New bike for a newbie...

[jd_303]

Hi Y'all. im new here and look fwd to hanging about.
Id like to try and get your professional opinions on a couple of bikes im looking at getting as a first ride. im pretty limited to just London and surrounding area so anyone got anything good going Im not able to travel that far away.

the first is a late 2001 (apparantly 02 spec) monster 600
16000 miles
10 months tax, Mot April 07
datatool security alarm
Front and back tyres were replaced 3k miles ago
Chains and sprockets have yet to be replaced, but belts were replaced last service
Next service in 2k miles
Never ridden on a track
£1750

the other is
2001 Monster 600
datatool immobiliser
MOT Expiration Date: May 2007
Road Tax: 5 Months
6000 miles
tyres and chain are all ok but not new
standard amount of road crud corosion around the engine case
£2000 serviced to include oil/filter and cam belts
£1800 take it without a service

are these good prices? Should they be cheaper. Obviously theres a difference of 10k miles between the 2...but I am on a budget also.

cheers for any replies!

JD.

[stef]

both seem ok.. you cant really go wrong either way..
i'd take the second one without the service, and do the oil/filter/belts myself.
you would save around £150.
check ducatisuite for technical info on belts.. it's easy enough to do at home.

[jd_303]

wouldnt the extra miles on the first one make for a hard resale as well?

[jill]

I would go for the second one, particularly if they both have good service history.

16k miles seems a bit high to be buying at. As jd_303 says, you'd have problems at resale. And never having been ridden on a track isn't worth much to me. Bikes go just as fast and lairy on real roads - you just have squarer tyres.

Hint: I always find it best to give a stupidly low offer first (unless they are forum members, then I would avoid peeing them off!), used bikes towards the end (!) of the summer and all that. I'm sure you could get a couple hundred off either one with cash.

[jd_303]

cheers jill,

the 2nd one Im leaning towards too, it is from a dealer.
That was already the discounted price £2k incl service ,however if I offer cash would £1875 including the serice be too outrageous? (I dont know way way around a bike as yet to do a service myself).
What kind of warrantly would you expect from a dealer on this anyways?

ta,

JD.

[jill]

Ahh a dealer.

I don't know what the going rate is for these. That said, you can always haggle. He probably took it in part-ex for £1000 or something. Three suggested ways of attacking this:

1 Ask him what it 'owes him'? Be up front and say you only have x amount of money but you don't want to service it yourself. You want him to make something on the deal, that's only reasonable, but still, you can always walk away. Eg, if he 'paid' £1500 for it, and it costs him £100 to service, then £1800 is reasonable.

2 Be polite and tell you will pay x but you want the service done too. Tell him you'll bring it back for the next service if he does - this carrot might not work if he hasn't any vested interest in service income.

3 Ask what his absolute rock bottom price is, and if it's unacceptable, say thanks, and walk away.

Hint 3: Smile, be friendly, be honest, be very prepared to walk. There are many other Monsters in the sea!

Warranty: Even if he offers you some, assume it's not worth the paper it's written on. Get more money off instead/as well as.

(Disclosure: I worked with car dealers for ten years, my boyfriend sold bikes for 2 years.)

And I should add, if you're happy with the price, then pay it. It's just that dealers are easier to haggle with, owners have a different perceived value of their babies.

[jd_303]

excellent information.
ill let you know what happens.

JD

[jd_303]

Well heres what happened.
I ended up visiting the dealer as i was a little hesitant about the large amount of miles on one of the bikes I was checkin out. it was in pretty good nick i thought for the age, i couldnt knock the price down but I scored the bike, a service incl cam belts, 3 month warranty and a bunch of 2nd hand bits and pieces like covers, half empty cans of chain lube etc...for 2k.
better than a kick in the chops!
It probably wouldnt have mattered, I was sold as soon as i heard the roar from under me.
Now Im smilin big time.
See ya all out there sometime and thanks for the info!

Jd.

[slob]

Blimey, mine's '02 and has done over 23K so far... it was a year old with 1300 on the clock when I got it... Who on Earth buys these things and then doesn't use them? What kind of recommendation is 'Never ridden on a track' for a Ducati?!

Good move with the belts!

What part of London are you in? and why don't you want to go too far?.. the roads are much better when you get away from the big smoke.

[jill]

Hi JD

Well done you. Sounds like you got quite a lot out of the dealer - the cam belt service is worth it definitely. As you say, better than a kick in the teeth!

Welcome to the wondrous world of Monsters. I completely agree, the noise just gets you doesn't it?! I love driving under bridges, starting it up in the garage, revving it unnecessarily at traffic lights.

Put up a pic and I'll see you out there sometime!

Cheers!
Jill

[jd_303]

gday,
im over in west london, putney area.
it wasnt i didnt want to go far on the bike, but i didnt want to go to far without one to check em out with the idea of making a purchase.
im off for a few weeks now, so the fella does the service and Im pick it up on my return and post a pic someplace.


cheers!