Tips for Buying a Used Sport Bike

Video Transcript

"Hi my name is Chris Kelley and I’m speaking on behalf of Expert Village. I am a stunt man and I’m going to give you some tips today. So you want to buy a sports bike, you want to buy a street bike. Good things to look for on a used bike, first of all you want to look it over, you want to look it over and see if there’s any major damage you can see. You want to look for it’s been laid over, see scratches or things broken, broken mirrors. You want to get on the bike, see how it feels, see if it’s a good fit for you. Some bikes, actually all bikes are going to fit different. They’re going to feel a little bit different and you want to be comfortable, you might not feel comfortable with the way that you’re leaned over, or the way that you sit up. If the bike feels comfortable then you want to go ahead, it looks good overall, you want to check the levers, make sure they move properly, feel the throttle, work the rear brake and the front brake, make sure that everything works first of all. And you’re going to also want to check the fork seals, fork seals are down here at the top of the fork tube you want to look for some oil, leaking running down the fork tube, if you see oil on the down tube that’s going to tell you that the seal is either blown or you have some problems in the internals of the fork. You also want to look at the tires, make sure there’s good tread wear on there. And the chain, your chain is what drives this bike. Some bikes have a shaft drive, which are generally mostly maintenance free, except for chain the oil in the shaft drive. But on a chain drive bike, like this one, you’re going to have to take a look and make sure the chain is oiled and lubed and that there’s not too much slack in it. That it has a little bit of play, but it’s not dead tight. Also, take a look at your sprocket, make sure that the teeth are not worn or broken. You’re definitely going to want to get on the bike, see how it runs, you’re going to want to start it up, see if it’ll work for your needs, see what you’re looking for. This bike feels pretty good to me. "