"Front forks in good useable condition"

[MarkJ]

I bought these forks for my 1992 FN CBR600 track bike last week and they arrived today. I phoned the guy before buying them and asked if they were pitted and if they were straight. He said there were no pits and they were straight. The item is described as "good useable condition" but I wouldn't call them that.

The legs have been badly chipped with stones and the paint is peeling off - this doesn't bother me. What does bother me is that the forks are pitted, only small ones but pitted all the same. The dust seals are badly preished on both forks - they have come away from the stanchion and let crap down below. I have taken the dust seals off and the oil seals are covered in crap and seem to have swelled/bubbled in places.

Finally, the left fork hardly compresses at all, max 40mm.

Pictures:

https://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f186/markjackson13/DSCF0651640x480.jpg

https://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f186/markjackson13/DSCF0649640x480.jpg

https://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f186/markjackson13/DSCF0646640x480.jpg

https://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f186/markjackson13/DSCF0643640x480.jpg

Now, good people of BCF, should I send them back as they aren't good for use? I may keep them if new seals and oil would sort it. Is it possible to get oil seals out without having to pull the whole stanchion out?

[Mord]

Defo not "in good useable condition"

[salty21]

you may be able to get the seals out without removing the stancion but it will be a real ball ache.

you may as well just split the leg, it is by far the easiest way.
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04 NSR 125(sold) ---- 03 CBR 600rr(sold) ----90 pan euro ST1100 '' ----02 CG 125
94 CB400 Super Four ---- 2000 VTR SP1 (sold) ---- 08 ninja p8f(sold, meh) ----05 CBR600rr

[Fisty]

Start a paypal claim. They are shite for that kind of money.
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Quietly and consistently taking the piss.
TL1000R | Hayabusa | ZXR400 | TL1000S | Bandit 400 V
Fatter and faster than Fret

[swiftb]

If you had paid £40-£50 for them and they were sold as good for spares/could be reconditioned then you would expect that kind of condition - although they are obviously from quite an old bike, I would still expect 'good useable condition' to be far far better than those. Especially at that price - definetly ask for a refund

[neatbik]

I would contact the seller first and see if he is willing to give you your money back, if not then start a paypal claim.
Imo they arent worth £50, let alone £150.

[27cows]

As someone who has had some right scabby old forks on some right scabby old bikes, I'd say they were 'good useable condition', which to my mind means straight, not leaking and with a reasonable level of damping.

The fact that one compresses less than the other isn't so good.

The forks on my day to day bike are quite badly pitted but they've been like that years and don't leak.
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The RXS100: vehicle of choice for Chuck Norris

[MaybeGuy]

start a paypal claim...

tell them (in the dispute message) due to work, you cant post them as you work awkward hours, and that they must send a courier to retrieve them, or they are to be scrapped.

if they kick up a fuss, escalate the dispute, and you'll get your money back + postage. then thats it over and dealt with. keep/scrap the forks at your leisure.

i did this with a dodgey chinky seller.

[neil.]

Since one doesn't compress properly, wouldn't that be an MOT failure if the tester could feel it during the test? If so, you could argue that they are unusable since they would not be legal.
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CBT February 2008 | A2 June 2008 | Yamaha YBR125 (written off) | Honda CBF125 (current)

[27cows]

[MarkJ]

Clicky for vid of them both

The poor one only moves 10mm.

(Yes, the grunting does sound dodgy )

[D O G]

Paypal for sure - they are pretty good about giving buyers refunds. My missus just did £180 of work on an item damaged in the post - paypal reimbursed the seller on the production of her quote - the guy had the money before she'd even carried the repair work out.

They really are buggered those forks.

[MaybeGuy]

[Kickstart]

Hi

My guess would be that the bad one is over filled with oil.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[27cows]

[MarkJ]

These were to replace the forks that were on the bike. The ones I had on were pitted and leaked, if I wanted a pair to refurb I would have used those. The whole point of these was that they could be put straight onto the bike without having to faff having the originals re-chromed or putting new stanchions in, and were cheaper than both those solutions.

The eBay item described it as good working condition which said to me:
They worked as forks should
Being only "good" meant they were probably a bit tatty looking (they are) but they still worked

I phoned them and asked if they were straight and not pitted, he confirmed both. I took this to mean:
They were staright
They weren't pitted.

When in fact:
They do not work as forks should
They are pitted

Final note - should I call them, or just start a paypal dispute?
I ask this because they enclosed a piece of paper in the package that basically reads "If the goods are faulty, damaged or incorrect you must phone our returns department with a written explanationion. If you do not contact us within 7 days we will assume the goods have been inspected and are in working order. We won't discuss any refund after these 7 days. Any goods which are fine will be subject to 20% handling charge. Postage is not refundable. Your statutory rights are not affected"

Sounds like they're trying to wriggle out of any possible return requests by email or paypal dispute to me. Opinions? I'd like to claim the postage back to them as it's their fault they sold them with a wrong description.

[P.addy]

phone them up, go mental.
threaten with a paypal claim, sellers nearly always lose.
if they are decent over the phone then arrange for the return of the forks.

[DEN MONKEY]

I'd say do as they ask and send off your request in written form.
It doesn't hurt to start this things off civilly.
You may even find them responsive to your request/feedback.
In the meantime, I'd be getting well versed on the claim process via paypal and make sure you are very aware of any time frames you have to work with.
Keep the usual copies of any correspondence both to and from.
I'd consider that a reasonable start before I went off threatening any action yet.

Keep us posted of any outcomes of course
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meh

[D O G]

[neil.]

Failing that, Trading Standards - the goods are not fit for purpose. Useable means you can just fit them and ride without having to overhaul them first.
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CBT February 2008 | A2 June 2008 | Yamaha YBR125 (written off) | Honda CBF125 (current)

[Darth]

If this was me then i would be rightly pissed. As you say you called to check condition and to me they are not in good useable condition. Especially given the price. If i had taken punt for half the £££ then maybe but at that price i would want them to be in much better nick.

Send them an email (best as you then have a record of what was said) or call them first and explain your grievance and see what they offer to do about it. If they are unhelpful let them know you will be claiming back through paypal. You will probably have to send them back and you will not be reimbursed for postage costs either way but you should still get the cost of the item refunded without much hassle.
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Harold_Shand wrote: I suppose it's like anything, you get your fingers burned when you start out, you learn from it and eventually become a complete arsehole about the whole thing.

[MaybeGuy]

you can see from the photo that the seals are fucked.
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Blue_SV650S wrote: it was a sh1te wheelie, but it proves that he can get it up in 3rd and can do angles. In summery, mattsprattuk is a gobby little sh1tebag, dopehead tw4t, but sadly for all of us, he probably isn't THAT full of sh1te!!
Kickstart wrote: Hi I tend to agree with Matt. All the best Keith

[MarkJ]

I called them. Guy sounded a bit grumpy at first, but then I suppose you would when you're accused of selling something that's not as described. They're going back and if faulty I'm getting a refund.

I'm sending it recorded so I know they get them. What happens if he says they're fine? Does Paypal dispute still work with items you don't have anymore?

[MarkJ]

I've just typed out the note to put in the package, does this sound reasonable?


Hi, enclosed are both forks from eBay item “HONDA CBR600 FM FN FRONT FORKS” #200444369468.
I am returning them due to them being not as described. The description on eBay says “Front forks. In good useable condition”, however I feel that they are not, due to the following reasons:
• Both dust seals are perished
• Both oil seals covered in dirt due to the dust seals being perished, and both oil seals being swollen/bubbling and will need replacing due to this.
• One of the forks only travels 40mm max with myself pushing on it, and the other is very poor – only travelling 10mm when exerting a lot of pressure onto it.
• The stanchions have a few pits on them, enough to snag your fingernail on when run over them, I feel that these in time would ruin any fork seals put on and the stanchions would need re-choming/replacing. I phoned up before ordering to check if the forks were bent or pitted and was told they were straight and not pitted.
Due to all of these points these forks would not perform as they should, and are most certainly not in a “good useable condition”. I believed when I bought the forks that, because of the description, I would be able to just put them on my bike and they would be fine, however that is not the case due to their condition. Because of this, I would like my money back.

[MaybeGuy]

do it via paypal. You'll lose out this way
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Blue_SV650S wrote: it was a sh1te wheelie, but it proves that he can get it up in 3rd and can do angles. In summery, mattsprattuk is a gobby little sh1tebag, dopehead tw4t, but sadly for all of us, he probably isn't THAT full of sh1te!!
Kickstart wrote: Hi I tend to agree with Matt. All the best Keith