Buying from UK - Private

robbie_63

Looking at a Honda CBR650F in the UK,

Its a private sale so no warranty on it if something turns out to be faulty

Does anyone know of any places in the UK that would do a bike check for you?
I know AA used to do a UK inspection on Cars but never come across it for a bike,

With the whole covid thing I don't want to have to fly to the UK to inspect it

I'm hoping to get someone to inspect it and once all looks ok I will get a courier company to collect

Cheers

The Unbearables

Iv'e bought probably close to 50 bikes from the UK over the years and iv'e only had a problem with one. Unless it's a big ticket item like a newish KTM with all the bells and whistles i wouldn't have anyone check it over. Very unlikely a Honda CBR will give you any issues. You can do a bog standard basic motorcheck on any bike for i think it's 7.99 online to make sure it's not an insurance job, finance etc..which i do for any bike i import.

I use Tony at the bike bus company to bring mine in since i gave in collecting them myself. http://thebikebus.weebly.com/

robbie_63

Its probably going to be the 2017 model and low mileage so shouldn't throw up any problems hopefully,

Just the fear of the unknown transferring money for something you haven't had the chance to sit on

Have you bought private or do you just do dealers?

dubal2008

Ted's Trucking maybe able to bring cash over and check the bike as they are very knowledgeable about them and will know a good from a bad one...if all ok they collect at the same time

Sir Galahad

I just imported a 2005 BMW 1150 Adventure from the UK. I didn't bother going to look at it and I got Phil Gunne (Google him) to collect and deliver to my door. Sometimes you need to be brave and buy it.

robbie_63

Haha yeah just need to bite the bullet, thanks for the recommendations

Henry Ford III

See if you could find one in N.I?

robbie_63

Yeah that's the ideal scenario, any good sites for the north?

iwillhtfu

Be careful and more so don't do a bank transfer. I'm not sure what the alternatives for sending money are but you read of scams in the UK everyday. If you have to do a transfer I'd wait until the courier has the logbook in his hand and about to load the bike into the van.

robbie_63

Yeah thats the fear of buying private, Ideally I can find a suitable bike in the north so I might be able to go and collect it myself

GBX

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Be careful and more so don't do a bank transfer. I'm not sure what the alternatives for sending money are but you read of scams in the UK everyday. If you have to do a transfer I'd wait until the courier has the logbook in his hand and about to load the bike into the van.

In theory that would be great. But what private seller is going to hand over the bike with log book without seeing the cash in his bank account cleared especially with scams working both ways?

You could Revolut the money - not sure on limits or how soon the money would arrive to the seller.

listermint

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Be careful and more so don't do a bank transfer. I'm not sure what the alternatives for sending money are but you read of scams in the UK everyday. If you have to do a transfer I'd wait until the courier has the logbook in his hand and about to load the bike into the van.

not gonna happen.

robbie_63

For a private sale I couldn't see anything other than cash working

dubal2008

Bank transfer takes at least 4 days and at extra cost business to business takes a day but private 2 days,,, a lot of people in UK do not have Revolut and done trust it,,,, i'd be sending cash over with courier who will check the bike as well,,, at some stage you got to trust somebody else.

listermint

TobinIT wrote: »

For a private sale I couldn't see anything other than cash working

i bank transferred.

I bought mine from a guy in Wales 5 years ago, member of Vstrom UK club.

Do your due diligence and you wont be taken for a mug.

Cash, you wont do cash unless your going over yourself.

Mine was sight unseen, had it couriered back here. It came out of the van in showroom condition.

macplaxton

dubal2008 wrote: »

Bank transfer takes at least 4 days and at extra cost business to business takes a day but private 2 days,

Actually, bank transfers are now next working day if done before the bank's cut-off for the day (e.g. 1.30pm Ulster Bank) A weekend obviously adds to that.

It used to take longer but the SEPA regulations a few years ago sorted the deliberate slowness out.

Not sure what the limits are, but Transferwise goes straight through like UK-UK Faster Payment Scheme (0-2hrs) transaction.

iwillhtfu

listermint wrote: »

not gonna happen.

What's not gonna happen OP being scammed or a bank transfer because either are easily done.

Henry Ford III

TobinIT wrote: »

Yeah that's the ideal scenario, any good sites for the north?

Gumtree is pretty decent

Nabidana

The Unbearables wrote: »

Unless it's a big ticket item like a newish KTM with all the bells and whistles i wouldn't have anyone check it over.

Sorry for the thread derailment but why would you get a newish KTM checked over? Is there issues?

Thanks.

liam7831

dubal2008 wrote: »

Bank transfer takes at least 4 days and at extra cost business to business takes a day but private 2 days,,, a lot of people in UK do not have Revolut and done trust it,,,, i'd be sending cash over with courier who will check the bike as well,,, at some stage you got to trust somebody else.

You can do a same day transfer in any of the main banks, I did two in the last week