How do I sell a motorcycle I don't own yet? (private party)

[MichaelD]

I want a new bike. I want to sell the one I have in a private-party sale. I'll get more for it that way. Can I do this? How do I do this?

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Wha? I didn't understand that at all. You don't own it? But you say you want to sell the one you have 😕

 

[BooneRebel]

Uhmm, first you have to file the VIN off of the forks. Then you take it to the other side of town. Sell it in a parking lot, cheap, no questions asked.

But that wasn't really your question, was it?

 

[Hammer]

I don't think its a good idea to sell things that aren't yours.

 

[Fausto]

By "private party" you mean "sell to another individual directly for cash"? If this is the case, the best two places to list are your local paper and Cycle Trader.com. Cycle trader is by far the biggest/best listing of bikes anywhere and pretty much the first place people look for a used bike. I sold my Triumph this way over the summer. You post some kind of contact info with the ad (email and/or phone) and just field calls and questions as they come in. CT is also a good place to get a ballpark figure of fair asking price for your bike by comparing to others listed.

Whatever you do, don't let the buyer ride the thing until you have cash in hand....he can sit on it, start it, whatever, but no ridey-ridey until cash and title have been exchanged.

Fausto

EDIT- hey look, I already found a new bike for you...Link😀

 

[MichaelD]

<< Whatever you do, don't let the buyer ride the thing until you have cash in hand....he can sit on it, start it, whatever, but no ridey-ridey until cash and title have been exchanged. >>



Yeah, like that poor guy here in OT a few weeks back...who was that? The idiot that rode off got banged up really bad.





<< Uhmm, first you have to file the VIN off of the forks. Then you take it to the other side of town. Sell it in a parking lot, cheap, no questions asked >>



LOL! I should've been more specific! When I said "don't own" I meant "not paid off yet". LOL! I bought the bike two years ago, and it's not paid-off yet. Between what I can get for it and some little cash on mypart, I can pay it off. For what I'm paying a month, I can get a better bike.

I'll check Cycle Trader. Thanks, Fausto1. 🙂

 

[Fausto]

Ohhh...I see what you meant. Not sure about that one as the transfer of ownership is different (I think) if there is a lien on the bike. Call whoever you took the loan out with (technically the owner of the bike) and see what the process for selling is....no reason you shouldn't be able to do a private-party sale tho...the lienholder just wants their cash one way or another.

Fausto

 

[BooneRebel]

<< By "private party" you mean "sell to another individual directly for cash"? If this is the case, the best two places to list are your local paper and Cycle Trader.com. Cycle trader is by far the biggest/best listing of bikes anywhere and pretty much the first place people look for a used bike. I sold my Triumph this way over the summer. You post some kind of contact info with the ad (email and/or phone) and just field calls and questions as they come in. CT is also a good place to get a ballpark figure of fair asking price for your bike by comparing to others listed.

Whatever you do, don't let the buyer ride the thing until you have cash in hand....he can sit on it, start it, whatever, but no ridey-ridey until cash and title have been exchanged.

Fausto

EDIT- hey look, I already found a new bike for you...Link😀 >>



Fausto, would you buy a bike without riding it first? I sure wouldn't.

Use common sense, get a license & proof of insurance if you want. But be prepared to waste lots of time looking for a buyer that will take you at your word and buy a title from you without seeing the bike move.

 

[Fausto]

Not to be argumentative, but it's pretty rare that someone will let you take a spin on a bike before you buy it. It's just the way it is. Hell, there's only a few dealers that will let you take a demo bike out (Triumph and Buell)...everything else is the cash before ride.

For the record, I've never let anyone ride a bike I've sold (my Triumph wasn't even running thanks to a dead battery) and have never ridden a bike I've purchased before buying. It's basically the norm and people pretty much know what they want ahead of time anyway so isn't going to cost you buyers.

Fausto

 

[BooneRebel]

I realize this is going off-thread a little, but 'back at you':

Buying a new bike from a dealer is different than buying a used bike from a private party. You know what to expect and generally have a warranty to back you up in case of an issue that comes up after you take off down the road.

On a private deal, you're getting the bike as-is, where-is. No guarantees. I've bought a few (and test-ridden a few more) and I would not buy a used bike before riding it. Caveat Emptor. What are you going to do once you have title in hand, take off down the road for your first ride, and have the front fork drop out from underneath you?

The closest I've come to buying without riding was to have a dealer ride around the parking lot for me just to show that the engine didn't cut out under acceleration, etc. (didn't end up buying that one anyway, though)

Would you buy a used car without driving it? To me it's the same thing. If you're worried about your bike getting dropped, you check to make sure that the rider has a motorcycle endorsement on their license, get proof of insurance, and file against them if they wreck (yeah, I read that thread a few weeks back about the guy hopping on and running himself into the ground a couple of blocks away. If the poster had the guy's insurance then there wouldn't have been any question about liability when he wrecked it)

If the potential buyer doesn't have a motorcycle endorsement or insurance, then you have a good reason to keep him from taking a test drive.