When we buy our first bike all these illusions of grandeur about how to trick it out, make it louder, faster… cooler. Just a word to the wise though, keep all your stock stuff in a box in the corner of your garage for the day you decide to sell your bike or upgrade. For those of you looking for a bike all that really cool stuff the current owner has put on it, is worthless, unless of course you wanted it anyway, then great! But those aftermarket parts and accessories honestly do not add to the value of the bike, they are personalizations (as I like to call it). Most everyone out there will buy a bike and then do their own additions anyway so when you are looking to sell your bike, take off all the aftermarket stuff to eBay it and put all your stock stuff on, since none of those things will add to the value of your bike. Now the sellers will convince you that it adds to the value of your bike, but let me tell you from someone who has dumped a bunch of money into her bikes, when you trade them in, none of those aftermarket parts are worth a cent. It will piss you off to no end, so be smart about what you choose to upgrade on your bike and make sure it is stuff you can either move to your next bike or you can eBay those parts and accessories because they aren’t worth anything to the dealer.

Now when buying a used bike, buyer beware…there are tons of bike out there for sale and some have clean titles, others are salvaged and there are hassles when titles are salvaged but it can mean you get a really great price. With that comes how badly the bike was damaged for the insurance company to salvage it, typically when a bike goes down the cost of replacing the plastics far exceeds what it’s worth but yet the engine and chassis are just fine. In cases like this the deals are great, but how do you know how badly the bike was damaged? You don’t, it’s a crap shoot. If you see a bike listed for significantly less, it’s either a scam, salvaged title or something is seriously wrong with the bike…on a rare occasion it might be an angry spouse looking to just short sell the item to piss of their ex, but that is rare. Go look at it, ride it and if you want to really negotiate, bring cash. Cash is still king when buying from a private party. Also, they are going to tell you all the stuff they did to “mod” out the bike, you don’t care, that doesn’t add to the bike, so make sure you tell them that it means nothing to you. You plan to strip it anyway to customize it to you, you might not, but they don’t need to know that. Most of all trust your instinct, take someone with you that you trust and if anything seems remotely wrong, walk away. These two wheels hold your life in the balance and the worst thing you can do is ride home with a bike you don’t trust.

Buying a bike can be fun if you go into with a little knowledge and ability to negotiate. Do your homework, test ride lots of bikes before making a decision and if you seriously can’t walk away from a deal, make sure you check the bike out top to bottom before you call it yours. We all love to find a deal and most people think their bike is worth more than it is so be willing to walk away when push comes to shove. Unless you are buying your bike brand spanking new, you don’t know what the owner(s) have done to the bike and how much maintenance they actually did do, was it well taken care of or was it stunted? That is why riding it is paramount to get a feel if the bike rides true and straight, and looking at it will give you an indication of whether or not they took care of it or it was just transportation to them. Take your time and don’t let anyone rush you, this is something you will enjoy for many years so make sure you really love it. Most of all, don’t get bullied into buying, pressure selling is a complete turn off for me so if they start the there are two other people looking at it today thing, I just tell them if it was meant to be mine, it will be here when I’m ready.

With that happy hunting to you all looking for your first bike, adding to your stable or upgrading…Vixens Ride!