How did you find out about the last bike you bought?

[boman]

We had a guy around here, he is notoriously hard on bikes. The SV1000 took every thing he could do to it and never let him down. When I wanted a V twin, it was an obvious choice. And the fact that I could own a brand new Sv or a second hand Buell, sorta made sense. Do not regret the decision at all.

[slofox]

I had seen this parsnickular bike lurking in the shop over a period of months. Decided one day it would do no harm to take it out for a wee pootle, despite dire warnings from the KB community at large. Did so next time I was waiting for a service on its predecessor...20 minutes later I had to have it...turns out all those KB'ers who warned me about said bike were dead right...

[hellokitty]

I looked at the bike specs on the internet. I wanted a cruiser that was under 1000cc and over 400cc, and one that wasn't too heavy (around 250kg as it turned out) . I didn't bother to read reviews.
It came down to Yamaha and Honda.
I called Cyclespot and the Yamaha place in Henderson.
Cyclespot were really friendly and helpful on the phone. Yamaha were not helpful or friendly at all.
Went to both shops sat on the bikes and moved them around to gauge weight etc.
Yamaha guy wouldn't even look at me.... bikes were ugly anyway.
Cyclespot were great, really positive and helpful.

My husband loved my bike so much that we went back and bought another one.

[neels]

The last bike I bought was word of mouth, doesn't really count though as it's pretty hard to say no to a mate asking if you want a complete XL250 in bits for $50.

The last actually going bike I bought was from trademe, not a lot of pictures and they probably made it look worse than it really was, so it was just the basic make, model, mileage and price that got me around to look at it.

I had seen this parsnickular bike lurking in the shop over a period of months. Decided one day it would do no harm to take it out for a wee pootle, despite dire warnings from the KB community at large. Did so next time I was waiting for a service on its predecessor...20 minutes later I had to have it...turns out all those KB'ers who warned me about said bike were dead right...

I now has the same problem, have taken a bike for a ride, now I want one. The advice about not window shopping unless you are in a position to be buying would appear to be correct.

[reemit]

Walked off the street, wasn't looking for a new bike, just bored.
No research, no idea what I was doing, 30 mins later after filling out forms getting cash from bank and trading ZRX1K, riding home on a RSV Mille. Mental.

[crazyhorse]

For me it was easy. A mate bought it - I rode it more than he did, and I told him when he wanted to sell it, I'd buy it - so when he moved to Oz, it was MINE!!!!! and I've loved it since

[tigertim20]

I'm doing a bit of research into where people get the information about the bikes they buy for an article I'm writing on motorcycle marketing and would appreciate a bit of help.

Can you let me know where you found the last bike you bought, and what influenced you to choose that bike in particular. Do you like Trademe ads with plenty of photos? Do you like ads with plenty of blurb, or just the key stuff? Do you use the free advertising papers (Buy Sell & Exchange etc)? Do you prefer Tradme to Motorcycletrader, or vice versa? Did you just cruise around bike shops until you found what you were looking for?

I'm not looking for how you chose the make and model of bike or the research process behind your deciding to choose that make and model of bike, but how you ended up finding the specific bike you bought and what made you choose the one advertised. The purpose is to give me info on how people make their purchase decisions so I can get a handle on the most effective way of selling a bike.

I had wanted a cbr ever since I knew what one was, didnt care what year, just wanted a big (ish) cbr. one day trolling TM, for no reason other than to pass time, I saw one in my area, well priced privately. went to see it, and made an offer which was accepted before I realised the words were even coming out of my mouth. never regretted it once.

[NinjaNanna]

4 bought on Trademe (95 ZXR-9, 91 ZR250 Balius, 04 R1, 92 ZR750 Zephyr)
2 sold on trademe (ZXR-9, R1)
1 sold on KB's Trader section (ZR250 Balius)


Things I look at are realistic market price, year, km's, enough pictures to gauge first impression and location. I don't care if its an auction or a classified (in fact I'm more likely to respond to a classified, despite what TM would have you beleive).

I like to know the rego number so I can do a quick check on carjam.

A bit of a write up is always good, but I'm not interested in whether you love this bike, sad to see it go, selling to buy a house, baby on the way... all I care about is whether it represents good value for money.

I do care about, tread left on the tyre's, condition of the chain and sprokets, disc thicknesses, amount of meat left on the brake pads, when valve clearances were last checked, any defects that the owner feels should be disclosed, rego and wof expiry dates, anythinig of significance that has already been replaced (regulator rectifiers, batteries, fork oil, timing chain)

[pzkpfw]

JamesDeuce showed me his bike, and I liked it; suited me well. Ended up getting one just like it - so I voted "word of mouth".

BUT: I still looked around, and the way the shops dealt with me is what confirmed my decision.
(
e.g. The guy at shop X would say things like "I think I might be able to get you one of those at that price" (when that was the price the thing was being advertised at).
The guy at the shop I bought my bike at was saying things like "and, I can throw in that pack rack you wanted...".
)

[Cayman911]

Walked into the shop. and it was love at first sight with some lionell richie music playing in my head the moment i saw it :P

[Jizah]

I got mine from here too.

[DarkLord]

Mine was on Trademe and KB.

[Usarka]

Found it parked in the garage on monday after a hard weekend on booze and benzos.

[Virago]

I was walking down the street (concentrating on trucking right).

Suddenly, out of nowhere, this bike came bounding up behind me. All excited it was, wagging its tail, and nudging my hand for some attention. I stopped to give it some lovin', and it started humping my leg adoringly. It followed me home, and then whimpered at the door until I let it in.

We've been together ever since...

[Smifffy]

Trademe/biketrader ad for a dealership. I forget which, but I knew the bike was in the showroom before I turned up.