Top Five Things to Look For When Buying A Used Harley

Hey, it's Mike. Groan. Fix my hog. Got the top five things to look for when you're buying a used Harley. Now, a lot of people, you know, they rush out, they get all caught up in the moment and they buy things and then they call me and I always tell them, hey, call first before you buy. So, you know, number one, you locate a motorcycle, you're just in, you go out and you look at it right away, kind of verify the paperwork because, uh, you know, a lot of times bikes come in the shop and right away, I kind of get a vibe. It's got a whole bunch of aftermarket accessory parts on it. It's got different body work or something. And, and I know the bike's probably been crashed, somebody's fixed it up and then sold it to this guy. So check the title. Is it a branded title? Is it a salvage title? You know, do you wanna start out a relationship with a bike that has a branded title? Ok. Number two, you want to get as much history on the motorcycle as you can. You know, how long is this guy? On the bike. Um, you know, does he just flip in the motorcycle? Has he had it for 10 years? It's kind of nice if they've had it, you know, since new now, you can say cool, man. Let's go over your paperwork. Let's see what you've done, you know, and he's got a whole database of everything he's done. That's the dream, you know, if he just bought it, uh, last summer and then he bought it from another guy that bought it from another guy. Now it's like, ok, how many fingers have been in the cake? What's been going on with the bike? You know, so that's something, you know, you're gonna want to pay attention to. Ok, next up, we got um your group, you know, if you've watched our buyers guide videos on Fix My hog, we go through a series of your groups of kind of bikes that, you know, are less desirable. I have problems, you know, with certain year groups. So it kind of comes down to, you know, what is it you're looking for? Do you want a bagger? You want a bar hopper? You want an old bike? You want a newer bike? So do a little research because, uh, you know, I'll have people buy, uh say, uh you know, a, a 1996 Road King and it's fuel injected and it's got 100 and 20,000 miles on it. And I'm like, well, you know, that's probably not. You know, for me, I wouldn't want a fuel injected bike. Maybe I'd be looking for a car RD bike or, you know, this bike 84 to 89 you know, completely different starter doesn't have a CV car. Uh, the, the clutch arrangement on it isn't all that desirable. So it really comes down to if you're gonna pick a motorcycle and you're gonna marry it and have it for a long time. Pick appropriate your group. Ok. Number four, it's kind of the same as history, but it's like who's been working on this motorcycle? You know, is it a reputable shop? Was it the customer working on the bike? This is the kind of stuff you want to know. Like I said, it's part of the history of checking the paperwork. But more importantly, you know, if X shop worked on it, do a little research on that shop, you know, they got confident people that worked on this motorcycle. It's kind of important because, you know, say they put four or five grand in the motor, that's kind of an asset, you know, but if they put four or five grand worth of bad money in the bike, to me, it's not an asset. It's, that's when I get worried when people call up and say, hey, I bought a Stroker and this and that and I'm thinking, wait a minute, who stroked the motor? You know, was it Billy Bob Shop or whoever. So you kind of got to weigh your options sometimes. It's good that they spend a ton of money on the bike sometimes. It's bad. Do your homework? Ok. Number five, it's all about the money, obviously in the end of the day, you know, it comes down to dollars and cents. Um, you, you get a good deal on the bike maybe, you know, if the things hurt, it adds up quickly. You know, we, we did the full tuning service and tires on this bike and we're approaching 1000 bucks in parts, plus your labor. So you don't want to get upside down on something. So do the math. If the bike is a true treasure, it's worth putting a ton of money into it. So keep that in mind, man. Get on and ride your motorcycle.