How to tell if a bike's been wrecked and repaired???

[Phu Cat]

My daughter and SIL have their hearts set on buying a bike that is being sold by an out of town dirt bike/ATV dealership. To me that smells a potentially wrecked and repaired bike. I know tying a string around the steering head and running it to the center of the tail light could possibly reveal a bent frame, but are there any other telltale signs they might look out for? They're leaving at 5 AM Saturday morning hoping to get east of Erie, PA by noon.

TIA, your info could possibly be a life saver

PC

 

[rhino 2]

​My daughter and SIL have their hearts set on buying a bike that is being sold by an out of town dirt bike/ATV dealership. To me that smells a potentially wrecked and repaired bike. I know tying a string around the steering head and running it to the center of the tail light could possibly reveal a bent frame, but are there any other telltale signs they might look out for? They're leaving at 5 AM Saturday morning hoping to get east of Erie, PA by noon.

TIA, your info could possibly be a life saver,

PC

First what gives you the feeling the bike was damaged ?.. And is a bike they’re looking at and not a ATV ?..

Fresh paint on critical components sometimes is a giveaway…..

 

[Phu Cat]

Rhino, I think it's a Victory, but I'm not sure. It has a big fairing, saddle bags, and a tour pak.

I'm suspicious cuz it's a street bike being sold by a dirt bike/ATV shop. To me that could spell the makings of a potential disaster. My father was a skeptic and I guess it rubbed off on me. This bike could be absolutely perfect and they might ride it many miles with no trouble, but the fact that the shop isn't primarily a street bike shop seems like it could be a red flag.

PC

 

[rhino 2]

Rhino, I think it's a Victory, but I'm not sure. It has a big fairing, saddle bags, and a tour pak.

I'm suspicious cuz it's a street bike being sold by a dirt bike/ATV shop. To me that could spell the makings of a potential disaster. My father was a skeptic and I guess it rubbed off on me. This bike could be absolutely perfect and they might ride it many miles with no trouble, but the fact that the shop isn't primarily a street bike shop seems like it could be a red flag.

PC

Being the devils advocate it could be that the person who originally own the bike traded it in to buy an ATV or side-by-side and decided they didn’t need a motorcycle anymore…?

 

[Jack Klarich]

Look for dings in the paint, look underneath the bike, check to see if the VIN is still intact or has it been altered

Has the exhaust been replaced, how do the saddlebags and fenders look, overall how is the paint?

 

[Phu Cat]

Being the devils advocate

I think that's usually a good idea. In this case, my kids are laying down a wad of cash with someone they don't know (but trust anyway) and I don't want to see them get burned.

 

[rhino 2]

Being the devils advocate

I think that's usually a good idea. In this case, my kids are laying down a wad of cash with someone they don't know (but trust anyway) and I don't want to see them get burned.

I agree with you 100%…. Us guys in the older generation very rarely trust people that we don’t know… but then like the kids nowadays we didn’t have Google so we couldn’t investigate people/businesses like the young kids can do now…

 

[Zammy]

You can even try the VIN on "carfax", they do have some motorcycles that have been looked up

 

[Mykneesbehurtin]

Things I look for , scrapes on the bottom of the clutch and brake levers, scrapes on the bottom of the floorboards or foot pegs, bottom of the outer primary. First and foremost, does it have a clean title?

 

[Burnerboy]

As Mykneesbehurting (cool name by the way) mentioned above, "clean title" is very important

Ronnie
7/14/24

 

[Phu Cat]

Carfax CAN be a good idea, but doesn't allow for a car that was repaired in somebody's garage.

 

[Gorilla]

Carfax CAN be a good idea, but doesn't allow for a car that was repaired in somebody's garage.

Carfax is not picking up the crash info from the repair garage. Its picking up the info from public records of CRASH POLICE REPORTS and INSURANCE Claims. Now if someone crashes their car and doesn't report it and has it repaired themselves CARFAX will never be able to pick that up. That does happen but not often.

So if your buying a used car and have the CARFAX report you still need to look it over for signs of potential unreported issues.

 

[ROAD DOG]

Carfax is not picking up the crash info from the repair garage. Its picking up the info from public records of CRASH POLICE REPORTS and INSURANCE Claims. Now if someone crashes their car and doesn't report it and has it repaired themselves CARFAX will never be able to pick that up. That does happen but not often.

So if your buying a used car and have the CARFAX report you still need to look it over for signs of potential unreported issues.

A lot of company vehicles are self-insured most rental company's self-insure & go off your insurance that's not reported . I think Carfax is bullshit. we fixed a ford F250 the guy slid into his wood pile scarped the side of the truck we had to remove the passenger side seat belt, on the estimate the seat belt was listed as supplemental restraint system, so the Carfax had it listed that the airbags deployed, The guy went to trade the truck at a Ford dealer they do not take vehicles in trade with Carfax that show airbag deployment, That was a pain in the ass to get cleared up. We have lots of people pay out of pocket so they don't get a surcharge & a bad CarFax.

 

[Phu Cat]

Thanks Road Dog, your explanation sounds much more plausible than mine. Sure enough, we bought a used car that had been damaged in a wreck even tho the car dealer pushed a 'clean' Car Fax. Your explanation clears up a lot.

PC

 

[ROAD DOG]

As Mykneesbehurting (cool name by the way) mentioned above, "clean title" is very important

Ronnie
7/14/24

IT'S easy to wash a title. The best way to buy a used vehicle is good inspection by a good mechanic & body man.

 

[BikerG]

-Hand levers broken or scraped
-Peeled/cracked paint at frame welds
-Wheel alignment incorrect
-Steering head play
-Wheel run-out
-Owner's behavior when asked about accident history
-Color variance between tins

 

[Burnerboy]

Well, did they buy the bike??
Was it a GOOD investment or NOT ???

You posted your first post in May (that was 7 months ago)
Please don't keep us "hang'nnnnn

Ronnie
12/8/24

 

[pwhoever]

...You posted your first post in May (that was 7 months ago)
Please don't keep us "hang'nnnnn

Ronnie
12/8/24

You might want to add 2 years to that 7 months ago...

 

[BrokenBackJack]

I won't buy anything used unless I can contact the previous owner. Not saying the previous owner won't tell me a lie, but most will tell you the truth, being they don't own it any longer.

 

[Burnerboy]

You might want to add 2 years to that 7 months ago...

Oooooooooops! WOW, I guess I was WAY OFF, with my math thanks for the correction lol
I guess we'll, never know if he bought it

Ronnie
12/9/24