Bike purchase gone bad

gwcrim · Oct 11, 2004

Here's the deal. Couple of weeks ago I found a KX85 on Cycle Trader.com. It was 250 miles away, but a good friend lives nearby so I had him go take a look. (My friend is a very experienced motorcycle guy and I trust him.) The story was that the bottom end was gone through recently because it had been run on straight gas. My pal rode it and said it ran fine. He even knew the owner, somewhat. He negotiated the price down to where it seemed like a good deal. Sunday, I took delivery.

After less than 10 minutes on the bike, it appears as though the bottom end bearings seized. I called the seller and talked to his 'mechanic'. The guy was pretty surprise that there had been trouble. He said hes rebuilt many bottom ends. I asked him to talk to the owner and let him know of my trouble.

What course of action should I take?

MikeT · Oct 11, 2004

Not sure if you can take any. When I sell bikes I sell them "AS IS" with no warranties on them at all. I sell nice bikes but maybe you can negotiate with the seller to get a little back. I wouldn't hold my breath though.

BBdotcom · Oct 11, 2004

Sorry to hear about your bike breaking down
it sounds like the nighmare i've been having i'm looking for a used bike at the best price possible and most of the ones i find in my price range are broken down or prolly on the verge of breaking down. Not sure theres anything you can do but try talking to the seller maybe, he'll feel guilty and give you some money back to help repair it ... but i wouldn't count on it
If its any comfort they don't guarantee new dirt bikes either
Ride Safe
Tom

Radiator Ron · Oct 12, 2004

If the bearings were new more than likely the cases were assembled improperly. Kawa cranks are interference fit to both sides. If bearings have any side loading they will fail. Easy to determine upon disassembly.

gwcrim · Oct 12, 2004

How do you tell if there's been side load?

Jon K. · Oct 12, 2004

How much "negotiating" did you do? Really, if you beat the kid down, there is not much chance that the seller will have much empathy.

If you paid top dollar; you might have a bit more chance.

I have sold a few bikes that grenaded right away. I never felt obligated to help fix them. I might have helped a couple of buyers, but only if they paid me what I was asking, and even then, it would need to be something that I might have had a bad feeling about.

If I "never saw it coming" then I sleep pretty good at night.

Oh, and by the way, the buyer had better ask nice, or his chances go way down.

Bike purchase gone bad

gwcrim

MikeT

BBdotcom

Radiator Ron

gwcrim

Jon K.

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