What to Check when Buying a Used Motorcycle

What should you look out for when buying a used motorcycle? The last thing on your mind would be forking out an additional sum to repair!

There are a lot of tips and tricks circulating around in forums and chats. You can bookmark this page for your future reference.

Engine Oil/Spark Plug/Oil Filter/Air Filter/Coolant

• Frequency of change
• Type of EO used and last change

Tyres and Brake Pads

• Clutch plates mileage/use period
• Brake pads mileage/use period
• Frequency of pumping tires and psi
• Check tires. (max life of tires are 5 years from manufacture date, which can be found on th3 tire. there shouldn’t be cracks in the rubber.)

Battery

• Battery use period
• Last (Steering cone/wheels/swing arm) bearing service

Petrol

• Frequency of pumping petrol (if always hit reserve then pump, very high chance the fuel pump is exposed to frequent overheating and may fail in the long term)
• Fuel consumption

Administrative

• How many previous owners/transfers
• Exhaust and inspection cert
• Any drops/accidents
• Last valve clearance service
• See service records. Best is bike goes to 1 or 2 mechs only. If like you see a ton of different mech shops, it mostly means theres some shit with the bike that nobody can solve. Like i said dont let them try to sell you on that bike use vpower or motul 300v shit every 2k km. No need one, especially on 2b.

When you’re checking the bike, do look out for…

• Easy ignition
• Headlight, tail light, signals, horn
• Smooth engine sound at idle
• Revs (and open VTEC) smoothly; check throttle. It should be smooth and easy to turn all the way and returns back immediately when released.
• Chain slack/condition and sprocket teeth
• Whether there are any oil leaks around the engine bay area
• Clutch free play and ease of shifting into neutral (if (clutch too near/hard to engage N) could mean clutch is dragging, worn out and possibly slipping
• Engine oil colour with dipstick — if it’s super black, means that it has been a while since the last service.
• Smooth fork dampening and rebound
• Responsive front brakes
• Tyre’s year of manufacturing, smooth curvature, depth of treads and no puncture patches
• Scuffs, scrapes, dents, off-axis alignment from possible drop/accident. Check for fall damage on the fairings, handlebar, brake levers, fork tube etc. If everything looks old but the sliders all look new. Quite suspect especially if the owner doesnt tell you outright the bike got fall damage.
• Steering Cone Bearing — To check for this, sit on bike twist it left and right fully. It should turn equally and smoothly. Compress the front shocks forcefully and pull it up. You should not feel any movement from the steering head. If you do that bearing is gone.
• Check the rear shock and front forks for leaks at the seals and rust/corrosion on the inner tubes. Check for last time the suspension was serviced. It should be done every 30k (30,000 km) or 2 years.
• Rear shock — Sit on the bike and like compress the rear shock (bounce up and down). If you hear creaking sounds. The swing arm bearing is ruined.

Also, do you know what are the 5 must-haves when owning a motorcycle?

If these are okay. Ask owner on bike.

• Let the bike idle. Check for oil leaks, smoke, weird sounds and erratic idling. You should not see anything or hear anything weird. But if you do. White smoke is usually water vapour, Bluish grey smoke is oil in the cylinders, black smoke is unburnt fuel. if i see the latter two colours i will say good day.
• Rev the throttle smoothly. Hear for weird sounds, rattling, improper firing of cylinders. Next rev the throttle harder. Check engine response to rapid throttle inputs. If there is a long lag something is wrong. Depending on type of bike usually the ECU, fuel pump, EFI injectors, or carb got some issue or the cable is not maintained. Look elsewhere.
• Try the bike. Make sure all the gears can change smoothly up and down. Test the brakes and the clutch. If you are not certain about the feel, trust your self. Look elsewhere.
• Make sure the engine check/warning lights do not come on.
• Research the bike, service intervals etc. Innocently “test” the owner on these things. If he cannot answer, look elsewhere.

Credits to the NTU riders for sharing this information. Hope this benefits for all of us 🙂

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