MOD 2 passed - Fazer 600 purchase advice (bought the Fazer)

[Goldenwonder2]

Having recently turned 24 and putting up with my 125cc for over a year I have sorted out my A licence and passed MOD1 a week ago and MOD2 a day before Christmas Eve. I'm over the moon.

I thought you lot would give the best and honest advice on a bike purchase.

Yamaha Fazer F6 S2 2008 (£2999) with just under 7k miles on the clock. I have done a HPI check and it says it has had 5 previous owners. I am not sure of the service history as of yet.

He's offered me £2300 for my 2 year old CBR125 so I can pay the rest in cash.

Aside from tyres, wear and tear, etc. Can anybody give any advice on anything to inspect or look at on the bike? (I have done some generic googling and the usual comes up such as tryres, V5, previous owners but is there anything I can look at without being too technical for a Joe Bloggs?)

It comes with 3 months warranty and is a medium sized local dealer.

I have a sensible head on and having rode my 125 back and fourth Uni and work for a year (40 miles round trip) I had no trouble with the Bandit used on DAS training and test either.

Any thoughts? (I have attached two photos)
Thanks.

[Bigvern72]

I've no idea about fazer- I just wanted to congratulate you on passing your test

[Beehive Bedlam]

The Fazer is a cracking bike and great all rounder. Good choice.

[Goldenwonder2]

Thanks and thanks. The ride bake to the training school was the best, smiling all the way.

Im just concerned of buying and it needing major repairs after the 3 months as I'm not great with mechanics and maintainace. I suppose it's the same with anything used always a risk.

[kaseiozz]

[Matt B]

I had a 2008 S2 for about 4 years, kept it as a second bike. There really is not much that they are prone to, nothing went wrong with mine while I had it. That one is low miles so should be fine, just ask the dealer to do a service before you take it.

That one looks clean and un-messed with. Only thing I can spot is it odd tyres - seems to have a PR3 on the front, but not on the back. Wouldn't bother me.
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stinkwheel: He had an animated .gif of a cat performing fellatio. It's not socially acceptable. It can have real life adverse effects on other people.

[Rogerborg]

eBay completed private sale prices are much lower. Higher mileage bikes though, and without that, uh, "warranty".

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2008-Yamaha-Fazer-FZ6-S2-ABS-model-/201442728010?hash=item2ee6ec184a:g:PogAAOSw4HVWEUNy

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Yamaha-Fazer-FZ6-FZ-6-600-ABS-599cc-/231707416687?hash=item35f2d6986f:g:dkMAAOSwsB9WDX5-

Still, you're contemplating trading with a dealer, so a minor bumming comes with the territory.


https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/
https://www.vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/

I'd want to know why it was last MOT'd in July 2014 and hasn't been taxed since March 2015. Sitting around unused? But then why so many owners?

Needs a test ride. I'd definitely want to start it from cold.
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[Goldenwonder2]

Thanks for both of your inputs - bike starts from cold they will service and MOT it. Has two keys and full service history. Only issue is won't let me test ride as only had liencr a week. Considering it as want to part ex my bike and not wait on a private sale.

I'm going to look at other bikes but thanks again.

[P.]

I'd buy the one for sale on the forum at 2k. Check the for sale section....

[Ste]

How long do you have to have held a license for to be allowed a test ride? Their website simply says "Contact us today to arrange a test drive."

The dealer refusing to let you test ride the bike would be a deal breaker for me. He might as well just say that he doesn't want to sell it to you.

[M.C]

Some dealers want you to have had your license for a year, but I agree I'd just go to one that is ok letting 'new' riders have a test ride.

I agree with Rogerborg, multiple owners and low mileage gets my spidey senses tingling. Might be nothing, might be a lemon, or have been in an unrecorded accident.

Don't understand why people use dealers anyway, you could sell your bike, and buy a Fazer with a good chunk of change left over. Dealer warranties normally cover everything except the exact fault you take it back for , and a private seller might even give you a test ride

[talkToTheHat]

It really does depend on the dealer.

I had a bike from Bennet's with no issues until it got written off, a private sale bike from a friend at 'need the money in a hurry' prices that needed everything doing to it and if i hadnt done most of the work myself it would have cost me more than the bennet's bike. I got a machine with a fistful of problems and dishonesty from Padgett's, who were seriously unhelpful.

Appleyards rescued me from halfords carpark in the snow and their parts counter is always helpful. This may have been why i called in not expecting to find anything but found the bike i eventually bought this time, after noting that every other bike i considered worth buying was less than a set of tyres or a brake overhaul away from the pricey dealership bike that came already done.

I've considered bikes in my nearest J&S a few times. I'm well known and well treated in their acessories department, but their parts counter is a ghost town, they claim to not be insured for test rides of 2nd hand bikes and that every other dealership would tell me the same, and my confidence in thier mechanic is severely shaken after he accused me of taking of the centre stand to fit my performance exhaust becasue "all viragos have centre stands" and "none of the oem exhausts have collector boxes under the swingarm" and shook me down to pay him for the time it took recite his knowledge and years of expereince in fixing bikes. Wouldnt have gone there but they were the only people in town with an inner tube and i had to be a hundred and many miles away by nightfall, and i wasn't going to piss about buying an inner tube and getting back across town with a fully loaded bike and a slowish puncture.
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Bandit. does. everything.

[Matt B]

5 owners on a 7-8 year old bike wouldn't bother me at all, and one of those could have been a pre reg. It's an FZ6, typical first "big bike" and something that people may only keep for a year or so before moving on to something else.

Also what is all this drama about low mileage bikes? What logic or reason do you have to doubt a bike that has done an average of 1k miles a year during it's life? If that FZ6 has sat in it's owners garages and only been taken out in nice dry weather then an average of 1k a year is nothing to be worried about. I sold my 2008 FZ6 earlier this year with about 8k miles on it, and it was an excellent bike without a single fault.

The one the OP is talking about may be overpriced but it has a full service history and from the pictures looks to be a clean, standard example.
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stinkwheel: He had an animated .gif of a cat performing fellatio. It's not socially acceptable. It can have real life adverse effects on other people.

[Ste]

Test riding the bike is perfectly possible.

If a dealer requires people to have held their license for one year for test rides then should that dealer want to sell the bike to you and they think you're serious about buying it, they could very easily phone their insurance company to make the necessary arrangements.

[M.C]

[M.C]

... or it could be clocked

[Rogerborg]

[talkToTheHat]

It's always satisfying to match the bike's previous typical annual mileage in a week or so.
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Bandit. does. everything.

[Matt B]

[M.C]

[Matt B]

Pointless input based upon no experience is pointless.

I change my bikes quite often, probably 2 a year on average. I don't go and look at a bike with unfounded suspicion and the thought that there might be something sinister in it's past, I go with an open mind and buy on condition more than anything. In the last 12 months alone I've bought 3 low mileage bikes (average of 1k a year) that have had quite a few owners.

The ZX6 needed fork seals and a new chain/sprockets, the seller made that clear and it was obvious anyway. That's not anything sinister or suspicious, it's something that you would expect on a 12 year old bike and the price reflected it. The Bandit spent a day at Santa Pod being blasted down the 1/4 mile shortly after I got it, no problems then and still none now. The ZX12 went to Spain and back weeks after being purchased and did not miss a beat.

I reckon the majority of people on this forum, and bike owners in general, own more than 1 bike. Lots of those bikes only get taken out in good weather. That means that an average of 1k a year is not uncommon. Lots of people also like to change their bikes often, so 5 owners on an 8 year old bike is not anything extraordinary.

Being instantly suspicious is not the way to go when buying a bike. Go on condition and history, even the general feeling you get from the bike and the owner/seller.
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stinkwheel: He had an animated .gif of a cat performing fellatio. It's not socially acceptable. It can have real life adverse effects on other people.

[M.C]

[Goldenwonder2]

I ended up buying the Fazer after looking around at other available bikes. Had it checked over by somebody I know and there's no issues.

Riding a 600cc is mind blowing compared to the 125cc. I find the Fazer extremely easy to ride, however the bandit on my DAS seemed quicker for acceleration (not that this bothers me).

I smile everytime I start the thing up! I feel like it's very user friendly but still has plenty to play with (in my limited riding experience). Thanks to all for the advice. Managed to knock the price down too!
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CBR125RR
Yamaha Fazer 600

[Matt B]

[Rogerborg]