Walk away. If he cant speak good English on the phone, he will not speak good English face to face. I wouldnt even consider taking a look. It will end badly.
Go and see it, that's the only way you'll convince yourself that it's a bargain or a bogey. The big question is how much cheaper than book price is it? If it's a lot cheaper it could be worth a punt. And just because the guy's foreign doesn't make him a bandit. If the mileage is genuine the service book won't have been touched anyway, and the broken lever...well maybe the bike fell off it's stand, so check the bodywork. The seat, handlebar grips and footrests will give the mileage away, at 2500 miles they shouldn't be worn at all. If he's got the logbook and it's in his name the bike is probably kosher. Or. Do as the others say and look closer to home. Forget the mileage, unless it's got mega miles on the clock it won't affect the value, and Ducatis are strong, they'll shrug off huge mileage with regular servicing. The 848's are relatively young bikes, so essentially what you need to look for is condition and price; if it's clean and cheap you're onto a winner. You won't find a clean and cheap one, though, you'll either get a clean expensive one or a cheap tatty one. Either way, they'll likely be reliable and fun to ride, so stop worrying so much!
An 848 is better with miles on it, harder the better, IMHO as they seem to hold up better after some abuse
How i see it is the seller carnt be bothered to replace the broken lever and present the bike in good order whilst its up for sale ..... what else carnt he be bothered doing ...... couple of oil changes maybe ?? belts ?? The old "lost the service book while moving " haha ............ sure its not ....... ive clocked loads of miles off it so i need to loose the service book , suppose if you knew where it was serviced you could check the history and miles . Read between the lines and smell the rat , by a bike of the next man who actually cares for there bike.
Let's check on what we don't know. We've never seen the bike, we've barely spoken to the owner due to a language barrier, and we don't know if it's had the early post-purchase service. We don't know the price. What we do know is... It's a Ducati, with apparently low mileage. Somehow that translates into a stolen bike that's being sold by an eastern european bike thief who will gladly cut your testicles off as soon as look at you! For fuck sake wake up. It's a motorbike, not the onset of world war 3. If you don't like it, don't buy it. If you do, do. Honestly.
Awwww what's with the nuke post If your instinct is unsure then don't I checked out 7 minis before I found the one I have now The ones I wasn't sure about I left I always say if it doesn't feel right then it isn't
Yes I bought it , it was such a bargain ..... Just sending the money transfer to the Western Union account now ..somewhere in Nigeria apparently ?? Seller asures me the bike will be delivered to my door in one week , and the documents one week after that ... Whoooohooo carnt wait bargainsville !! Oh yeah seller says the oil lights permanantly on but it just needs a top up but he doesn't have the time to do it ..... well some people are really busy ... Well have to dash got to go and view 'The Kings new clothes ' ... gossip says only fools carnt see them.....
Plenty out there, buy one that feels right in all aspects...Also always look at how easy a bike would be to move on should you need to sell..
Totally agree with this. What sort of seller cant be bothered to swap out a cheap brake lever. Unless he is trying to divert your focus off something else. Maybe he is hoping a buyer will spend more time looking at the brake lever and that side of the body work to see what needs fixing rather than spotting other items. I have never understood the old "lost service book while moving" excuse. As someone else said, when you move house, most people take extra care of all their valuable documents. I keep all my invoices/documents/service history in a nice folder along with a spreadsheet of all the dates/mileages and whats been done. Not only will that give any future buyer peace of mind that my bikes been looked after, it also is handy for me as a record, so I know when items are likely to need to be changed in the future. Regardless of the above, one thing I always do when I buy any car or motorbike is factor in the price of a full major service, regardless of if its got any service history or not. Personally from my experience, I dont trust any dealer or garage to do as good as job as I can do myself. I know there are some decent garages and thats fine, but most main dealers etc I wouldnt touch with a barge pole. When I got my 996 the first thing I did was a major full service on it as well as things like brake fluid, pads, chain etc. As at least then I knew that everything had been done correct, to my standard, with genuine bits.
