me know she had changed her mind and wouldn't take any less than the $3000 in the ad!!! 

After a short discussion about that I realized that she was not going to be reasonable and that I didn't want her bike at any price. She knew little about bikes or how to look after them and even less about a vfr. I thanked her for wasting my time and headed for my van as she was yelling out ever decreasing prices behind me. I just waved and drove away.

It wasn't the deal I was hoping for but I had to find out. Not all was lost though, my girlfriend came along and we camped on the shore of beautiful Georgian bay and did some sight seeing

Not a bad weekend after all!. 

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All is well that ends well. I somehow think there was more to hide, hence no test ride. Good VFR’s aren’t ridiculously hard to find. Happy hunting.

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That F’ing bitch.
Oh well, there’s a mint takin care of VFR waiting for you down the road.
I did the same thing, drove from LA to Tahoe in March to by my bike, turned out it was mint and only had 1800 miles on it.
Good luck on the hunt.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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My suggestion. Ask for detailed pics taken specifically for you by the seller.  A motivated enthusiast seller would comply no problem. And also I wouldn’t negotiate any price sight unseen. Just ask if flexible and debate once you see what you’re getting. Test ride?  Some dealers don’t allow them, so why would a private seller?  Even cash in hand legally they’re likely liable if you cause serious damage, injury, or death. 

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16 minutes ago, VARIABLE9 said:

My suggestion. Ask for detailed pics taken specifically for you by the seller.  A motivated enthusiast seller would comply no problem. And also I wouldn’t negotiate any price sight unseen. Just ask if flexible and debate once you see what you’re getting. Test ride?  Some dealers don’t allow them, so why would a private seller?  Even cash in hand legally they’re likely liable if you cause serious damage, injury, or death. 

 

It's all in the insurance, and most insurance covers you on another vehicle. If yours doesn't just call it up and add the vehicle you are test riding for 24 hours.

 

No test ride, no purchase. That goes to new bikes, used, etc. I haven't had a dealer turn down a test ride when I was ready for purchase, even one that was 'notorious' for no test rides; they just didn't like tire kickers.

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4 minutes ago, thtanner said:

 

It's all in the insurance, and most insurance covers you on another vehicle. If yours doesn't just call it up and add the vehicle you are test riding for 24 hours.

 

No test ride, no purchase. That goes to new bikes, used, etc. I haven't had a dealer turn down a test ride when I was ready for purchase, even one that was 'notorious' for no test rides; they just didn't like tire kickers.

Think lowest common denominator. 

 

You or or I could present fraudulent or invalid insurance. So why would a private seller take the risk. Some will, some won’t. Some people are just more trusting. A person showing up at your door with no insurance but cash the seller could still be liable if an accident occurs.  Add insurance?  The seller may still not trust that and I doubt too many average people would even think to do it. 

 

Dealers, I did say some. I’m sure larger big name branded dealers would allow if a motivated buyer with valid ID presented themselves. 

 

Theres a a lot of variables at play here, I was offering some suggestions and observations not a be all, end all solution. 

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Good that you walked away.

 

I drove 2 hours or so with a rented trailer to buy a VF that looked ok in the pictures sent... Only to arrive at a horror (ma)scene...

 

The trailer rental place tore up the rental agreement foc in sympathy.

 

 

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