i R 733t h4x0r n0oB!!!11!! :P

[Mr Skid]

Hey all
I've been lurking on this fine piece of the superinformationinterweb for far too long, and thought I'd best be polite and say hello..

I'm a definite newbie to motorbikes, the first time I ever rode a motorbike was for my basic handling skills cert (assuming a GN125 counts as a motorbike :P ), though I've been thrashing my wantabe supermotard mountain bike through Auckland's traffic for the last 2 years or so, learning the benefits of covering one's front brake and the risks of hazard fixation..

the time has now come to purchase my first bike, after selling my first car to fund it. Possibilities include a Honda CBR250R and Suzuki GSF250 amongst others..

I've done some of the pre-requisite reading required (A Twist of the Wrist, Proficient Motorcycling, The Biker's Bible etc) but have a question about buying a bike..

I'm considering buying through a dealer for a bike, which prompts the question of how to know if a bike they are selling is in decent nick mechanically?

I'm aware you can get a bike shop to do a pre-purchase inspection if your buying privately, but what if your buying from a shop? Can I have some faith in the condition of the bikes a shop is selling, or is the same story as for used car yards?

What do you peeps think on this one?

Thanks!

[6Chris6]

Yes, i believe you can have some faith when buying from a dealer, unless maybe it's a trade-in and they haven't touched it.
I've spoken to my local bike shop about this and they have no problem checking out a bike from another shop.
And better safe than sorry eh.
P.S. Welcome to the site bud :spudbooge
P.P.S. Get that insomnia sorted first!!

[Firefight]

Gidday , Pap, welcome to the site, you picked the write place for good info,
plenty here who will give you good advice, sadly Ia'm not one of them, I'll leave it to all the techno to help you..

F/F

[James Deuce]

Welcome!

Anymore 7eet speak and we'll all login in as admin, and then you'll be sorry! 'sif.

j/k

As far as buying a bike from a dealer goes, I'd still get it checked out as much as possible, in the same way you would a car. Take a mate who knows about bikes, and isn't faintly interested or excited that you are getting a bike, and make sure that he crtique's everything. You can hide a myriad of nasties under freshly painted bodywork. Caveat Emptor applies in bike shops too.

Good Luck with the search.

[Racey Rider]

Welcome along.
I would say any reputable bike shop would look after you if a bike they sold you "packed up" within the first 1000 km of the sale.
Well you would hope so anyway.

No bike shop wants to pull "car a yard deal" over a new rider, (No O fence Frosty.), to sell a obviously bad bike.
Well you would hope not anyway!

As a newbe into bikes, they should want to encourage you with a good bike , that will suit your purposes, and give you a good run, so that you come back to them when your ready to upgrade later.

Well you would hope so anyway!

Ever the optimist
Racey.


(any of the views expressed on this forum are not necessarily the views of KiwiBiker management, and should be taken under professional advised, yadda, yadda, yadda,,,, etc, etc, (ie. we don't want to hear from your Lawyers)

[Hitcher]

Welcome to the madhouse. Enjoy!

[magnum]

hello and welcome.

[Ms Piggy]

Welcome to the Jungle Lotsa good biker types round here

[Posh Tourer :P]

Get another bike shop to check it if you are unsure. Often the cheaper bikes have been well cleaned, and that can hide the fact that it has been abused. Have a good look as there are often bits they cant get at, and the level of crud on it can give you some idea of how well it has been maintained in a past life. Personally, I'd buy second hand if you have the cash, because dealers are much more expensive, when all they do effectively is clean the bike and offer finance to help you along. Still get the bike checked over at a shop if you are unsure before you buy, but if you do your research and have some slight mechanical knowledge you ought to be fine buying second hand...

[Wenier]

hey good one ya for gettin into bikes.

If i were you i would get a bike shop to check it out i had a mate whose bike has spat the dumby and he aint had it for any more than a year so thats costing him a bit.

And if you are willing to buy second hand privately its a good idea as its far cheaper than a bike store but same applies get another shop to check the condition for you.

[Andrew]

Hey there! You don't go following around famous people on bikes do you? Well if you do watch out, a few of us are crazy (and famous but that should go without saying).

[Mr Skid]

Hey there! You don't go following around famous people on bikes do you? Well if you do watch out, a few of us are crazy (and famous but that should go without saying).

haha, well no, I'll have enough trouble keeping the shiny side up at the moment, without worrying about taking pics at the same time.. so the next Jonathan Marshall I am not! (Though I recall he was wanting to buy my domain name a while back..)

Cheers for all the advice today peeps, I've decided to avoid the CBR / GSX / ZXR / etc route for now.. I took a Katana 250 out for a ride today and had trouble keeping her upright.

..so instead I'm going to take the advice Motoracer offered to another newbie and look at trail bikes - took a Yamaha XT225 trail bike out for a blat, didn't set the world on fire with acceleration, but easy to control, not much expensive stuff to break in a binning, and a single pot 4 stroke engine..

..I've got a knowledgeable/experienced friend going to test ride the XT225 at Red Baron tomorrow, and we will see how things go from there..

[Motu]

Some will try to tell you the XT225 Serow is a chicks bike - well it is,nice and light,low,electric start - but don't be fooled,it's a really capable machine,there were some in the Paris/Dakar race this year,a real test of a machine.Also in this months Kiwi Rider is a story of a couple who took them on a tour around NZ.They are hard to kill - but if you want to see a dead one,come and have a look at mine!