Previous Owners

[AL-]

How much does the amount of previous owners for a bike affect your decision to buy or not?

[SamJL]

When I buy second hand, not at all, to be honest it's not something I even look at.

As long as the bike is in good condition, that's all that should really matter
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2009 CBR1000RR
2004 KTM 200SX
2004 KTM 65SX

[DrDonnyBrago]

Doesn't really factor into my decision to be honest, older bikes especially those that are learner legal can have an enormous number of previous owners.

If I were buying a newer bike with a high number it would make me a little more suspicious of problems, but wouldn't rule it out.

[0ddball]

Depends on what i'm buying. If it's something with well known reliability issues and its had say 6 owners in 3 years i'd be a bit more wary.

But it can work the other way. You might find a 10 year old bike has had one owner from new but the seller is getting shut because it has something major like a cracked frame or the bike has come to the point where it's costing a fortune to keep on the road.

[ollieholt]

i think it influenced mine. it was a 1 lady owner. i think the lady bit swayed it more for me. but to be fair even if it had 4/5 it had full service history and was clean as a whistle after 11 years. that mattered most.
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< This? Well this is just a day brightner.

[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

Think my old CG had 9 previous owners.
As it started first kick from cold and didn't smoke or knock i was happy to be its 10th owner.
Worked out to be 1 owner per year of its life.
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[Bendy]

Wouldn't worry about it.

Lots of people buy bikes on a whim and barely use them, so the number of owners can easily be quite high for the age/mileage.

[swiftb]

It puts me off to be honest, always has done. My 10yr old zx6r had 4 previous. Bikes im looking for now which are 3-4yr old I dont want any more than 1-2 previous really. Id still consider bikes with more owners but would always choose one with less owners if possible.

[Villers]

As with cars Id worry if a young bike had a few owners, especially just out of its warranty period. Its true some people chop and change butfor a two or three year old bike to have relatively low miles and go through five or six pairs of hands would be a worry that its a bad 'un!

I bought my ninja at 10 months old with 250 miles on it and was a little suspicious but turns out it was fine. I guess its just one of many things you should look at as a group of indicators towards a bikes life!
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RS125 > CBR6 > SV650S > ZX636R > GSX1300RZ Hayabusa > 06 RSVR Mille > SV1000S > Street Triple 765 RS

[dodsi]

To me it depends on the quoted milage. Lets say a 10 year old bike has 5 owners but has 5K miles on the clock and no MOT... alarm bells ringing.

if the same bike has 20K+ on the clocks and 5 owners - that wouldnt worry me.

[Villers]

I agree but at the same time theres other indications to high mileage to consider. Some genuine people do buy bikes and use them very little, I only did about 1200 mile in 2008. The guy who bought my ninja brand new only did 250 miles on it.

Id be much more weary of a car than a bike!
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RS125 > CBR6 > SV650S > ZX636R > GSX1300RZ Hayabusa > 06 RSVR Mille > SV1000S > Street Triple 765 RS

[Alex A]

No issue here.

Have owned a few ~10 owner bikes between 10 and 20 years old. High-ish mileage too. But each has been mint and sweet as a nut for several thousands of miles of my ownership.

In fact, when looking to buy, they've often been tidier than apparently lower mileage, few owner bikes I've seen at higher prices.

I buy on condition first and foremost. Then basically, so long as it's legit, the rest doesn't matter so much.
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Current: Ducati Panigale R / Ducati Streetfighter S / Suzuki GSX-R1000 L5

[Kal]

No more than it does when looking for new girlfriend.

[njd27]

[londonbill]

I have a bike that is 13 years old and has had 9 owners.
It is in absolutely stunning mint condition.
I've owned it for 4 years.
Most people think my R reg plate is a special one, because they cannot believe the bike is as old as it is.
My theory is that if one person owns a bike for a long time, they lose interest, which eventually will be refelcted in it's condition.
If someone's prepared to let a bikes cosmetics to go downhill, then it might follow that they'll adopt the same attitude to maintenance.
A bike that has had many owners, has had fresh love and enthusiasm lavished on it more regularly.
I'm convinced that if my bike were a one owner, it wouldn't be in anything like the condition it is now.
Having said that, I might get a bit suspicious if the bike had had three owners in it's first year.

[dotti2009]

The number of owners doesn't really bother me. I'd give other things, such as mileage and general condition of the bike much more importance when deciding on a bike.

As it happens, I am the 6th owner of my GT650, and it is only 3 years old!
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