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Anyone bought a bike sight unseen?

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Gassius Clay

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On another thread I expressed an interest in buying a 1250S once I get my Ducati sold. But I'm surprised how few there are in Texas, let alone locally. Gixxers, Boulevards, and 'Busas out the wazoo, but not Bandits.

I've seen some great buys in faraway states, but in addition to potentially paying a lot to have a bike shipped I'm concerned about rolling the dice on something I haven't actually seen or ridden.

I know on the Ducati forum members looking long distance would ask a fellow member who lived close to the bike to check it out for them, but this is a Texas forum that I guess lacks that reach.

So I'm hoping to benefit from others who may have had a long distance bike purchase experience they'd care to share.
 
Besides pictures??? Yes, I have. It was a KTM 950 Adventure from an ADV forum guy in New York. Talked on the phone. Nice guy. He had done a few fly and buys so he made my purchase a great experience. I also had a guy from Arkansas fly here to ride one of my bikes home. Just try to be upfront on what you're looking for and don't want any surprises. Talking on the phone should give you a good vibe or not.
 
No, but I did sell my 2007 BMW 1200GSA to a guy that flew in and I picked him up at the airport, all went well and he rode off in to the wild blue yonder. I personally don't think I would, mainly because I just don't get too obsessed with bikes these days and can just wait till one comes up for sale within driving range, say no more that 2-3 hours driving time. I also think this has a lot to do where you live, since I live in the DFW area and driving to say Austin is close, then a bike of my liking will come up for sale in time. You always need to figure your cost to go get the bike, is it worth it or not, only you can justify it.

John
 
Thanks guys. My inclination would be to wait until something comes up within reasonable driving distance, but I've noticed a few states seem to have Bandits selling for well below those from other states. Probably has to do with their local economy and market not being so hot, but even with freight they seem tempting price-wise. All a moot point until I sell my Duc, but I like to think ahead!
 
Yup, bought my last FZ1 that way. It was immaculate and an amazing purchase experience. The only downer was the storm with the baseball sized hail that made me take interstates around it home instead of playing in the mountains of Arkansas like I wanted to do. Fly n buy's rock. Sure there's a risk, but often you can get exactly what you want for a good price. I was this >< close to landing a deal on an FJR in Oregon. What an Epic Fly n buy I was planning to turn that into. Ended up missing out on the deal and buying one five miles from my work. Not so epic. :(
 
Bought 2 that way, both Sprints. One was flawless, one had an issue easily fixed. Cosmetics were as described.
 
Yes, bought a DR350SE from a BMWowner's group in Florida and a DR 650 from a guy in Austin with just pics and phone talk. But, I drove to them in my truck with the option of NO. ;-) Even if it's a fly and ride, you can always buy a return ticket cheaper than fixing a bad bike or a bike you're not happy with.
 
BeemerlessBob bought one off ebay once... He claims it was wine induced. It was a good overall bike. Sad I couldn't take it off his hands when he downsized.
 
Well... Kinda...

Both of the ZRX's I purchased last year were located in the DFW area. I drove up from Houston and bought both, then trailered them back to Katy.
 
:tab It helps if you are both members of a forum and have a reputation to maintain. It creates an incentive for everyone to be on the up and up about the deal. But, it is not necessary. I would ask for lots of pictures. I would speak with the person over the phone just to get a feel for them.

:tab I flew to Denver to get my R1150GS. I bought it from the General Manager of the BMW dealership North of Denver. So I had a pretty good idea it would be well maintained. That was a great trip and I had some wonderful adventures on that bike!

:tab I have no hard and fast rules on such a deal. I just kind of play it by ear and see how the deal feels. Prior to buying the R1150GS mentioned above, I drove to Tulsa from Huntsville to look at a different GS. I had to shell out for diesel, food, and a hotel for that trip. When I arrived, the seller mentioned that he could not find the title after assuring me that he had it. I tried to make the deal work because the bike was SWEET, but ultimately, no title, no deal. I walked away and was out several hundred bucks. On the plus side, it was a fun road trip with the bud that went with me.
 
Bought my Concours sight unseen. Another COG member saw it for sale in a parking lot, posted photos of it, and I saw the photos. I contacted the member, asked him to ride it for me, describe any issues, etc. I sent him the cashier's check and he obtained the title from the owner, brought the bike to his house and held it until 1-800-Haul Bikes could come pick it up.

COG members are the best!
 
I sold a basket case to a guy in Virginia and don't know if I would do it again. It was a late model that was in a front end collision and had lots of little things that needed to be taken care of. I was tired of ordering a few parts with every paycheck and still had months to go before I would be able to ride it. The price that I asked was very good considering that when finished, it would be worth a few thousand over my price plus what was in it.
My ad was clear, and the guy contacted me within 20 minutes of me posting the ad. We emailed pictures and questions back and forth a few times. Then I spent about 2 hours on the phone with him trying to find anything else on the bike that might sour the deal, and since the drive would be so far he had until Friday night (almost a full week) to change his mind. I really tried to talk him out of it., because we were to meet half way between dfw and va and I did not want to drive 11 hours only to be told no deal.

Made the drive, did the deal. About 4 hours into the drive back he calls me with second thoughts. I felt bad for the guy, but I was up front with him from the beginning, but I still feel bad about the way the thing went down.
If it was a local deal, it would have been much more simple for him to come look at the bike and make a decision.
 
Photos help, so do any maintenance records (I'm fanatic about keeping records). I've never bought one from too faraway (Arkansas). But the first thing I ask about are service records, that'll give some indication that the owner cared for the bike.

Iv'e sold two bike to guys who flew out from California based on the photos I posted, the fact that I had maintenance/service records, and the phone conversations about the bike.

Good luck on your search.
 
I forgot, I also did two sight unseen long distance trades as well. I traded my TLR for a GSX-R600 track bike with a guy in Kalamazoo. We met in a parking lot in St Louis with both our wives making the trip with us. Took some test rides, loaded up our trailers and went home.

That was such a success that I decided to do the same with my DRZ when I was looking for an FZ1. Found a guy in the DC area and we met up in Tn. He promptly took the DRZ home via the dragon. I wanted to go over and do the dragon but I had a pregnant wife with me that was tired of riding in the truck. :D

Both trades worked out very well for both parties, and we saved a boatload on taxes. :D
 
Just ask somebody on the forums to go check out the bike for you. If it's in Los Angeles I'd be happy to do it.
 
I bought my RS from a guy in upstate New York unseen & had it shipped to me. It was on the BMW MOA site & I figured anyone who paid to join a rider's club was probably not going to sell me a bad bike. We talked on the phone and although I have a BMW riding friend fairly close, was confident enough after our conversations to pull the trigger without him viewing it.

It arrived exactly as described and after 6,000 miles I've discovered no hidden gotchas or issues.
 
I did buy one bike sight unseen, but I had a friend of mine living in same state as the seller, and I had him to go buy and inspect the bike. Then I flew up, paid the guy and drove it home.
 
Carless said:
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/mcy/3706344290.html Offer $4500
Click to expand...

Thanks Carless, I appreciate your willingness to assist! I hope to know tomorrow if I've got a buyer for my Duc. The Encino bike has more miles than I want but the upgrades make it attractive, and I agree with your suggested offer price.

Thanks to the rest for your valuable input. It looks fairly likely that I'll have to consider buying out of state, so you all have given me great suggestions to follow should that become the case. I'd probably try and find a fellow forum member near the bike to assist, like Carless has offered. If I do a long distance deal I'll probably have to have the bike shipped though, since I really don't have extra time off I could take to do a fly-n-buy.
 
There was one for sale in Phoenix AZ on craigslist, seems it was around 55k miles though, asking 3600.
 
MCRyder said:
Photos help, so do any maintenance records (I'm fanatic about keeping records). I've never bought one from too faraway (Arkansas). But the first thing I ask about are service records, that'll give some indication that the owner cared for the bike.
Click to expand...

:tab I don't keep any records at all :mrgreen: I just do the maintenance and ride the bikes. If it is something BIG, like the dealer had to replace a final drive or something I can't do, then sure, I'll have the receipts showing the work was done. But for stuff like tires, brake pads, oil changes, etc,... no records at all. I do realize though that for BMW owners, I might not be the norm :-P

:tab I have read of some guys that have spread sheets where they track all kinds of stuff like the miles/tire, mpg of the bike on every tank, miles/brake pads, etc,... That is cool, but it is just WAY outside of my personality type, hehe.
 
I'd like to be one of those guys, I try to even. Never seems to work out though.
 
My memory is shot so I've learned to not trust it. I just have a simple notepad file on my desktop that I put say 10355 miles new tires installed, etc. Simple stuff for my own sanity! I do oil changes if I did the filter or not as well, etc. etc.
 
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