Points to be considered when buying used bikes

[lovish]

Got it. Thank you Sir. And about a new one, I dont really know his opinion on that.

Just sharing what I learned on xbhp only... I would be really glad if it comes handy to you


Regards

Lovish

[jai+2910]

I'm writing this for one of my friends, who is looking for a Bajaj Pulsar 180 ug4.What are the other areas to be attended?

1.Check the service manual properly. Shows the care of the owner in maintaining the bike. Important aspect, dont forget this.
2.Try to get the bike from individuals rather than from dealers.
3.See the engine no & chassis no, check with the RC & Insurance papers
4.Check free rotation of the wheels, especially front wheel & notice if there is any bend on the disc or not.

spend time with the bike, morning visit would be good.

[jai+2910]

Hes not willing to do so. Thats why I am walking away

its good that you walked away
Dont be tempted by the bike alone, paper work also matters.
Patience pays, wait for the right bike.

[sentnms]

3rd point what jai+2910 mentioned, that is the first and the foremost thing u have to do. 1 more point i want to add, check for the previous owners history. few ppl won't change the name.

[muztariq]

my opinions on the topic -
1. Dont buy any vehicle from second owner. Make sure you are the second owner. If the ownership history is known personally to you then no issue.
2. Dont buy well polished old bikes standing at the dealership. Dont go by the looks. I have lived most part of my life in karol bagh, delhi which is arguably the biggest second hand market in India.. Old/Dead bikes look new but are just not worth a paisa.
3. Buy bikes which have run 20-30 k/ 2-3 years only, any further is not advisable.
4. Before any test ride, see the papers. Never give in to claims like the papers got stolen/damaged we have a copy etc. See the originals.

Test ride-

5.Test ride the bike, check for any strange engine noise, jerks. Check maximum speed and acceleration. Check for any damages to the chasis.. If the bike had a big accident its chasis would bear the marks. Check for engine over heating or any smell from the engine(best way is to pretend to check the sparkplug after the test ride). Check the bike for any oil leaks adter the ride.

Post buying-
Dont buy a bike thinking you will make it look new and invest money in it. Buy a bike as you want to keep it. Any extrainvestments on the bike should be made after you are sure that you have got a good bike. Have seen some guys investing huge amounts in making a second hand look good then kicking 15-20 times to get it started every now and then.
Always be ready to face problems. You are buying a second hand bike it will have some small problems.

Never buy a second hand bike/car just because you dont know how to ride/drive. Its a weeks job. Buy a second hand if-
Running very low on funds.. And you are not eligible for a loan.
Not planning to stay in the city for more than a year or so.
Planning to retire from riding/driving in a year or so. :-)

[Arun Magus]

1.Check the service manual properly. Shows the care of the owner in maintaining the bike. Important aspect, dont forget this.
2.Try to get the bike from individuals rather than from dealers.
3.See the engine no & chassis no, check with the RC & Insurance papers
4.Check free rotation of the wheels, especially front wheel & notice if there is any bend on the disc or not.

spend time with the bike, morning visit would be good.

You don't really need to check a Pulsar for engine faults. Just keep running it till the day it it stops. When it does, just plonk in a new one, a new one for a P220 cost just 2800 (spares) anyways, P180 should be even cheaper.

Just check if the peripheral parts like the chassis, bodywork, forks and rims are in good condition. If they are good, you should be good to go .

Just sharing what I learned on xbhp only... I would be really glad if it comes handy to you


Regards

Lovish

3rd point what jai+2910 mentioned, that is the first and the foremost thing u have to do. 1 more point i want to add, check for the previous owners history. few ppl won't change the name.

my opinions on the topic -
1. Dont buy any vehicle from second owner. Make sure you are the second owner. If the ownership history is known personally to you then no issue.
2. Dont buy well polished old bikes standing at the dealership. Dont go by the looks. I have lived most part of my life in karol bagh, delhi which is arguably the biggest second hand market in India.. Old/Dead bikes look new but are just not worth a paisa.
3. Buy bikes which have run 20-30 k/ 2-3 years only, any further is not advisable.
4. Before any test ride, see the papers. Never give in to claims like the papers got stolen/damaged we have a copy etc. See the originals.

Test ride-

5.Test ride the bike, check for any strange engine noise, jerks. Check maximum speed and acceleration. Check for any damages to the chasis.. If the bike had a big accident its chasis would bear the marks. Check for engine over heating or any smell from the engine(best way is to pretend to check the sparkplug after the test ride). Check the bike for any oil leaks adter the ride.

Post buying-
Dont buy a bike thinking you will make it look new and invest money in it. Buy a bike as you want to keep it. Any extrainvestments on the bike should be made after you are sure that you have got a good bike. Have seen some guys investing huge amounts in making a second hand look good then kicking 15-20 times to get it started every now and then.
Always be ready to face problems. You are buying a second hand bike it will have some small problems.

Never buy a second hand bike/car just because you dont know how to ride/drive. Its a weeks job. Buy a second hand if-
Running very low on funds.. And you are not eligible for a loan.
Not planning to stay in the city for more than a year or so.
Planning to retire from riding/driving in a year or so. :-)

That's a whole lot of information! Thank you all.

[albyjose]

You don't really need to check a Pulsar for engine faults. Just keep running it till the day it it stops. When it does, just plonk in a new one, a new one for a P220 cost just 2800 (spares) anyways, P180 should be even cheaper.

Just check if the peripheral parts like the chassis, bodywork, forks and rims are in good condition. If they are good, you should be good to go .

That's interesting.How come bajaj bikes have so much less resale value,when compared to others?Is it better to buy a second hand pulsar than buying an fz/karishma?I mean in terms of cost,an engine overhaul of fz will cost much more,right?Getting a crappy p180 for dirt cheap and replacing the engine would be a wise idea when you are low on budget,right?

[antz.bin]

That's interesting.How come bajaj bikes have so much less resale value,when compared to others?Is it better to buy a second hand pulsar than buying an fz/karishma?I mean in terms of cost,an engine overhaul of fz will cost much more,right?Getting a crappy p180 for dirt cheap and replacing the engine would be a wise idea when you are low on budget,right?

The thing with crappy bikes is that it is not just the engine which has been abused. More often than not, as you use the bike, you will realize that many other things like forks / rims / chassis also has some problem or the other which will mean you will have to spend money on it later to get it rectified. In most cases, these parts cost more than the engine itself . Eg. in the case of a P220, the following parts actually cost more than the 'block + piston + piston rings' kit.
1. Wiring harness
2. Front Forks
3. Headlamp assembly (due to the lovely projector)
4. Fuel Tank

Thats the reason I agree with what Muztariq says, "Don't buy a bike thinking you will make it look new and invest money in it. Buy a bike as you want to keep it. Any extra investments on the bike should be made after you are sure that you have got a good bike."

The benefit with buying a used Pulsar is, if you get it wrong, the financial hit is lower than the competition. Engine condition is not something which can be determined with certainty in a simple 5-10km test ride. Definitely not by someone who doesn't actually own the same bike model. So if you want to buy say.. a Pulsar 180 UG3 (my personal favorite in the used bike market), take along a friend who actually owns a P180 UG3 and tell him to test ride the bike while you concentrate on the cycle parts.

As for Bajaj bikes having low resale, I feel this bit is only true for their 100cc commuters. I don't know the scene where you stay, but in this neck of the woods, Pulsars have very decent resale. I mean, I still get 55-60k offers for my own bike (Pulsar 220 DTSi) which will be 3 years old in like a week and has run over 40k km. This is a bike which I bought for 78k, so an 18-20k depreciation (barely 8% per year, compounding) in 3 years is not something I would consider as bad by any stretch of the imagination. The fact that helps its resale further is that a new one these days costs almost 90k!

[albyjose]

Thanks.That is useful information.Which other bikes are your favorites in second hand department?I need a decent power bike for 50k.Can a pulsar 180 deliver same mileage and power as the stock one if I put new engine block kit?In ordinary case will I need to change the carburetor?I am asking this because I am low on budget but need a power bike.It does not make any sense if I get one bike and spend a lot on it,then final price comes near to the new one.

[shv18]

Thanks.That is useful information.Which other bikes are your favorites in second hand department?I need a decent power bike for 50k.Can a pulsar 180 deliver same mileage and power as the stock one if I put new engine block kit?In ordinary case will I need to change the carburetor?I am asking this because I am low on budget but need a power bike.It does not make any sense if I get one bike and spend a lot on it,then final price comes near to the new one.

My two cents,

If you can find a ride which has got all the history papers of servicing done in SVC centres and any parts that have been replaced and the owner has the bill for it... i would say that is the one you should go it for even if the owner asks for a bit of premium..

An owner retaining that much load of paperwork itself reflects that he has taken a good care of it.. I would say on such bikes offer your price as per the insurance value and not what the owner asks for.. such rides are worth having.


Cheers,

[antz.bin]

Thanks.That is useful information.Which other bikes are your favorites in second hand department?I need a decent power bike for 50k.Can a pulsar 180 deliver same mileage and power as the stock one if I put new engine block kit?In ordinary case will I need to change the carburetor?I am asking this because I am low on budget but need a power bike.It does not make any sense if I get one bike and spend a lot on it,then final price comes near to the new one.

Well, the reason why I like the Pulsar 180 UG3 so much is that it is so much more fun to ride than the UG4, especially in the city due to its short gearing and excellent low-end and lower weight compared to UG4. But, the UG4 returns better FE than the UG3 due to its taller, highway centric gearing. Realistically, you cannot expect anything more than 45-50 on a P180 UG3 with careful riding. But yes, the FE should remain on the correct side of 40 on most occasions even with mild ripping.

If you want more FE than what is mentioned above, you should probably stick to the 150cc segment. But before you finalize anything, keep this at the back of your mind that a brand new Discover 150 will cost you just about 60k on road (the 2nd cheapest 150cc bike being sold in the country) and that will come with 4 free services, a 2 year warranty and will easily return better FE than any other 150 (new or used) that you can find. As a side benefit, at just 121kg, the bike is so light that it has a better power to weight ratio than any other Hero/Honda/Yamaha/Bajaj/Suzuki 150cc air-cooled bike sold in India till date. (Yup, all of them )

In fact, the only 4-stroke bikes <200cc which have a better power-to-weight ratio than the Discover 150 are:
1. Pulsar 180 UG3 onwards
2. Apache RTR 160 (all gen)
3. Apache RTR 180 (all gen)
4. Yamaha R15 v1 and v2
5. Honda CBR150R
6. Pulsar 135LS (surprise surprise!!)

Unfortunately, worthy #3, #4 & #5 usually cannot be had in the price range you are looking for and #6 is extremely new in the market compared to #1 and #2 so I doubt that you can find enough examples to make a proper selection.

That leaves us with #1 and #2 in power bikes which can be shortlisted realistically. So Happy Shopping my friend .

[joshipuneet9]

Hello Kantu,

There is lot of problem comes while Transfering bike from one person to another as Transport department ask number of proofs . I just suggest to go to your Transport Authority and contact any broker who are sitting outside Transport Authority they will help you in this case . You just need to pay them some amount eg Rs3000. and believe me it works. Same situation i faced while selling my bike.

[khanfrd]

can I use bike of same state but in different city because I want to buy a bike which is of pune but I am want to use in Aurangabad

[sunilyo]

I will be selling by bike soon. I have a few questions:

a. my bike is registered in Delhi.

b. the buyer is in Gurgaon.

c. what will be procedure for making the transfer?

d. how much does it cost and who bears it - buyer or seller or both (50/50)?

e. how much time does it take to make the transfer?

f. will a simple NOC from the Delhi RTO office will do ? if yes then what do i have to do to get it?

[rajpandey10]

what are procedure to make payment while buying second hand bike, i mean in what steps money needs to be transferred to the owner.

What will be the reasonable cost of 10 months used cbr250 with decent condition 6K used?