Buying a bike off of ebay? Need input.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 5,294
Likes: 149
From: FL
Bought my bike off of ebay. It was from an auto dealer out of state. Lot's of pics helped. It had less than 700 miles on it, looked perfect in the pics and I got a great deal.
Had to have it. Was frantic until it arrived but it was every bit as perfect as it looked in the pics. I got lucky and I'm not normally a lucky person.
Had to have it. Was frantic until it arrived but it was every bit as perfect as it looked in the pics. I got lucky and I'm not normally a lucky person.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 19,978
Likes: 6,074
From: Florida
I Never buy ANYTHING online, especially a vehicle. I gotta see it, check the fluids, pull the plugs, check underneath, look for possible damage or customizing "screwups", etc, then an extensive test ride with some highway speeds & I gotta see the title in person before I plunk. This goes for anything I buy, especially bikes.
I wouldn't even buy a NEW vehicle online, or the Pope's Harley. Dickey don't trust NOBODY!
I wouldn't even buy a NEW vehicle online, or the Pope's Harley. Dickey don't trust NOBODY!
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 6,146
Likes: 471
From: along the Front Range in Colorado
... paid the dealership to do an inspect & they checked conditions & possible warranty issues & then held on to the bike for pick up by the shipper.
....... that was 7 yrs ago & i'm still ridin' it.
Advanced
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 69
Likes: 0
From: Fly over country
Both of my Harley's we bought on ebay. But one was in Arkansas and one was in Missouri. I live in Missouri and rented a trailer to pick up each one. Don't know if I would buy sight unseen. I will say, if you look long enough you can find the harley you want on ebay at a bargain price.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 2,275
Likes: 149
From: High in the Colorado Rockies
I purchased my CVO Ultra on EBay several years ago and it's worked out well. The only item that I was expecting that wasn't included was a rider backrest. I purchased the very low mileage CVO for 10k under MSRP and the bike was only 5 months old. I was bidding in late December (no competition for the bike) and the seller kept lowering the reserve price. SJ Ron
Last edited by SanJuanRon; Oct 27, 2013 at 01:00 AM.
Road Warrior
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,480
Likes: 25
From: Santa Fe NM
Purchased seven harleys off of eBay.
Two I had shipped and five I flew out and rode them home. With one exception the cost was low enough to cover the airfare and hotels on the ride home still beating the price I would have had to pay locally.
There are deals out there one just has to watch and wait.
In all the purchases I contacted the seller by phone before bidding or outright buying.
Two of the deals were worked out after the auction ended without the reserve price being met.
The real plus of buying eBay bikes... the cross country rides one gets out of the deal
New Jersey to CA
Florida to CA
Illinois to CA
Then some short rides AZ and OR home to CA
Two I had shipped and five I flew out and rode them home. With one exception the cost was low enough to cover the airfare and hotels on the ride home still beating the price I would have had to pay locally.
There are deals out there one just has to watch and wait.
In all the purchases I contacted the seller by phone before bidding or outright buying.
Two of the deals were worked out after the auction ended without the reserve price being met.
The real plus of buying eBay bikes... the cross country rides one gets out of the deal
New Jersey to CA
Florida to CA
Illinois to CA
Then some short rides AZ and OR home to CA
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 2,856
Likes: 127
From: Middle of Kansas
My son and I went to pick up my ebay harley almost 5 years ago in Texas. He has a trailer. The pictures of the 99 Softail Custom were really good, and the bike had every thing done to it that I would have done and a little more. It had 17,000 miles on it and was flawless. When I got there to pick it up the seller was a super nice guy and thru in a new back tire just because. He made me take the bike for a spin before I paid him as he wanted me to be completely satisfied that it was what I wanted. It was about a 1,000 mile round trip and worth every penny. Maybe I was just lucky but I got a great deal and the exact bike I was looking for that I did not have to do anything to as all the added things were already done. It has 41,000 enjoyable miles on it now.
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I've bought multiple bikes, cars and even a limo on eBay. No problems here. Just need to know what questions to ask, and what sellers to steer clear from. I can tell you I won't buy from a seller with less than 100% feedback rating and at least 50 positive transactions with several in the preceding few months. Generally, if a person has worked hard at earning a 100% feedback rating and has many transactions, they don't want to screw it up. These people generally describe the item very accurately and post pics of the problem areas, if any.
