Buying Bike from Shop Or Private Owner

[mountain_smith]

jus wondering wat are your personal preferences..

[Virus]

I think private owner is better. Usually they'll take good care for the bike & it'll come will lots of accessory. Top bos, side box & maybe more.

 

[jamesgoh13]

Private is betta. Bikeshop hard to trust when getting 2nd hand bike.

[kennethy]

second hand is of course private...

 

but first hand you dun really have a choice already... kekeke...

[janitor]

hello people, how r u guys doing ?

 

Do you think that I should buy my bike with a private owner ? If yes, pls state why !

 

Because I will get a bike end of the month, but I have no clue, where to buy, what bike to chose and most importantly, can I trust the private sellers ?!?!

 

Thx Jan

[xb84]

bought my first bike from shop and next 2 from private owners. cheaper looking for a bike yourself, but you have to check out the condition of the bikes yourself. (some private owners do quote unreasonable prices) 1 reason most still have to head back to the shop is not having enough cash at hand.

[Tyrian]

all my bikes are from private owners..

 

need me explain more?

[retro]

buy from shop also not too bad.. anything wrong can go back KPKB... get them to fix up... buy from private owner is cheaper... but wat if bike got problem? may work out to be the same as you buy from shops!!! and also buy from private you gotta pay upfront, buy shop no need ma...so no need one shot pay so much... got interest la but also not too much lah... then you will have spare $$ for other stuff...

[kOpi_jaC]

i go for private...

 

1) cheaper (twice, i made money, when i sold off the bikez which i got from friens)

 

2) condition u shld noe if u got the bike from frien or frien's frien (shld be able to noe how well he takes care of the bikez or the style he riding or any serious accident b4)....

 

3) bikeshop will definitely wanna earn money so blah blah fees will be there

 

4) god noes how long the bike is being put at the bikeshop and wat is the problems of the bikez... bikeshop wun tell u in details one

 

best is get private from frien's lobangs...

[kazuhiko]

i have never buy a bike from a bike shop. All my bikes were bought from private owners and so far i have never encountered any major problem from those private owners..

[LimHammett]

i tink c ur luck also ah..

 

wat my fren told me.. he a former rider.. given up riding cos his bike kana stolen.. when he wan to sell his sp last time to a private buyer.. he will wack his bike until.. xchange all the good parts with his frens and put bad parts on the bike before selling..

 

but i tink best if wanna buy bike from private sellers from this forum lah..more trustworthy..

[kazuhiko]

when testing of the bike you need to be well verse with some basic knowledge for example examine the suspension, the revolution of the engine, brake disk, outlook and look out for any leakage eg oil, coolent, and others..

 

Is better to bring someone more experience to help you to test the bike. Luck do play a part. But i will still believe that private owner are more reliable as compare to bike shop.

[Xenophobia07]

If you do want to get from a bike shop, you've got to find a trustworthy shop and provides excellent after sales service.

 

Don't get from those shop that says alot when you purchase, say will give this will give that, saying is one thing, unless its stated down. So don't get fooled by words alone.

[retro]

Originally posted by Xenophobia07@January 05, 2007 12:03 pm

If you do want to get from a bike shop, you've got to find a trustworthy shop and provides excellent after sales service.

 

Don't get from those shop that says alot when you purchase, say will give this will give that, saying is one thing, unless its stated down. So don't get fooled by words alone.

yeah... some shops will say things like they will get the single seater for you lah... get the bike resprayed lah.... but after you pay deposit... they say they still searching after one year!!! so dun pay anything until they do it up.. but most of the time they will say... when you wanna buy then we do it up lah...

[sanishankin]

Private seller can nego until price is so much cheaper then getting it in shops.

[Strong Eagle]

A REPUTABLE bike shop is better to purchase at because:

 

a) Will have already checked the bike, know its condition, will fix minor things, and will have a bike ready to go, maybe with a warranty.

b) Can find and buy exactly what you want more easily.

c) Have more financing options available.

 

A private seller is better because:

 

a) Better price: Bike shops must buy the bike at wholesale price, sell at retail. Price from private seller will be less than retail, maybe only wholesale.

b) Not in the business, hence more open to discussing bike and its history.

c) Can find one owner machines.

 

I prefer private sellers. In either case, an experienced eye should review the bike. Just a few things to consider:

 

a) Is the bike dirty - especially a lot of hidden dirt. The dirt doesn't hurt anything but tells you something about pride of ownership. Dirty bike may also mean other maintenance items were ignored.

 

b) Overall condition - some dings and rust could be normal. Excessive dings, heavily blued or rusted pipes, bent handlebars, looks like it has been pounded with a hammer, ugly paint job... all suggest that the bike may have lived a very hard life.

 

c) Frame - sometimes hard to tell but a bent frame is an automatic no-no. Check alignment of wheels. Should be directly in line with one another when the bike is upright. No crinkled or broken paint around the neck and steeering head... death to a bike. No crinkled paint elsewhere, suggests a straightened frame.

 

d) Tires - normal wear patterns... can be worn out but then ask for a discount to buy new tires. Look for aggressive riding patterns or patterns that show alignment is not true.

 

e) Brakes - pads can be worn - again, ask for a discount for new pads. But check the rotors. If gouged they will need to be replaced. If you can mic them for thickness you will know if they have ever been turned. Pistons, calipers, and brake lines should have no signs of leakage.

 

f) Engine/transmission - no major oily dirt, indicates seal leak. While the engine is running, listen to it through a long screw driver. Excessive clunks and slaps indicated heavily worn engine. Make sure you can start it cold. Starting problems, roughness, hard to idle indicate carb or EFI problems that you will need to fix. Make sure there is no slippage in the clutch.

 

g) Mileage - Low miles is better but not always. But, if the bike bike has high mileage and 98 percent of it was stop/start driving delivering mail or pizzas, look for another bike.

 

h) Spark plug - Should be clean, brownish to white plug. Fouled plug indicates carb problems or worn oil rings or valves (harder to tell with 2T).

 

i) Oil - Hey, if YOU were selling a bike, would you put fresh oil in it? If the oil is clean and new, you know the owner cares enough to put it in the best condition. If oil is not new, make sure it doesn't look like soup, a sure sign that maintenance is not done.

 

j) If liquid or oil cooled, make sure radiator is not dinged or fins not excessively bent. Coolant levels should be normal

 

k) Electrical - All lights, horns, meters, switches, etc. work properly. No loose wires all over the place... suggests rewiring of failed parts.

 

l) Controls - all work, all function smoothly, no hitches, no dragging, no missing parts.

[Aie]

All my bikes are bought from bikeshops. I'm lucky cos so far, the bikes bought had little problems that were fixed by the respective bikeshops when I went back to them...

[RedGixxer688]

I say it all depends on how much cash you have upfront. If you have 2-3k lying around, might as well get from private. If you have just enough to cover downpayment, obviously motorshops is your place.

 

But for me just go motorshop can liao .. everything do for you also, transfer, insurance, roadtax .... just my thoughts.

[Thailia]

second to metasis9705, if you have hard core cash, buying from private will be good, singaporebikes.com is a good place to purchase bikes privately also, though not personally know the person, but you can roughly know how he maintain his bike etc by his consistency in the forum.

 

If not enough money then buy from shop lor, buying from where also doesnt really matter, its really just gotta depends on yr heng suay, the bike can be perfectly good at the first place, the next minute you take over, problem might starts to come up also LL liao.

 

buying bike needs to have the chemistry also... like it, and you think able to afford any upcoming spare parts mishap, then go ahead!

 

I buy privately but transfering thing eventually also go to my trusted shop to do all the insurance transfering overall, still much better pricing than shop

[B20]

This question is juz like buying 2nd hand handphone... itz always better 2 buy from individual seller den in hp tiam.... hahaa

[Piss]

"if nobody buy my bike then will push to bike shop"--private owner

 

sounds familiar?

 

more often than not, bikes pushed to the bike shop r completely bare essentials at best,hidden mechanical faults at worst.

 

bike owners will have their friends plugging out all the goodies for a token sum,coz "aiya,why give the bike shop for wat?" kind of mentality.

 

why?coz bike shop offer low prices to eat in the bike,so they get a bike that got 2 round wheels and moves.

 

i remember inheriting trading a new battery,seat and starter motor before my friend pushed in the bike to bike shop. totally legitimate, no guilt.

 

tatz why i never give a second look at bikes for sale at bike shop.

[Echo]

of course private sellers. Motortiams certainly have a good reputation of "chopping" based on threads posted here. Secondly, the prices they quote mostly are at least 30% higher than private sellers. The rest are what others have mentioned here.

 

Your every cent is worth every second of your life!

[168kmh]

currently gurage sale sells everything but bikes.

 

Been looking for a bike since Feburary.

 

Better tells the moderator to open up te classified section, so as to filter out all those " garbage". . .

[hachi]

I brought all my bikes from private,cheaper than shop,saving can be use to repair if needed.Bike shop? Even with warranty they will just put on any part lying to make ur bike rd worthy.

I agreed with "piss" how many time in this forum u will see people asking those who wanna push into bike shop exchanged with wrapped rotors,bend rims....etc..And those bike in shop might not be even rd worthy with tons of unseen mechanicals problems. Not to mention the higher price u have paid.

I full cashed all my bike. I dont pay installment unless I wanted new bike..

My bike is my bike doesnt belong to anyone else....

Even I dont have the latest litre bike does it means I do not have fun riding the

yesterday supersport??

[hachi]

Originally posted by Piss@April 23, 2007 05:34 pm

"if nobody buy my bike then will push to bike shop"--private owner

 

In fact I dont like this statement, I dont think anyone care which shop u push ur bike to?

If the shop really can give up the profit needed to keep them going,if not the push in price should be ridiculous...unless that shop is ur father one....