I wrote this in hopes it may help some here in case they buy a bike over the internet.

I recently purchased a Road King through ebay with good success. My main concern was sending a large amount of money via a cashiers check. I decided to use my credit card through paypal that way I had backup and just pay the balance off. Using a credit card protects you more than a money order or cashier check sent through the mail. I figured I saved 2k to 2.5k buying on the internet. GOOD deals are out here.

Funds: Use a credit card if you can, or cash if the bike is within driving distance. I personally would not send a bank check as there is not much protection. The thieves can be long gone before you find out its a scam, no bike and no money; and these scams do happen ALL the time.

Communication: I had great communication with the seller. We were in touch with scheduling payment and title delivery right away. Ask for tracking numbers and at least two phone numbers. One for their home and one for their work. Call and ask stupid questions while they are in a meeting. They appreciate it.

Title: Ask that they send the title overnight along with keys and tracking number. I got mine sent fedex and arrived overnight. Make sure title is signed by seller and notarized if needed on their end. Some states require notarization. Make sure the bike has a clear title and no liens from a finance company! Ask for a pic of title if you feel the need. Oh, and make sure NO SALVAGE TITLE!!

Delivery: If the bike is being delivered through a bike service expect a long delay of up to a couple months. My delivery took 4 weeks. Ask for pictures of the bike before loading. Make sure any extras like fairings, saddlebags, doodads, etc. are secured and pasked well. Upon reception of delivery go over the bike to make sure their inspection list matches the bike you are recieving including any stratches or damage. Insure the bike for more than its value through the shipping company. Check VIN to make that is the bike on title! Do NOT go by their estimated delivery date. It will be wrong by days or weeks!! Expect to pay around 700 coast to coast.

The bike: Make sure the bike is as described. Get copies of any maintenance/performance work. Being out of state you may not be able to visually inspect it so make sure you recieve plenty of pics. I asked the guy to start it up over the phone[sm=crossbonesgif.gif]. The seller and I communicated for a couple days prior to buying it and the guy was legit, so I bought it without physically inspecting it. Don't be shy about asking for pics of everything except his wife! or hell you can if you want!
In certain states(Kalifornia) there are emissions rules you must abide by before registering an out of state vehicle. Make sure your bike meets the requirments. Harley makes a 49 state model and 50 state model with speshul kalifornia emission charcol bbq cannister. Mine was a 50 state, so registration was a breeze. Check your DMV rules and regs regarding out fo state vehicles or you may have an expensive headache on your hands. In Kalifornia you'll have to remove it from state within a certain period of time, or you can cover it in cosmoline stick it in a giant pvc tube and bury it out in the mojave with your ak47 for when TSHTF.

Hope this helps.

 

Nice write-up.

I was on the other end of a bike sale through eBay. The one thing I was VERY conscious of was over-communicating with the buyer. We chatted via Email often several times a day. I also put a very thorough and accurate description of every detail of the bike on eBay.

After the money was sorted out and they came to pick the bike up. I took pictures of the bike with the truck in the background and the driver with his hands on the bike so that if anything happened during shipping it would be up to the shipper to fix. I Emailed those pictures to the buyer as soon as the truck left.

Overall it was a great experience for both of us. He got a price far better than what he would have gotten from a dealer on a bike that had some nice upgrades. And I got $3k more out of the sale than they offered at the dealership that I bought the thing from.

When the bike arrived, he sent me the following Email (Yes, I'll keep it for at least 3 years):

 

I also had good results on e-Bay.
Got a pretty fair price, seller took premium care of the bike, low milage..... In fact I felt, (and still do), like I let the previous owner down when I put a scratch on her anywhere.

Money handling was left to my Bank.....
And I thought they scared him off twice !
First off they told him they would NOT cut a check until he sent them title. ( He was a couple states away.)
And needless to say he was uneasy about sending a signed title to ANYONE without payment.

Eventualy they worked it out, and my wife and her father went and got it and trailered it home.

Great Deal all around !

Budds.....................

 

why 3 years? serious question... just wondering why 3.

 

I bought a sporty from e-bay in CAli brought it back to arizona and the MVD seized it and crushed it due to improper vins (the title matched the frame and motor but were restamped). E-bay covered the cost of the bike minus $100.00 via there vehicle protection policy. I will never buy another vehicle form e-bay after the horor stories the detectives told me about them.

[IMG]local://upfiles/19239/B67388B1F45747A7AFDCA6A8E4790155.jpg[/IMG]

 

Intranet.....network of computers within a company.

Internet.....network of computers outside of a company.

Hope you understand, simplest explaination.

 

I bought my Springer on eBay. The seller lived in Pensacola, which is only 90 miles from where I live. Me and a buddy went to look at it, with cash in hand. Rode it, looked it over carefully, checked paperwork, THEN bought it, and took it home with me. I've bought several bikes like that, without a problem. It's great when it works out like that, but unfortunately usually doesn't. Just CYA in every aspect, don't take anything for granted, and protect yourself first.

 

Ref payment... there are counterfiet bank checks out there now days that are of excellent quailty. You can deposit it, have the bank credit your account and then find out 30 or 40 days later the check was a fraud, only to have the bank suck the money back out of your account.
The only way I'd buy a bike on ebay is if I could drive to pick it up and look at it before I plunked down any cash. If I sell one on ebay it will take cash or a bank transfer to get the title,
no money orders, bank or cashiers checks accepted. The risk is just to big...

 

So true!
Also watch out for postal money orders.

 

Found my new bike on e-bay and sold my old bike on e-bay. As far as that goes, I also recently found my 02 Miata LS with 14000 miles on e-bay. Requires a high degree of caution but all three events were fantastic.