Thinking of buying this guy's motorcycle

[Rumpltzer]

This guy's got a 2003 Suzuki SV650S for sale ($4K), and I'm going to take a look at it tomorrow. I called the guy up to ask some questions about the bike. He says it's in mint condition, it's not been dropped, the title's clean and in hand, and he's the original owner.

Aside from the price being a little high for a bike with 10K miles on it (he says it's a commuter bike), he's got this story that sounds a little hokey. He's getting rid of it because he hasn't ridden it for a long time. The reason he hasn't ridden it is because he got a $600 ticket the last time he was on it. (???) He claims he was going 40mph at the time.

As I type this, it's dawned on me that he may have had his license revoked or something. I should look up to see if it's tough to re-register a bike in California if the registration has been allowed to expire.

Anyway, what do ya'll think. Something about the guy's story doesn't seem right to me, and I'm wondering if I'm just being paranoid...

 

[FoBoT]

just check it out, if the bike is a deal, then who cares about his story

 

[jagec]

Easy enough to understand. He isn't able to resist the temptation to juice it up when he's on it, and as such it gets him tickets. He's trying to get the temptation out of his garage. Seems fine to me.

 

[mugs]

$600 for going 40 mph? What did he do, run over a child or something?

They shouldn't care if the registration has lapsed, but who knows with California.

And even if he lost his license, that shouldn't affect the registration.

 

[Rumpltzer]

Originally posted by: mugs
$600 for going 40 mph? What did he do, run over a child or something?

They shouldn't care if the registration has lapsed, but who knows with California.

And even if he lost his license, that shouldn't affect the registration.

Yeah, the $600 for 40mph is what I'm finding hard to believe... maybe he meant 140mph but didn't want to admit he's been toasting the engine to a potential buyer?

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: Rumpltzer

Originally posted by: mugs
$600 for going 40 mph? What did he do, run over a child or something?

They shouldn't care if the registration has lapsed, but who knows with California.

And even if he lost his license, that shouldn't affect the registration.

Yeah, the $600 for 40mph is what I'm finding hard to believe... maybe he meant 140mph but didn't want to admit he's been toasting the engine to a potential buyer?

140mph won't toast the engine on a sport bike.

 

[Bulk Beef]

40mph through a work zone maybe?

You shouldn't have any trouble registering a bike just b/c the current registration is expired. As long you have the title, you should be fine.

 

[skyking]

If you took it 0~40 as fast as possible, in a school zone or something and the cop spotted you, it would be considered racing reckless driving, etc. I could see that.

 

[bwatson283]

Originally posted by: skyking
If you took it 0~40 as fast as possible, in a school zone or something and the cop spotted you, it would be considered racing reckless driving, etc. I could see that.

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[skyking]

Originally posted by: bwatson283

Originally posted by: skyking
If you took it 0~40 as fast as possible, in a school zone or something and the cop spotted you, it would be considered racing reckless driving, etc. I could see that.

I was thinking the same thing.

A bike like that would do it with the front wheel in the air too. That tends to piss off the cops

 

[Kalvin00]

Originally posted by: skyking

Originally posted by: bwatson283

Originally posted by: skyking
If you took it 0~40 as fast as possible, in a school zone or something and the cop spotted you, it would be considered racing reckless driving, etc. I could see that.

I was thinking the same thing.

A bike like that would do it with the front wheel in the air too. That tends to piss off the cops

Yep.. I did a power-wheelie on my bike today accidentally....lol...

Most likely a reckless charge though, whether from a wheelie or something else.

 

[intogamer]

That ticket is like 1/7 of the bike!

 

[Rumpltzer]

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: Rumpltzer

Originally posted by: mugs
$600 for going 40 mph? What did he do, run over a child or something?

They shouldn't care if the registration has lapsed, but who knows with California.

And even if he lost his license, that shouldn't affect the registration.

Yeah, the $600 for 40mph is what I'm finding hard to believe... maybe he meant 140mph but didn't want to admit he's been toasting the engine to a potential buyer?

140mph won't toast the engine on a sport bike.

Yeah, but would you want to be the second owner of a bike with 10K on the clock if you suspected that the guy was being an asshat on it... would you be interested in it for $4K?

It doesn't matter anymore. After talking to some friends, I decided to wait for something else. There's two or three SV650S postings every week around here.


If others are interested, the guy posted his bike in the Los Angeles Craig's List on Monday. It doesn't sound like he's got a lot of response to his ad. I called last night and he said I could come to look at it tonight or on Sunday. He posted no pics, and the ad says only, "10000 miles mint condition, bronze, full factory fairing added $500, used as commuter bike only, taking up space". He also listed a phone number.

 

[mikej007]

A guy I work with actually sold his bike for the same reason- he kept getting tickets (mostly for excessive speeding and popping wheelies). After a while he couldn't afford it anymore so he got rid of the bike. Not too uncommon.