What should I do??

[redroadster]

Hi all,
I posted a few weeks ago regarding the stripped teeth on the crankshaft drive gear which drives the cam belt shaft.
I bought the bike off ebay, taking a chance I know. For a second opinion I took the bike to Richard at Moto-R in Ruthin. Brilliant bloke and very helpful. Would recommend anyone with problems to go and see him.
I was hoping for no more damage other than the gears but there are bent exhaust valves on the top head but checking over the bike Richard has found the frame has been repaired where two of the frame tubes meet the head stock. Looks like the bike has been involved in a heavy front end crash. They have been re-welded to the head stock but cannot say if the repair is good or not. One thing Richard did say was the bike would of been written off if a claim had been made. I did have a full hpi check carried out which did not show up anything. I accept I took a chance on buying blind so am considering whether either breaking for spares or should I repair the engine and replace the frame?? My other option is sell the bike complete for spares or repair considering I could buy a good monster for the money I will spend.

Any suggestions would be welcome

Cheers Mike

[Flip]

Was there not some kind of buyer protection or some route you can go because of the fact there has been an insurance write off that has been covered up?

[redroadster]

I am going to check the small print when I return home but as far as I can remember the hpi checked only covered you if there had been a claim, stolen etc

[Luddite]

Have you considered ebay's own buyer protection scheme?

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/money-back-guarantee.html#match (See "When an item doesn’t match the listing description".)

If an item is not as described, (in your case I presume the frame damage was not mentioned in the listing), then you may be able to return the bike for a refund.

You would have to hurry though, as you need to get your claim in within 30 days of the original estimated delivery date.

[Darren69]

You may have some coverage with ebay protection, it's worth looking into. I've had occasion to use this, odd times to get my money back , but I've never bought a bike off there.

Is this the S4 that I had speculated could be an ex S4 Challenge bike that had suffered a top end failure? I guess that looks more likely now as the unreported crash damage may back that up? Were you able to find anything on the bikes history in that respect? That may help support your claim.

[redroadster]

Yes it is the same bike, had a look around the headlight area a suggested but could not find any magic paint marks, found the original owner who returned to Aus on facebook, became his friend but once I asked questions about the bike he unfriended me!! Will look into the ebay rulings as well.