jjesneck, on 11 July 2012 - 05:42 PM, said:

Most likely the counter-shaft seal.  Was it on the sidestand?  Either way, the CS seal is an easy and cheap fix.

malfunkti0n, on 12 July 2012 - 10:45 AM, said:

Plenty of that with race bikes too.

jqueen, on 15 July 2012 - 07:58 PM, said:

Granted, you're going to get that everywhere, but I would imagine someone who races for more than just the fun of it is going to know the condition of their bike.

Anyways, the whole point of buying a bike is to lowball them as far as they are willing to go. I hate to be that way with bikes, but you just cannot trust people to tell you the truth about the machine they are selling. You take a gamble that the bike you're buying is going to need a new set of bearings all the way around (most people have no clue the swingarm even has bearings, so those things are generally uber neglected), probably needs fork seals (hey just because you can't see a leak doesn't mean the fork seals are good .. probably has no oil left in it the forks!).

Man this just reminds me why I hate buying a bike. New is just so easy, until you realize the value drops the second you sign the line for it.

i didnt think i would race any faster than i rode, but i had my first race 2 weeks ago and my lap times were improved by 9 seconds from the last time i went to that track and i had'nt ridden in between those 2 times !

although you are mostly correct on the raced bike being good... if someone doesnt take care of their raced bike then you could be stuffed.. some people jsut sell thier bikes cos it needs a new top and bottom done!

I don't think there are any hard and fast rules as to whether a race bike was better maintained, a trail bike might not have been, etc..like all things, you just have to use your judgment when looking at a used bike to buy. And not only look at the condition of the bike, but you have to try to get a feel for the owner as well. Does he/she seem like the kind of person that takes care of their possessions, or are they the kind of person that does just enough to get by?

I trail ride and pretend-race, and I am undeniably anal and OCD when it comes to my bike. If you looked at my 2002 KX250 right now, it still looks almost good enough to still be sitting on the showroom floor (except for that friggen new dent I just put in my pipe last weekend   ) because I take extremely good care of everything that I own. You just have to thoroughly examine any bike you're thinking about buying, and see what sort of impression you have of the owner as well. Is his house well kept up? His garage? His vehicles? If these things are well maintained, then his bike probably is also.

Agree with chokey.You can certainly tell by how people live.I have went to look at a used whatever and could tell from the moment I pulled in their driveway if it was worth the trip.Sometime's good, sometime's bad. I'm thankful that I was brought up to take care of what I have.

it really depends on the owner. theres a kid at my school who races his 450, and is pretty good. he asked me about how to do a oil change. turns out he didnt change the oil in the 2 years he owned his yz450f and when he tried to change it he stripped his oil drain bolt.... and there was hardly any oil left in it.

your best bet is to see for yourself if the engine feels and starts good, and ask for papers if they said that they have had service done

Alan48, on 17 July 2012 - 03:44 PM, said:

once drove 3 hours to the absolute middle of NO WERE to pull up at a old house with over grown yard and a bunch of junk everywhere. dude said bikes were around back in his garage, i was thinking "oh great, he keeps them in his barn with no roof.." we went around the house and saw the nicest garage i have EVER seen. had about 15 bikes, all MINT, had really nice bike lifts, even had a COUPLE service honda 500's on 09 450 frames..  was a sight to see. guess his prioritys were in dirtscooters lol

LukeYZ426F, on 17 July 2012 - 06:48 PM, said:

LOL.Like I said,sometime's good,sometime's bad.Congrat's to you.Where is this barn? That's too cool. I'm still my azz off.

I have bought raced bikes, and also have bought bikes that were just ridden for fun. As long as the seller knows what he is talking about and has the stuff to back it up, I have no problems buying either. I race my bike a handful of times a year, and I always disclose it when I sell a bike. I just think if you feel what the owner is telling you is true, then you shouldn't have any other problems. If something sounds amiss, you aren't under any obligation to buy it, so you can walk. Hands down, I also would rather buy a machine from an owner that knows what he is talking about, is passionate about bikes and so fourth.... Lately, my target sellers have been in their 50s, (the last three bikes have been from the "senior section".....), and they are generally better kept, etc....