Ebay Dilemma... advice please..?

[jazbug5]

Hello all;

I am now the very happy owner of a GSF400. I bought it through Ebay, the seller delivered it to the mechanic here in Cambridge (UK) last weekend, where it was to be fitted with an ignition barrel, get checked over and MOT-d.

When I spoke to him on the phone before I bid,he told me that he would deliver (and cheap- about the cost of his diesel, I'd guess) and that he had an ignition barrel that fit, and I could have it if I won the bike... and when asked, confirmed that the clock was in Ks not miles. All well & good. I bid, got it for an excellent price.. I know it's a crazy thing to gamble on, but I don't have much money, wanted this particular bike, and the guy (who trades recovered bikes on there) has great feedback so far.. so worth a gamble, I thought.
Anyway. Here is my dilemma. The mechanic tells me the clock is in miles as far as he can see (meaning it has 38,000 miles as opposed to ks), and there was no speedo gear box/cable fitted. Also, the ignition barrel he supplied didn't fit- although the key for it did fit the petrol cap... hooray.
The seller denies this, saying that as it was a grey import (evidenced by the speedo being in both ks and miles) then the clock must be in ks. He also says there was definately no problem with the speedo.
I also had to get a new battery put in (which is only to be expected, really, I suppose), and it needs a bit more work done in the near future (it feels like there is air in the brake lines).

So. I haven't had a chance to speak to the mechanic again yet, but what do you think? I haven't put in any feedback on Ebay yet, and need to make a decision.
He's been a nice guy to deal with, I love the bike and it runs really pretty smoothly; the price I got it for plus the parts and labour still add up to a really good price for it. I don't want to f*ck with the guy or be unreasonable, but still feel that he may have been dishonest by omission... or it may be a genuine mistake..?
Is it possible to miss something like a missing speedo cable/gear box?

The ad is below, FYI.

Thanks in advance, guys...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...e=STRK:MEWN:IT

[marty]

why would he tell you all this, if he knew it was wrong, and also knew that you were going to get it worked on, and that you were going to 1. see him in person and 2. possibly leave bad feedback if he was a crook.

the bike was stolen/recovered - it's bound to have a few issues. the odometer will read (miles or kays) whatever is the dominant print on the speedo. grey import from japan - in k's. from europe, possibly in mph, from usa, definately mph/miles.

pay the money, take the deal. not worth leaving neg feedback

[erik]

If you're not looking for it and don't ride the bike, the speedo cable would be fairly easy to miss. But you can see in the photo of the left side of the bike that it is missing (see photo of where it should be). It is strange that the speedo gearbox is missing. I think someone would need to have put a spacer in there if it was removed to prevent the front wheel from moving side to side.
It seems a bit negligent on the part of the seller to not notice the speedo cable/gearbox were missing, but it is possible it was an honest mistake.
Do they record the milage on the ownership papers there? That might help you to get an idea of the actual milage.

I'd give the seller a neutral feedback and just explain what happened.

Anyway, nice bike. it's good to see you got the twin disc version too. My brakes aren't too spongy, but I do have to pull the lever in a fair way to get them to work. I might try bleeding the brakes to see if it changes things, but maybe that's just how they are. Not sure if that's the same thing you're experiencing.

[Posh Tourer :P]

You may find that the brakes are spongy due to the lines being old and soft. Also, if you need to pull the brakes in a fair way to make them work, it may be that they just need a little running in, as the pads will wear off the high spots and bed in a lot better.

[Ixion]

Is the speedo gearbox missing, or has the "sticky out bit" that the cable screws into been broken off? I've known that happen. Looking at the Ebay picture there does appear to be SOMETHING there between the brake caliper and the fork leg, I can see a black thing.As Erik says, if the drive was completely missing the front heel would move around on the axle .

The bike has obviously gone down on the left hand side (and the seller admits there was an accident) , as shown by the dent in the tank. It is not inconceivable that impact could snap the drive housing. Then the cable , and the gear pinion pull out and flap around. So someone removed the cable and broken off bit.

If the seller was a recovery specialist, he perhaps would not ride all the bikes he sells. And it's not the sort of thing you'd think to look for. So it could be an honest oversight, and I suppose one could argue that such things are part of buying recovered vehicles. The condition is always a bit of an unknown.

MPH speedos often show KPH as an alternative (usually big MPH figures and little KPH ones nearer the centre). I've never seen a KPH speedo that had alternative MPH figures, though I suppose it's possible.

[Motu]

As Ixion says,if he is a recovery specialist there is going to be lots of minor damage,and it's not his job to fix them,he just passes them on,he probably has never even ridden it.You would have to ride it a few kms to see if speedo and odo matched,and what the odo was reading in.I know some UK grey import vehicles use a converter box to change the reading to miles.It's all petty and annoying stuff which costs money to fix,and if this is what he does he'll be having customers like you every day....denial will be his first defence...keep pushing.

I always factor in oil and filter,battery and brakes into any vehicle I buy,these are just basics that happen to anything,do them when you first get it and they are out of the way for some time.

[jazbug5]

Thanks guys- I really appreciate the feedback. I suspect Mr. Ixion may be correct- the speedo may have been damaged or possibly replaced with a spacer, and the guy had not noticed. I'll check with the mechanic again later whether that was the case- as you say, the wheel would have been noticeably wobbly, and it wasn't.
It's not supposed to be actually crash damaged, though; it was stolen and then supposedly something fell on it... so I knew fine well it wasn't mint, and would need some money spent on it. Not a problem.

The odometer has the miles in bigger writing than the ks, so it's pretty strange, really, that he wouldn't have picked up on it.

I'm still really reluctant to leave negative feedback because really I still have got a really good deal and I love the bike... let's see what the mechanic says.

Thanks again for your help guys (and special thanks for the diagram etc, Eric!)

[popelli]

I've never seen a KPH speedo that had alternative MPH figures, though I suppose it's possible.

my bike has that fitted as standard

[Ixion]

Ah well, that's Eyties for y'.

[badlieutenant]

nice wee bike that jaz, congratulations!!

[moko]

Few issues here .Firstly he`s told you he`s a dealer,that means in the UK he`s breaking the law if he`s not stated that on Ebay.If he has you`re covered by the sale of goods act,as a trader he`s compelled to give you a true description,and the "mileage" is there in kilometers in black and white.He could well be trading un-officially,i.e using Ebay to off-load stuff without telling the taxman,if you didnt get a receipt on headed paper but he claims to be a dealer then a good chance you could cause him all kinds of hassle with the taxman,trading standards e.t.c.,if you did then trading standards are on your side.If you`d paid by credit card then under U.K. law they`d have given your money back and chased him themselves,I had this last year with some pillock on Ebay who failed to deliver.Basically you`ve not got what you paid for if your mechanic is right.
The bike itself,if it`s a grey import it`ll be on the registration document,cant remember the exact wording but something like "originally registered outside of UK" or similar.
The 400 Bandit wasn`t very popular here and as far as I know the ones we got were all red and had single discs,they also had major carburation problems that all the mags picked up on.You can check with Suzuki GB whether or not it`s an official import if you get the frame number,this number`s important anyway when you come to buy spares because there are quite a few variations of this bike kicking around,loads of grey imports now,there`s even a V-tec version,or at least Suzi`s variation of that.When we had the 400 imported here Jap market bikes had more power,twinn discs and stainless steel exhaust systems and there have been many variations since.
Basically if he`s said k`s but the clocks read m.p.h. and he`s a trader then you can get your money back,might be a bit of hassle though.If he`s what he says he is then he might well not have checked the speedo cable,or much else,these guys get bikes delivered on the back of a truck and just punt them out with barely a second look,not a problem if you know what you`re buying.
If I were you I`d contact him before you do anything else,be polite but point out what you`ve said here,tell him that although you realise it was un-intentional his description was mis-leading and either ask him for your money back or at the very least a few quid compensation.If he deals on Ebay a lot he`ll not want bad feedback,can make or break a little guy if he`s seen as dodgy by potential customers.Dont threaten in any way,just be polite but firm in that you feel he needs to go some way to compensating you.If he gets rude or offensive you`re going to get nowhere and I`d bang in bad feedback straight away,dont do what I did and let some jerk drag things out until the feedback limit lapsed,think they`ve extended it since then.Next stop trading standards,I`d phone the taxman as well and his local council,if he`s a crook probably not taking a lot of attention in planning or trading laws either.
Hopefully he`s just taken things at face value,probably is a grey and he`s just assumed the clocks are in k`s,probably also never even fired the thing up let alone given it a thorough check-over.If you paid by Paypal you can claim your money back through them as well,dont bother complaining to Ebay,despite all the fine words they dont really give a toss and a regular seller always seems to get the benefit of the doubt,that`s where their money comes from.