urgent: is a pre purchase inspection worth it?

**Wasp** · 6th March 2007, 14:30

is a ppi worth it? im told 2-3 hours labour by the bike shop (3 if i want compression testion, 2 if not)

i trust the bike im looking at buying, ive ridden it everything seems fine, i also trust the owner and have ridden with the bike a quite a few times

its booked in for thursday morn but im thinking of going back in tonight and cancelling

what do you guys reckon?

**crazybigal** · 6th March 2007, 14:33

take it to boyles, they will do a check without costing you the earth and you can normally get the bike in and done in a few days.

**Drum** · 6th March 2007, 14:44

What're you looking at Wasp?

**placidfemme** · 6th March 2007, 14:44

Depends on how in depth the inspection is...

You can get the bike "appraised" by a bike shop for about $35-ish (depending on the shop), they do a basic WOF check (but its not a WOF) and check the history of the rego. They can then tell you what condition the bike is in (ie: what basic work needs to be done), they will also test ride the bike.

I recommend at the least getting an appraisal

**nudemetalz** · 6th March 2007, 14:58

As Drum says - what you looking at ?
I could give you another opinion on the machine if you like.
I really don't think it's that necessary, I bought the RF-400 without a ppi.

Give me a PM if you want me to help you.

Cheers,
NDMz

**Wasp** · 6th March 2007, 15:01

sigh, I wanted to keep this secret but what the heck (and most people know anyway)

the bike is madboy's 02 kawa 636

**nudemetalz** · 6th March 2007, 15:07

AFAIK, 636's have good strong engine's.

**Drum** · 6th March 2007, 15:09

I wouldn't bother with the inspection for a Kawasaki mate.

Congrats!

p.s. Got any tickets owing on it?

**Smorg** · 6th March 2007, 15:11

up to you really mate both bikes Ive owned I bought without doing PPI's on them and I never had any problems with either of them
(still teething my most recent one) if you dont get a dodgy vibe about it then save yourself some money, besides its not like its a random purchase of tardme or something

**Delphinus** · 6th March 2007, 15:17

Sorry to hijack your thread..
But would you reccommend a check for a 1990 Kawasaki ZXR done nearly 30,000km's.... off a "random on tardme"
Has done some work on it:

The bike only needed fork seals for last wof which was done, and Ive only ridden the bike about 500km since then. Tyres, discs, brakes and chain is all fine.

Ive owned her for about a year and only done 6000km, mainly on trips to palmerston north and sunny weekend riding, she has always been garaged.

I have maintained this bike well as she was my baby, bike had cam chain tensioner replaced, new sparkplugs, carbs cleaned, new rectifer, battery and chain. not sure if I have reciepts for all the work, but it was done by motomart in lower hutt which they can confirm.

Oil and oil filter has been changed by me a couple of months ago.

Before I bought the bike I was told by a bike shop the best way to check the condition of the engine is by doing a compression check on the engine, which the bike shop did, and was found to be just fine, still have the paperwork for it.

Chatted to the guy on the phone and he seems onto it and honest.. Has 2 other bikes.

Thanks.

**imdying** · 6th March 2007, 15:27

Really depends on how big a purchase it is financially. If you don't know much about wrenching, and it's big $$$$ to you, then it could be worth it. If you're reasonably handy mechanically, and it's just a toy that isn't going to be a major asset to you, don't bother.

**RantyDave** · 6th March 2007, 15:29

Originally Posted by Wasp

the bike is madboy's 02 kawa 636

Oh, because that's never been thrashed. One lady owner, a nun actually, only ever used it to go to the shops.

Make sure he can find the number plate before he sells it to you. It might even be worth putting a picture of it on the site with the words "DIFFERENT OWNER NOW, MMMKAY? I'M NOT THE GUY YOU'RE LOOKING FOR" somewhere in the thread.

But perhaps more seriously I think it would be fine to not get it inspected. It's not like he was ever wanting for a ride because it had broken down, is it? I don't recall him ever pranging it either.

And how did you figure urgency into the equation? It's been casually on the market for months...

Dave