If the bike is well kept, it is worth buying. Dirt bikes is nothing more than enjoying great experience in the outdoors. The beautiful experience of hearing the sound of your engine and the wind’s whistle through your ears is just amazing. You would never enjoy all this fun without a bike.
Buying a dirt bike is definitely not a cheap affair. Many enthusiasts therefore end up shopping for used bikes. Although there are many people who have been lucky enough to buy used dirt bikes with great quality, some have paid a great cost.
With this article, you will learn everything you need to know about buying a used dirt bike.
What should be the highest mileage?
When you hit the market to shop for a used bike, there are a few things that you need to keep in mind. Apart from the general conditions of your choice bike, checking the number of miles on the bike is very important.
The highest mileage should not exceed 20,000 miles. For anyone who has been in the dirt bike industry, you will understand that a normal dirt bike covers around 3,000 miles per year. Therefore, to find the years the dirt bike you are buying has been in use, you will need to check the mileage and divide by 3000.
A dirt bike that has been in use for 6 years will have a mileage of 18,000 miles. This can be considered the most ideal case since it is almost new. Anything below 20,000 miles is considered too old for sale.
Is the number of hours a contributory factor to consider?
This is a very important factor to consider when shopping for a used dirt bike. Many people ask why buyers are so interested in the checking the number of hours the bike has covered. The truth is, the condition of the bike is highly determined by the number of hours it has been on the road.
There is a big difference between buying an on-road vehicle and an off-road vehicle. This is because, the off-road vehicle use hours to measure the condition of the vehicle while an on-road vehicle uses mileage. According to research, many riders ride for not less than 50 hours a year and not more than 200 hours. This depends on a number of circumstances.
For example, for riders who started out young, they would comfortably cover the 200 hours in a year comfortably. However, with time, after having families or even other activities that demand their attention, this has drastically gone down.
Although the number of hours the rider has covered with the bike is shown on mileage. Calculating the number of hours will help you understand how active he/she has been since they bought the bike. At the same time, it is very important to check whether or not they have exceeded the recommended hours by the manufacturer.
To give a perfect example. Honda bikes indicate clearly on the manual that the pistons should be changed after every 15 hours. However, there are people who use their bikes for hundreds of hours without changing the pistons. They only pay attention to it when it starts to malfunction.
Point To Note
Although checking the miles and hours the bike has covered might not be enough to tell you the exact condition of the bike. They will go a long way into indicating how long the bike has been in use and how much you’ll use it before rebuilding it.
It is possible to find a bike that has been used for many hours and has covered many miles but it is still in good condition. Therefore, this highly depends on how well it has been taken care of.
Is checking the number of mileage covered that important?
With many on-road vehicles, the mileage the vehicle has covered is very important. However, when it comes to dirt bikes, many riders don’t take this as a very important factor. This is because, dirt bikes are used on different terrains and they wear out depending on the conditions driven.
For example, a dirt bike that has covered 20,000 miles on the sand might be in a better condition than one that has covered 12,000 miles over rocky areas. The circumstances which you ride your bike on contributes a lot to how long it will serve you.
Never make your final decision by just looking at the mileage covered by the bike. With the technology nowadays, it is even possible to tamper with the mileage readings. This means, if your only concern is the mileage and the hours covered by the bike, you will end up being deceived.
Point to note
Because of the fact that on-road cars are more common than off-road vehicles, we tend to think that all vehicles work the same way. Therefore, when shopping for a dirt bike, we get into the market with the same mentality we have when shopping for an ordinary vehicle. The fact that some dirt bikes don’t have an odometer is enough to tell you that mileage is not as important as you would think.
Other Tips include;
Looking at the information above, we can all agree that many times we make wrong choices when buying used bikes. This is because, many of us concentrate much on the mileage and the hours and forget the important factors.
Below are some of the things that you need to put into consideration.
- Has the bike been well-maintained?
It is more than possible to find a bike that has covered over the 20,000 miles and still in good condition. At the same time, some bikes that have covered less than 10,000 miles might be in a really bad shape. Therefore, looking at these two factors might easily deceive you.
There are also people who polish their bike and make them look new when they are about to sell them. However, the engine and other important parts are not taken care of. Therefore, to be on the safe side, apart from looking at the mileage and hours covered, look also at the engine.
Once you identify the bike you want to take home, you can take along your mechanic before making the final decision. Your mechanic will check the car for you starting from the frame to the engine and will advise you accordingly.
There are good bike owners who keeps a log of all the repairs and maintenance done on their bikes. Although a long record of maintenance can sound an alarm, it can also be a positive thing. For a routine maintenance that’s a plus. However, for repairs and other things, then that is an alarm of a worn out bike.
Point to note
There are many shops across the streets selling these used dirt bikes and some of them are reliable. However, if it is possible, it is advisable to buy a second hand dirt bike from someone you know well. This will save you a lot of guess work since you know how he/she has been using the bike and how much damage he/she has done on it.
Parts that you should pay attention to
When checking the condition of a used bike, below are some of the important parts you should pay attention to:
- Brakes: The brakes should function perfectly without making loud or weird noises. On the same note, you should also pay some attention on the suspension to see if it is able to bounce back accordingly.
- Exhaust pipes: although we all know the exhaust pipes gets tossed up and down, it should still be mounted well and in secure place. It should also have no dents as well as leaks as this could become a major problem.
- Tires: looking at the tires would tell you a lot about how the owner has been using the bike. At the same time, you can ask how often the tires have been changed. On a normal case, you should change the tires after every six years. If often changed, it means overuse of the bike.
Conclusion
Apart from looking at the mileage, hours and condition of the bike, consider your preference too. Dirt bikes are not things that we buy every now and then. Therefore, you should ensure you get a bike that will serve you for a long time and a bike that you’ll be proud riding too.
