looking at a bike this weekend, any tips?

12-07-2006, 06:44 PM

hey folks

I have quite a comprehensive idea of things to look out for when I go bike shopping but I wanted to just check that I've not missed anything when I go and look at a Monster this Saturday.

It's a Sept 03 620, not sure if S.ie or not (don't think it is, looking at the pics). It's being taken in for a service tomorrow, I asked him when the belts were changed but he didn't know, didn't seem to think they'd ever been done. It's got 11k miles on the clock, it's been stood in his garage for 3 months or so, am I right in thinking that the first official major service is supposed to be done at 12k miles, so the belts should be done at this service? Anyway aside from that, I was thinking obvious things like condition of tyres, chain & sprox, that the plugs, filters & oil have all been changed, what else? - I have a service list that also includes things like the sump plug gasket, how necessary is this? What I'm thinking is if these things haven't been done at this service then I should know in advance how much to knock off.

The guy selling it's had it from new but didn't seem to be able to tell me a right amount other than 'it sounds fantastic when you open it up' and something about the clutch sounding fab (um, isn't it a wet clutch?) - which kind of makes me wonder if he's looked after it - looked OK in the pics but then they always would. What I mean is, a clean vehicle doesn't always mean that the owner knows how to look after it mechanically!

He wants Â£2800-Â£3000 for it which looks about right, book prices here.

So - anything glaring that I need to look out for?

Thx v. in advance...!

12-07-2006, 06:44 PM	#1
snick Guest Posts: n/a	looking at a bike this weekend, any tips? hey folks I have quite a comprehensive idea of things to look out for when I go bike shopping but I wanted to just check that I've not missed anything when I go and look at a Monster this Saturday. It's a Sept 03 620, not sure if S.ie or not (don't think it is, looking at the pics). It's being taken in for a service tomorrow, I asked him when the belts were changed but he didn't know, didn't seem to think they'd ever been done. It's got 11k miles on the clock, it's been stood in his garage for 3 months or so, am I right in thinking that the first official major service is supposed to be done at 12k miles, so the belts should be done at this service? Anyway aside from that, I was thinking obvious things like condition of tyres, chain & sprox, that the plugs, filters & oil have all been changed, what else? - I have a service list that also includes things like the sump plug gasket, how necessary is this? What I'm thinking is if these things haven't been done at this service then I should know in advance how much to knock off. The guy selling it's had it from new but didn't seem to be able to tell me a right amount other than 'it sounds fantastic when you open it up' and something about the clutch sounding fab (um, isn't it a wet clutch?) - which kind of makes me wonder if he's looked after it - looked OK in the pics but then they always would. What I mean is, a clean vehicle doesn't always mean that the owner knows how to look after it mechanically! He wants Â£2800-Â£3000 for it which looks about right, book prices here. So - anything glaring that I need to look out for? Thx v. in advance...!