[v12]

I have had only 3 experiences in buying / selling a used big bike.

Z800 - I had put up the Z800 for sale only on the Team BHP Classifieds. The word spread quick with the help of some Team-BHPians and I got connected with the buyer. The deal was done and the Z was sold within a month. The buyer also told me that some Team-BHPians even told him to "just buy the bike blindly" since it was owned by me and they could vouch for it. Thank you guys!!
You wont believe it - on the day that he was taking the bike away he asked me "Its still a brand new bike - do you really want to sell it?". We both were very happy with the deal and are still in touch.

Kawasaki Versys - I had put up the Versys for sale on Team-BHP and OLX as well. The buyer who is a Team BHPian contacted me through OLX but knew about the bike through my posts and through his Team-BHP friends. And that sealed the deal. Just one meet and we sealed the deal. We both were happy and are still in touch.

Triumph Tiger - This was the first time I was putting down a huge amount of money for a second hand motorcycle. Frankly speaking, I was looking at a under 10k Kms run clean motorcycle. A friend from Triumph hooked me up with a Doctor who was selling his Tiger. My friend had told me just 3 words "Go for it" and I could trust him enough to blindly put down my money. When I spoke to the owner, he told me it had run almost 18000 kms and I could come and have a look at my bike. My friend had told me the bike was loaded and had all services done at Triumph. When I saw the bike - it was very dirty - it was monsoon, so obviously it had to be dirty. There were a lot of rattles (because of stuff filled in the box). But because my friend had told me to "Go for it", i ignored everything else and just finalized the deal. All the Tiger needed was a good wash and a scheduled next service. And there, I got my dream motorcycle. All 4 of us were happy - Tiger, the previous owner, my friend and me - and we all are still in touch.

So - conclusion - if you are looking for a used motorcycle - just look for
1. Trustworthy friends who will tell you to "go for it"
2. Team-BHPians who will guide you to "go for it" or NOT "go for it"

[Axe77]

Fantastic thread MoralFibre and thanks for distilling so much useful information that should aid buyers and sellers alike, but specially buyers.

A friend of mine runs an insta page called Motomartindia for used bikes and bike gear.

If I see a really good deal there I will flick it on here but people are welcome to track that page too for some good deals. I have seen a host of bikes being sold through that platform. Both the site admin are avid bikers and well connected within the riding community so people can get additional / genuine comfort on bike history etc.

[tarik.arora]

Fantastic and a much needed thread.

I started my big-bike journey with a new 2017 Kawasaki Ninja 650 and used it for over 2 years and 12k kms. The itch to get an inline 4 was always there but could not manage the finances. Never thought that a used bike can solve this, otherwise would have bought a used in-line 4 in 2017 itself. Anyways, long story short, got a pre-owned Ninja 1000 in 2019 which was just an year old and had under 7.5k kms on the Odo. It also had some basic and much needed accessories, easily worth over 50k (BMC filter, frame sliders, RAM mount, spools, Radiator guard etc.). As everyone of us is saying, it is very important to do proper due-diligence in the deal, otherwise, chances of getting duped are far higher that buying a used car. Dealers (be it of any reputation) are earning huge-huge money on these deals by duping unsuspecting customers.

When I started my used bike search, I contacted a very famous North India dealer (based on his excellent FB adds) and had my eyes on a Speed Triple that was around 4 years old and under 15k kms on the Odo. The quoted price was around 6 lacs and the bike appeared pretty good. I was seriously considering it but was not 100% sure because of it being a naked and highway runs would have been painful. I put that deal on hold and continued my weekend rides on the 650. During one of the ride with my buddies, we bumped into another group and stated chit-chatting on bikes (usual topic of Sunday morning rides). During one of the conversation, I mentioned the Speed Triple that I seen and one of the person from that group identified himself as the previous owner. I was shocked at how small the big-bike world is. He confirmed 2 things to me- he is the second owner (never got the bike transferred) and he sold it to the dealer for 4 lacs. This came as a second shock to me. That dealer was looking to make 50% profit on the deal. I felt good about putting that deal on hold and realized the importance of discussing your decisions in a group. The big-bike world is so small that you will be able to get to the real condition if you talk to a couple of people. I used this learning and got hold of the Ninja 1000 in pristine condition and for a fair price. For anyone looking to buy a used big-bike, my suggestion would be to talk to as many people as you can in the biking fraternity. If you are already part of any such group, use it to your advantage.

[avsrihari]

I am constantly on the lookout for a used Superbike. I came across a Suzuki Bandit listed on OLX. The ad seemed genuine and I contacted the dealer in Chennai. He preferred not to discuss details on Whatsapp (1st redflag). He sent me some photos and very limited information on the ownership. After many phone calls, he shared the registration details. The bike was registered as a Suzuki Max100R (2nd red flag) Turns out the Bike is an illegal import not cleared by DRI/ Customs. He went on to tell me its not an issue and that I can still enjoy the bike in weekends He invited me to visit his dealership for more genuine options. Never bothered.

Most superbikes that was not on sale by the Manufacturer has shoddy paperwork. Watch out for pre 2010 examples since many were illegal imports(Customs not paid or assembled from imported parts)

[Zinda]

While I am huge fan of pre-owned route, and read all relevant threads with interest, I do not find the mentioned (indicative) price points and depreciation figures relevant here in Bangalore.

Recently I was exploring the pre-owned market for a big bike. Second or Third owner 4 years old bikes had mere 20-25% depreciation.

Some examples which I pursued for some time -
1. Ninja 1000 - 2 years old, Rs. 10 Lakhs
2. Tiger - 4 years old - Rs. 9 Lakhs
3. Hayabusa - 8 years old, non-ABS, 9.5 Lakhs
4. HD superlow - 6 years old, Rs. 5 Lakhs
5. Multiple examples of Honda CBR 650F with 25% depreciation in 3 or 4 years


Fed up, decided to evaluate new ones, as I tend to keep it with me for next 5-6 years or more. Closely evaluated Ninja 1000 and Versys 1000, found the latter better fit for me.
Got a sweet discount and sealed the deal!

I had similar experience while hunting for an apt replacement for my 5 years old XUV 500 - did not find a good preowned BMW X1/new Fortuner with sane price tags, and parked this chapter for the time being.

[Sudarshan42]

Excellent thread, and some great pointers for prospective customers. I've always been a bit apprehensive about buying anything used/pre-worshipped due to all the issues mentioned by OP. Despite the tips I'd still probably steer clear of OLX/other platform classified ads as the heartbreak upon receiving a lemon is exponentially greater than the incentives of a good deal. I'd stick to a close inner circle of friends for direct deals or references.

That said, the used route does make a ton of sense given the huge gaps in the middleweight market (example- not too many great brand new options in the 4-7 lakh range, save for a few Chinese Benellis). The Honda CB500X can't come quickly enough.

[krishnaprasadgg]

Great thread.

This will be a huge help to many people looking for big bikes.

From my experience, I can say that dealers aren't the only people you need to worry about nowadays. There is a new breed growing day by day who are in it just for the sake of making a quick buck. Now don't get me wrong I do not mean to put them under the scammer's banner.

How to identify this is that they are people who run a personal/individual Instagram account and you get to see a different bike they are riding/buying every few months.
You'd also notice that most of their followers are naive kids or youngsters or even more mature audience who appreciate and are passionate about bikes but who are also aspiring to own these beauties one day. They become huge fans of said person and keep them on a pedestal thereby creating an extra value for the product they are using.

So once these guys acquire a bike, they then start posting a lot with these bikes, get it detailed(they usually have a running deal with some detailing shop and the bike is heavily advertised on both profiles, they use the detailing shops reach to make people more familiar with this specific bike and the person's profile to advertise the detailing shops by bringing in customers via referrals), ride it around to a few places and post it enough number of times that the bike in itself will become a known entity among the biking community in that area/state.

This whole shtick takes about a month or so to execute, now is the time that they intend to flip it for a profit. You see they have just garnered the resource at their disposal to market this to a huge audience of which there will be at least a few people who would have enquired about if the guy would be willing to sell it to them, and by this point, since the bike has a following they tend to jack up the price based on who is interested to buy, it's usually via Instagram and they can get a feeling for what kind of purchasing power this person has from said platform.

Then it's a rinse and repeats on the same formula and it works wonders. I know this from following a bike which belonged to a friend of my brothers at a mouth-watering price which I had tried my best to get 2 friends of mine to buy, but they couldn't at the point of time and had to pass on the deal, that bike ended up being sold who I recognized from Instagram. I followed that guy's profile and soon enough Instagram started showing me some of his friend's profiles as well and wouldn't you know it the bike in a matter of 3 months exchanges hands b/w 3-4 other guys across 2 different states all in an attempt to sell it, informal ads for this bike started popping up in my biking group circle each time the bike is reported from a different location and at the time if you go to that persons Instagram, sure enough, there's stories and posts galore with that bike. And funnily enough with each time, it exchanged hands the asking price went up avg about a Lakh or so. And finally, it ended up at a place where the asking price was so ridiculous that I had to share with a few friends to get a good laugh out of it. Oh, and by the way the bike was advertised as a single owner bike too

The sad part is they do these things because it works and it's a quick way to make some bucks without having to show yourself as a dealership or something. Because the stigma of a used SBK dealership is well known at this time and age and you tend to extract more money from posing as an actual owner rather than a dealer and not to mention they use these machines to garner a social media clout that pays its dividends with the next bike they "buy".

Why do they keep doing this? Because there are people who are still ready to buy from them even when it makes no sense to at the price they are selling it at.

So yeah do a bit of research on the seller even though they might not be a dealer or so. You'd be surprised how easy it is to get information on this.

Then another known approach is to quote a ridiculously high price on the bikes which makes absolutely no sense. This is a tactic to chase away actually knowledgeable guys and attract the other kind(first-time buyers who are more motivated by the dream than realistic price and the cash-heavy guys who just want it for the show off) of potential buyers and make a huge profit off their backs.

Cheers
Krishna

[anshumandun]

I bought my first pre-worshipped super bike in 2017. It was a 2016 model Z800 barely 8 months old and 6000 kms run. The owner turned out be a friend's friend which made the deal very easy and transparent. But before I found this bike, I went through several dealers that I just could not trust. I just loved owning the Z800 and put around 40,000 kms on it in the next 4 years and sold it recently. My bike review here (My Kawasaki Z800. Now with Plasti Dip coating (page 3)).


Selling the bike was really difficult as I was bombarded with time passers from Olx and dealers trying to brainwash me that the bike was not worth more than 4 lakhs. Finally my patience paid off when a genuine buyer offered me 5.5L since he was really happy with the bike condition. I was relieved and the buyer was also relieved since he was looking for a genuine used superbikes since a few months.

Now I was again on hunt for another touring bike. It was clear that going through dealers was a waste of time as there was no way to get full detailed information about the bike and trust the dealers with their promises. So I set out on a hunting spree and after 4 months of trying, finally found a genuine seller (passionate rider) selling his Versys 650 since he had moved out of India. I got the bike home about a month back.

[Schneller]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

Friendly tips:

Ran a query on Parivahan to find that the bike was flood affected and was owned by a bhpian who declared it a total loss:

Could you please elaborate on this part. how did you do this and come to know it was a flood affected vehicle?

[adityasiera]

What an apt thread for the time. I strongly believe in buying pre-owned/pre-worshipped big bikes.

I have bought my first big bike in Netherlands pre-owned. It was a 2007 Yamaha Fazer 600, maintained at the dealership. I know, you must be thinking I am an idiot to buy a 10+ year old motorcycle, but the way the machines are maintained (due to the strict MOT), you have to look at the original registration card to believe that its really 10+ year old.

I bought it for 4000 EUR in May 2018, rode for 13.5K kms and sold it for 3400 EUR at the same dealership after 6 months.

Fast forward to March 2020, (Just before Covid), the industry (except Honda) was trying to get rid of their BS4 inventory and a lot of mouth watering deals were coming in. I picked up the Demo Tiger 800 XCX from Keerthi Triumph in Bangalore for almost 4 lakhs off the sticker price. The bike had done 6500 kms, and was recommended by a lot of friends from the tiger group. It had minor scratches a bent brake lever and sticky switch gear. I negotiated the repairs to be done and warranty be transferred. Net net i got a motorcycle which is almost new, with 4 year of warranty left and insurance paid for.

Will I buy my next SBK pre-owned ?
The answer is a resounding Yes.

For my next pre-owned SBK I will prefer the following

1. Company dealership for End of Life models
2. Company certified pre-owned
2. Friends (tiger/other SBK groups)

I will avoid OLX/Quikr for such a transaction.

[Entsurgeon]

This thread would soon be a sticky IMHO. Although we have an old thread on how to buy and live with a superbike in India, this one is a lot more apt as scenarios have changed a lot.
I would like to add few more points to the opening post of this thread.
1. Ride height:
For a first time big bike buyer, especially take note of ride height. Don't just compare numbers. Sit on the saddle and try maneuvering her back and forth on level pavement. The shape and width of rider seat may affect flatfooting so two different bikes may have same saddle height on papers but still one may be easier to flatfoot. While this is not much of a factor when you start rolling, this definitely affects how easy you find living with her on stop lights and parking lots. Do not underestimate this factor. Dropping superbikes in parking lots is a universal phenomena in our country with most riders being south of 5'9.
2. Accessories and aftermarkets vs asking price
Its not uncommon to see dealers and sellers claiming the bike having aftermarkets worth xyz lakhs and asking prices jacked up correspondingly. In most cases following things should be kept in mind-
Some accessories are absolute, some are replacements. Which means if the said bike has a 1 lakh rupee full system exhaust, it also means a 65-70-80 or even 120k OEM exhaust is taken off the bike. Factor this in when owner says this bike in stock form is going for 10 lakhs, but my bike has 3 lakhs of aftermarket at just 11.5 lakhs. No. The catch is, it is a 10 lakh minus 1( for the exhaust)=9 lakh bike plus the depreciated aftemarkets. As a thumb rule, most usedaftermarkets have extremely poor resale if sold separately and one should try to negotiate her price to as close to stock as possible.
The really useful aftermarket stuffs that you shouldn't mind paying extra for are- frame sliders, fork protectors, radiators guards and tail tidy. Check if its branded ( same brand as your Triumph/Harley/Ducati) or generic because the price will differ to extremes. Add to it the Fuel management systems like dynojet but thats not really applicable to all bikes and are mostly coupled with aftermarket exhausts. Watch out, most aftermarkets are generic and much cheaper than what they are claiming. Also google. My panigale is monocoque and has frame sliders with metal brackets that are nearly 750usd installed. And for god's sake, most aftermarket levers woudl be much cheaper than your OEM ones.
3. Riding gear
This applies again to the first time big bike buyers. Most ktm and dominar riders won't have expensive riding gears already. If you want to enjoy your bike, you will have to budget for the apt gear. And do not encroach on this budget to buy the bike. Also, its not uncommon to get riding gears at heavy discounts off the shelf and theres a thriving used riding gear market here from individual sellers.
4. Use your bike in right environment in right company
In most cases, a first time buyer me not be a part of SBK riding groups. Find out the best and most responsible one and mingle. This has too many subtle advantages starting from people who dont encourage rash and unsafe.
If its a sports bike, do her a favor. Take her to track at least once. If its a tourer, go cross country as much as your life permits. Theres so much beyond buying and revving an SBK. You will need riding buddies to pursue this.
I personally dont mind a less than one year old less than 1 2 k ridden SBK 60 70% of the list price. But i'd never buy anything with less than ideal paperwork, shoddy history and would rather check if the person negotiating has his name on RC.

[the_skyliner]

Excellent thread, KC.

I am not the one who would go the pre-owned way, but have to agree that it definitely offers excellent financial benefits.

The only genuine offer (which the dealer proactively made) that I received was from Pune Triumph who were quite transparent about a sparingly used Street-Twin that they had for sale as pre-owned. Rest all the options on OLX or otherwise looked shady even without getting in to details.

However, getting a good and genuine superbike which strikes the balance between price and value in pre-owned market, without such informative threads, is just not feasible. The premium car market is somewhat matured in last 4-5 years but the big bikes thing is no where close.

This thread will definitely help bikers and everyone in general given the popularity of our forum.

[Vikram8891]

Well this is a topic which is very close to my heart. I will warn you that this is a long post which shows the not so rosy aspect of going the pre owned route.

Exactly 2 years ago I made a decision to go pre owned when it came to my first middle weight sportsbike and actually got a very good deal on a 1.5 year old Benelli TNT 600i. I was vigilant in my checks, took multiple test rides, built a rapport with the owner and finally sealed the deal at a very good price. I was over the moon. My first inline 4 sportsbike. The bike rarely gave any issues but within an year and 11,000 kms I realised it wasn't the bike for me and started looking for a change. The bike got sold off to a dealer at a fair price and then I took a plunge for another lightweight 600 which I regret a lot.

This is where the dark side of the pre owned story started in my life. I bought a Japanese inline 4 sport tourer from a friend. It had seen a minor accident in the past I was well aware of but the bike had been rebuilt and kept with a lot of love. Since I had seen it in action in a few of our rides, I decided to go ahead with the purchase. It always helps if you know the background of the bike which I did. Now the bike was over a decade old and devoid of any electronics like ABS or the like. It only had a digital speedo. First sign of trouble - one of the twin headlights conked off on the way back from my friend's home to my home in the 1.5 hour highway journey. Ok no big deal, bulbs fuse all the time. I take it to my mechanic the same day and he notices the front fork has started leaking oil on the right side. Hmm, ok I get some jitters but this could be because this was a much lighter bike with a stiff suspension and I may have taken some bumps a bit too fast. My mistake. About 1 week and some repairs later I stop at a traffic light and turn off the engine. I try to start when the light is about to turn green and the battery which was 6 months old dies on me. I manage to pull the bike to the side. Some investigations by the mechanic points to faulty RR unit. So essentially the bike's motor was not charging the battery while it was running. These do not come cheap and I had to source a new one at considerable cost. The next thing to go within a few weeks was the radiator fan. I only noticed this once the bike's coolant started spilling and realised I had never actually heard the fan run since I had the bike. Got it checked and of course the fan was not working. More money poured in to repairs. A couple of weeks later and the front wheel starts making loud screeching sounds. Diagnosis - bearings gone. More repairs.

Aside from all this in the less than 1 year the bike was with me, I was constantly nervous to take it out fearing when it would shut off and not start. The starter button also refused to crank the bike sometimes. Towards the end all the superbike mechanics in my city came to the conclusion that the entire wiring harness needs to be changed and then I could expect some rideability from the bike. The only saving grace was that everyone agreed the engine and gearbox were in pristine condition.

Lesson learnt, I offloaded the bike to a private buyer after telling him everything, even the accident which occurred with the previous owner. Got an abysmal price as compared to what I had bought it for and put that money into buying a new Interceptor 650.

A side note - part of the reason I also sold it off was that the bike had an aggressive riding position and I wanted to ride really long distance. I know some people tour on super sports as well and I would have made some changes to the handle bars (higher clip ons) but by this time I had simply lost faith in the reliability of the bike and I would not even take it out in the city much less on a long highway run. Also I have not revealed details like the make and model of the bike so as not to hurt the chances of the current owner in case he decides to sell it. All I will say is that it came from a very reputed Japanese manufacturer.

Crucial Stuff:

1. Unless you are a DIY guy, do not buy models which are not sold in the country or which you can't get serviced from an authorised dealership.
2. Unless you have excellent mechanics in you city who are willing to support you, stay away from multi cylinder bikes.
3. Never assume things even if they seem quite apparent. Always approach a purchase objectively. This is your hard earned money and no one wants to flush it.

If you have stuck around till this part then I would just like to say that with my first pre owned bike I had no issues with reliability but I have to admit the second time around I bought a lemon. The amount of issues and inconvenience not to mention the embarassment it caused me is enough to make me wary of the pre owned world altogether. I had the bike for 10 months and I could only ride 3,000 kms whereas I have ridden my INT 650 over 4,500 kms in 3 months. Trust me, one seriously has to go through a lot to abandon the dream of riding an inline 4 and replace it with with a RE in the name of reliability and rideability, but then I did it and I feel this was the most practical decision I have taken in recent times.

[oMK1ar]

This is a very very informative thread, and so well drafted!

I really wish somebody had drafted this about 2yrs back when i begun my hunt for a superbike and had couple of them in mind, only to eventually find shady used bikes with unprofessional servicing/mods done on them... all of them to come with the cherry on the cake.. shady paperwork!
I remember someone from NE offering me a CB400SF which held reg-plates of a totalled CBR250R.

Eventually i was lucky to find 2 very good friends who brainwashed me with the above knowledge and helped me seek the right bike.. which due to my impatience i finally didnt, and bought a new BS6 Z900

I have been through the part where i stumbled upon some bikes which the dealers rotated within their circle and even insisted to me that I do not transfer it on my name as "it decreases the value on paper".. and eventually even offered to buy it back later within their circle, ofcourse depending on the wear-n-tear i had gotten on it later. That really shook my faith in the used market and I decided to give-in to my hurry and buy a new one. As i was back to my hometown after a decade I didnt have enough contacts to source direct contacts of owners of genuinely owned n maintained bikes so looking at new purchases was only option left.

The only thing I would like to re-iterate from the main post, is about having the right superbikers' network. They can really help you in getting the right information and eventually fetch you the right details. I would stress that as a must to anyone who is looking at the used bike market!

Cheers on such a good post!

[Entsurgeon]

Originally Posted by Vikram8891

Well . A couple of weeks later and the front wheel starts making loud screeching sounds. Diagnosis - bearings gone. More repairs.
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- part of the reason I also sold it off was that the bike had an aggressive riding position and I wanted to ride really long distance. I .
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I have to admit the second time around I bought a lemon.

I am sorry for what you have been through. But a decade old bike with said failures? I wouldn t call it lemon. It would be lemon if all the above failed in first couple of years. By 10th year, wear and tear would depend on how it had been ridden all those years.