- All the electrical should work. Period, unless you're getting a helluva deal.
- Look for scratches on the parts that stick out furthest. Pegs, muffler pipes, control levers, mirrors, handgrips, engine guards. Any of this means it was put down. Don't pay full price for a bike that was slid. That doesn't mean it's worthless- I just got a bike that was stolen, and crashed in a police chase, I ride it to work now. I paid about 25% retail, though, and about another 50% to get it roadworthy. Unless it's an amazing deal, I wouldn't try this with your experience.
- If it has sat, figure the carbs are clogged. It will start hard, run rough, and pretty much this is a given on any bike that didn't have the gas drained and sat for more than a year. $75/carb to fix at my guy, your prices may vary.
- Figure a new battery in the price. Hooray if you don't need it, but again, if it sat for a while, it's probably going to be needed. They're about $200 for a good one, maybe as low as half that for a warm-weather-only PoS one.
- The MAIN THING is to make sure the frame isn't bent. Look at the bike from the rear.
- The tires should line up, as if you drew a line on the pavement, when the bars are held straight forward.
- They should also line up from the pavement together. Hard to describe, easy to see- if it was standing up not on a kickstand, they should both be be 90 degrees to the pavement. They won't be, leaned over on the jiffy stand, but they should match each other.
- They should also be in line from front to back. (As in, the rear tire should not be turned like only the front one is supposed to be able to.) Anything wrong with these three sightings, and run, don't walk, away.
Sorry ... the bike has 29k miles, if that makes a difference in your answer...
... 29 k miles ...
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