Five tips for buying your first motorcycle

SO you’re off to buy your first bike. In some ways it’s just as intimidating as the process of training and testing and it’s certainly even more exciting.

But it’s also fraught with potential problems. Sure, maybe you’re heading straight to the local new-bike showroom with your sights set on a fully warrantied, factory-fresh machine. But, let’s face it, you’re much more likely to be trawling the classifieds with the hope of becoming a decade-old bike’s seventh owner.

While buying new should be straightforward, used bikes are a potential minefield. Here are five tips to help navigate it.

1: Take a mate

IF you’re buying your first bike then – in the nicest possible way – you probably don’t have that much idea about what you’re looking for. But since most new riders have at least one long-standing motorcyclist in their group of friends, there’s always help to turn to.

If you’ve got a mate who really knows his stuff (ie not just a pub brag), rope him in to help. Beware that sometimes even knowledgeable friends can get carried away spending money – particularly when it’s not theirs – but he could save you a serious mistake just by being able to spot mechanical defects that you might miss.

Assuming he’s the level-headed type, he’ll also be able to rein in your enthusiasm and act to remind you – constantly, if necessary – that there are lots of used bikes out there. Any doubts and it’s usually best to skip on to the next one.

2: Use technology to help

IT’S mad that people will often rush into spending thousands of pounds without investing a few quid into one of the various available vehicle check services – HPI is the famous one – to make sure that the bike they’re looking at isn’t stolen, crashed or owing finance.

Yes, it’s not free – and there are plenty of arguments to say all that information should be available without charge – but if you find out the hard way that your new pride-and-joy has been stolen or badly bent in previous hands you’ll be wishing you’d swallowed the cost of a history check. Most can be done instantly, often online, on the phone or via mobile phone apps. So take advantage of them.