BUYING blind anyone done this

[colin86]

Looking for some advice been looking fur my first bike one has come up and what a think is a really good price . But it is like a 7 hour drive away . Was thinking s could buy and get it transported up but not sure if that’s a good idea.

Other option is rent a van drive down and get it and then drive back up the road just means all that driving .

Thanks

[Scobblelotcher]

I wouldn’t buy blind unless it’s for very little money. If I wanted to buy it at distance, I’d take a van so you don’t end up buying a lemon and accept that your biggest exposure is the cost of the van/fuel if something is wrong.

If you provide a link to the van, some folk on here maybe able to give you some input based on the advert.

Edited by Scobblelotcher on Saturday 26th January 19:28

[CAPP0]

If it's your first bike then I'm going to take a wild guess that it's not some hand-built one-off custom that you can't get somewhere else?

What bike is it, and how much cheaper is it than anything the same but nearer?

If it's substantially cheaper then there may be a reason for that; some underlying issue or it's an outright scam of some sort.

Dealer or Private? If it's a dealer and you buy it 7 hours drive away and something goes wrong with it, how will you get it back to them for repair?

etc etc etc

All that said, if I wanted something fairly new and it was a good deal and free delivery (which does pop up on some ads from dealers from time to time) then I might. But I'd want to know what I was walking into.

[rat840771]

I bought a GSXR1000 K2 off gumtree about 5 years ago for £2.2k. I could tell it was legit and honest sale from speaking to the bloke. So paid deposit and got on the train. 2 years later I sold it for £600 profit!

[jimPH]

Bought my RGV blind, everything ticked the boxes, low mileage, correct fairings etc. After talking with seller on the phone, I was confident it would be a nice bike, I wasn't disappointed.

[colin86]

Not a rare bike it’s a street triple r 2014 with low miles for £4000. Seems like a good deal got a few extras too private sale .looking at greeting one over the winter as better deals seem to be had .

[obscene]

My 1098R to a point. Drove 5 hours up to Cheshire to buy it as I knew damn well it was under priced so if I didn't like it I could flip it. Had a 5 minute test ride as the dealer was about to close, paid for it and then rode it all the way home

[curlie467]

colin86 said:

Not a rare bike it’s a street triple r 2014 with low miles for £4000. Seems like a good deal got a few extras too private sale .looking at greeting one over the winter as better deals seem to be had .

It's a good price but balls to doing a 14 hr round trip.
Can Anyone look at it for you, I guess it's at an end of the country somewhere?

[colin86]

Yes it is . Either go fir it or just keep searching and hope something comes up closer before the spring comes in .

[dibblecorse]

Go for it, I bought a Multistrada blind from Riders of Bristol, never saw it until it was delivered.

Had an 1199s arrive on Monday that I bought before Xmas based on a conversation and one picture.

If you need details of a decent bike mover let me know.

And Obscene, what you did isn’t buying blind, you pitched up, rode it, bought it, granted all reasonably quickly but that’s just a fast visit, not buying blind.

[nervous]

I’ve bought and sold loads blind. You buy the person, not the product. Do your due diligence, you’ll be fine.

[TheCommuter]

colin86 said:

Looking for some advice been looking fur my first bike one has come up and what a think is a really good price . But it is like a 7 hour drive away . Was thinking s could buy and get it transported up but not sure if that’s a good idea.

Other option is rent a van drive down and get it and then drive back up the road just means all that driving .

Thanks

Yes I've done this, however before committing to buying it I have done the usual hpi check, view mot and service history and asked the owner to send a short walk around video of the motorbike with the engine being turned on from cold and some high res pictures.

Fully appreciate that one can still end up with a lemon but in my case it was fine.

As far as transportation is concerned just hire a reputable motorbike transportation service as I don't think there is much money to be saved by hiring a van and doing it yourself and you would need the correct equipment to secure it in the van in the first place.

[NS400R]

I've bought blind before. Only once was I somewhat disappointed. It has to be something rare to make me consider doing it from an individual, but a main dealer I would have no qualms about. Latest acquisition blind is this for my son. 21 miles from new at a price I couldn't turn down

[crofty1984]

I bought my BSA blind. It was a wreck bit that's what I expected, I was after a project.

[myvision]

Bought a Thundercat blind it turned out better than expected.

[catso]

I bought my old Guzzi 'blind' from 1,000 miles away in Italy, I did get a trusted local to check it over for me and many pictures though.

That said, it being an old 'classic' and I was expecting some issues so it wasn't like buying a new daily ride.

I also did go over to pay for it in person so had the option of walking away if it really wasn't good but by that time I had already invested a fair amount so was unlikely to do so...

[Tim1989]

Possibly different to everybody else, but I absolutely would not buy blind ever, especially for something like a Street Triple R.

I am very fussy about condition when buying so this may not apply to everyone, but you often can’t tell from photos the extent of corrosion/ dirt/ grime etc.

[MotorsportTom]

Put a £500 deposit on a bike without even seeing photos.
Then flew from Somerset to Inverness to collect it a week later.

Following the consensus I spoke to the seller on the phone and had confidence so it was worth it imo. Was approximately 10-15% under market price at the time from a private seller.

Bike was a KTM 900Adventure

[jjones]

Bought a thundercat unseen, was £400 buy it now. Wasn't disappointed in how crap it was.

[mad4amanda]

if you buy from a dealer you will be covered by the distanced selling regulations and the dealer will know this.
I have used 2wheel2u as a mover the chap mike is extremely good