unless you have a little recorder in your pocket you carry around with you for moments like these, I think your pretty screwed from my experience with these types of things. especially if he wrote sold as is on the bill of sale. if its a used bike always, always, always get a pre-purchase inspection, most of the time it will probably be an added expense that ends up being useless. but sometimes, like these, it will save you alot of headache and alot of money.

sorry man, looks like you got swindled. good luck with the repair, hope everything turns out alright.

 

Although you probably can't do anything, you can probably have a nice little talk with him by stopping at his house one day.

 

Remember to carry your gun!!!

Just kidding.

I've seen people on Craigslist selling motors/engines for around $300, so if you're lucky enough you might find one for the bike, but $2,300 - you're still screwed. I've seen '97, '98 models go for around $1,500, and I bought my bike ('96) in 1999 (or maybe 2000) for $2400, and the parts are still as is now except for normal wear stuff.

If all else fail I'd say part it out to sell and you might get your money back.

YF

 

what a limey *******.

 

Theres prolly nothin you can do in this case but b/c its an older bike you can prolly find a wrecked one at a salvage yard and get an engine for cheap, good luck.

 

First of all, let me say that I'm very sorry to hear about your misfortune. I sincerely hope that you're able to fix it at a reasonable cost.

Having said that...I feel that the comments that the seller was a "*******" is just a tad off the mark. Let's think about this. The bike is 15 going on 16 years old. The mileage was never discussed in this post, so I can't speak to that, but obviously this is not a new bike. For the seller to state "as is" seems completely normal and predictable to me. Do you seriously expect someone to guarantee a 15+ year old bike, or car for that matter, against defects or problems that aren't visible at the moment of sale? The best you can do is either arrange with the seller to have a local mechanic inspect it before you buy it, at your cost obviously, or to strike a deal with the seller that you're going to have it inspected, and the sale hinges on the result of that inspection. Beyond that, you're completely on your own.

As far as suggesting that the asking price was too high...no one forced the gentleman to purchase this bike. It's certainly the responsibility of the buyer to determine what is a fair price for the vehicle in question. Many sellers allow themselves some "haggle" room, so you almost have to try to negotiate a little, unless the original asking price is quite reasonable.

The bottom line is, when you find a vehicle you're considering purchasing...research its value, to determine what price you should expect to pay, and decide before you ever see the vehicle what price range you feel is fair. Then research known problems with that make/model and be prepared to give the vehicle a relatively in-depth inspection yourself, or at the very least take along a knowledgeable friend who can help you inspect it. Either way, you should still seriously consider having a 3rd party professional inspection done (unless the bike is virtually new,and/or in near perfect condition) to weed out any deeper issues or potential problems. The inspection shouldn't cost you any more than $50-$100 (which, as you can now see, would be money well spent), and when I purchased my '02 Triumph Sprint ST back in '05 and took it to the local Triumph dealership to have it inspected, they did it for free.

While I hope you can salvage some usefulness from this episode, just watch you don't throw away too much money on a bike that isn't worth it. If it seems too costly to fix, I'd recommend either riding it until it dies (Have you actually experienced any problems from the crack yet? Has anyone else looked at it...it isn't just an unscrupulous mechanic looking to bilk you?) or parting it out, and writing it off as a painful but valuable learning experience.

Caveat Emptor!
Good luck,
Tim

 

I would clean the crack real super good with contact cleaner, Dremel tool the crack out to rough it up or use a file or something and JB Weld the living guts out of it if I can. Then i would let the JB cure for a day or so and ride it to see if it leaks or not. If it doesn't you fixed it for under $5, if it does then maybe it would be a good idea to look into welding it up or something. JB Weld is good stuff but the repair area MUST be clean and oil free.

 

I realize this is after the fact, and all, but...


....wouldn't you wonder just a teeny bit...


.....what exactly made the crack? If inside parts are trying hard enough to become outside parts that they crack the case, JBWeld is basically like putting a Band-Aid on a sucking chest wound.

Not lipping you off, CB750F, just sayin'.

 

When ANYTHING is sold, used or not, that is made for a particular task, it has to be suitable for that task, unless otherwise specified. And yes, your rights do protect you here.

In other words, the sold "as-is" doesn't mean squat. As bad as a cracked case is, and as bad as that affects its suitability, and overall value...... if it doesn't say "AS-IS, Cracked Case", you're covered from a legal standpoint. Also, as bad as that problem is, if it's fairly obvious, you could probably get him for fraud for failing to disclose.

It's very simple from this point. You take him to small claims for the repair value, you win, you go on with life. You should also call your local law enforcement as there may well be some criminal liability here as well.

 

Suitable for the particular task, you say? It sounds as though the bike was suitable for the task, as the buyer had been riding it, with no obvious problems. I don't think that the item in question has to be perfect, or else no one would ever be able to sell anything used. It strikes me that just because something requires a $150 fix, that does not automatically mean that it was "unsuitable." Must every misfortune that befalls us result in a lawsuit, or a call to the police?

I believe you'd have to prove that the seller was aware of the problem beforehand to charge him with fraud. I suppose since he has service records going back for several years, the buyer could check with that service center to see if they had ever noticed this problem and passed that info along to the seller. Short of that or an admission from the seller, it strikes me it might be difficult to prove fraud. Since the buyer had not ever noticed it, and only became aware of the problem when the service center looked at it, I'm thinking it must not be "fairly obvious".

I'm sure that "Lemon Laws" vary from one locality to the next. While this buyer may very well be covered under his local Lemon Law, I still say it would behoove him, and all of us, to try to do a good job of protecting ourselves when making a purchase instead of relying on the "nanny state" to save us from ourselves. Isn't personal responsiblity and self-reliance one of the hallmarks of motorcycling? Continuing to rely on the government to protect us in all matters is exactly the sort of thinking that leads to helmet laws and other restrictions that are for "our own good".

Once again, I don't mean for this to sound as though I'm unsympathetic to the buyer. I hope he is able to resolve this to his satisfaction, and if he truly was the victim of fraud, then I hope that justice will be served.

Tim

 

crooks are everywhere

what a butt-head! the seller had to know that the case was cracked because it had to be leaking when he sold the bike (that's probably why he sold it in the first place). i agree that you should check any used purchase very carefully before actually giving the seller the cash/check no matter what it is, in this case it sounds like you ran into a straight up crook w/ the intention of swindling the first person to come along. I would try the legal route at least make a few calls to the local law enforcement and find out exactly what your position is in this situation. meeting him in his driveway is not a good idea as you would be on his property and he will automatically be in the right (trespassing, assault & battery among other charges), but if you just happen to bump into him @ a local conv. store and have a few bad words over a shady purchase then that is just unfortunate. But to clear things up a little the lemon law does not apply to private party sales just to legitimate buisness.

 

Once again...if the leak just had to be so obvious, would not the buyer have noticed it, at some point, instead of only being aware of it when his local service center brought it to his attention?

Hmmm...you may be correct about the Lemon Law. I know that originally it only applied to businesses, but I thought that it had later been expanded to include private party sales, in some locations (California, perhaps others.) Perhaps I misunderstood and/or am remembering incorrectly.

It's been nearly a month since the OP posted this, and he has not returned to give any more details or any updates. I wonder what's up? I'd like to hear.

Tim

 

He probably just got it fixed and called it a wrap.

 

That does suck, but it all depends on what state you live in. Here in Massachusetts there is a Lemon law on used vehicles. Even with private sales. If they disclose the problem up front in writting as a salvage or rebuild only, then it's a different story. But it sounds like this guy knew exactly what he was doing.

I say take him to small claim's court.

DUNCANMOTO

 

Heres an update...
Right after I bought it I took it to the shop near me. They looked it over for inspection and were the ones that gave me the eval. At that time I also asked them to check all the fluids. After the diagnosis I took the bike to a shade tree mechanic who opened the engine and saw THERE WAS NO CRACK! Just some seals that werent quite doing their job. He also said there was way too much oil which was creating too much pressure and exacerbating the problem.
After about a pint(?) of oil was drained, it runs wonderfully!
There is still a bit of a leak but that is easily fixable with new seals and/or gaskets. I took it back to the shop that had misdiagnosed the problem and let them know what the other guy found. I dont trust this place now, but they werent going to charge me for the re-inspection. The shop calls me and says their guy still says the engines cracked!
Sceptically, I go in to have a look see at what hes talking about. The mechanic, who doesnt look like the sharpest tack, point to some oil on the frame and floor and says "see, engines cracked". I told the guy the other guy actually took the outer case off and VERIFIED there was no crack. He just shrugged and said, "if you say so". I couldnt beleive it!
Suffice to say, Ive made an appointment at another place to get new seals installed!

and for all those that said I paid to much, I may have, but the bike was in my town and has many new aftermarket parts including new shocks up front and new tires, jet kit and poded air intakes. I dont know how much thats 'worth', but thats what I was going on.

 

Gee...ya mean everyone who wanted to crucify the seller was actually jumping to conclusions without enough info? Unbelievable! LOL! Now, aren't ya glad that you didn't file a lawsuit/call the police/harass the seller, as several had suggested?

Glad to hear that you got it all worked out, and it didn't cost you too much.
Tim

 

Glad to hear your good fortune. Too many mechanics these days are either unskilled, dishonest or both. When I find a shop I can trust I give them all my biz, but only on stuff I can't do myself.

good luck

 

another reason to buy new... first of all, what part of sold as is you didnt understand....sorry to hear this... remember someone is selling for a reason..


Jdog

 

New user, couldn't figure out how to start a new thread, so figured this'd be the place to throw my situation out there.

Just bought a 2001 Vulcan 800 Classic. supposedly had only 5000 miles on it. Bike is immaculate. Rides like a champ. Well when I go to register it today, I and the lady at the tax collectors office notice that the title says 11000 miles, while the odometer clearly reads 5000ish. I'm guessing there are only 2 possibilities here. 1) the bike was titled with incorrect info after its last sale, or 2) the guy I bought it from rolled back the odometer. It doesn't seem that that's the case, he is staying in contact with me. He emailed me about selling me the windshield for it and I know where he lives. I'm going by there tonight.

Any ideas, or others who've exprienced this. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thx
Chris

 

could also be the old gauges died and he replaced them, that is fairly common.

 

Chris, most odometers have some sort of tamper-proof seal, check yours, it should be self evident.

 

? Really? I've replaced what I thought was a broken cable on my speedometer (which controls the odometer via the same cable). All I had to do was unscrew it, screw new one in. I could have hooked up a high speed drill and modified my mileage with no problem....would have only taken time.....nobody would have been the wiser.

 

yeah, I know that he could have just had to replace the guages, but what gets me is that he advertised it as "only 5000" miles. If he would have said actual mileage around 12000, then maybe things would have been different.

 

well we all know the DMV isn't flawless I personally have had to deal with several typo's if its not a typo and he did not disclose that is a felony for consumer fraud

 

yes, I'm hoping it is a typo, guess we'll see when I show up on his doorstep tonight when he gets home from work.

 

Chris,

Did you look at the title the seller gave you before giving it to the registry? Did you make a copy of it? I once had a bike I bought with 2,400 miles on it at less than 6 months old. When I went to register it the registry person must have typed in an extra 0 because my new title arrived 6 weeks later saying the bike had 24,000 miles on it when I bought it. Luckily I had a copy of the title I had received. Me and the seller signed an affadavit and the registry corrected the title for me.

DUNCANMOTO

 

can't charge him with fraud, incorrect mileage disclosure is the only thing that would really work, if the bike's inspection was still good or recently renewed before he purchased it you can contact the inspection site and say wtf you missed this, but it doesn't get you anywhere.

And the as-is does mean as-is, unless a seller tells you "bring it back if there's something wrong" then anything is sold as-is (even saying bring it back has to be in writing and notarized to make a difference, what private seller goes throught he trouble?)

It's lame and I'm sorry, he's only an ass because he won't answer your phone calls, that's not cool

 

You're not totally screwed. It sucks, and it's a BIG waste of your time and effort, but you can likely part the bike out fully on Ebay and get the $2000 back and start over. Even with the cracked engine case...some folks out there may need everything BUT the case.

 

Swapping out a speedo and claiming lower mileage is fraud and the state will be very interested. You MUST declare mileage discrepancies. It's no different than rolling a speedo back!
What to do about it, well, I wouldn't like it. What else did he lie about?
Rocksolid

 

Sorry to hear about you getting screwed like that. I've had problems getting in contact with someone after I sold them something before. A bit different than your situation, I'll admit.

The guy paid half up front and gets to take the bike then they were suppose to pay the other half at the end of six months. After that I'd give them the title and everything else I had on it (stupid in hindsite, but I tend to trust people a bit more than I should).

Over the next six months I heard nothing from him until it was down to the wire, he sends me an email giving me a load of garbage about how his life sucks and all that so he can't pay right now and asks if I can give him a couple of weeks.

And on it goes for the next six months. I tried calling him but the number was no good, so I'd e-mail him and he'd give me a new number and I'd call that and nothing.

I was getting to the point where I was about to tell my brother to swing by the guys house next time he's in the area (I lived 3 states away at the time) and rip the money from his hide. Fortunately at about that same time he got in touch with me and said the check was in the mail and I got it a week later.

What a pain that whole ordeal was!