No service history - but previous MOT's

[newnewnew]

Hmmm - Hi guys,

I am currently eyeing up a purchase of a suzuki gsxr 600 2004 with 36k on the clock for what seems a decent price - but the garage don't have any service papers for it, apart from previous MOT's.

Is that enough proof or do I really need to the service docs as well as the MOT's?

Lee

[FerretFing]

The garage can't prove its service history by magicking some papers out of nowhere...they exist or they don't. Service history is nice to have but not essential - price comes down accordingly though! It then comes down to your own judgement, go with a mate who knows what to look for.....a poorly maintained bike is usually obvious imo

[Rogerborg]

You don't "need" to have anything. It's entirely up to you to decide whether you believe that the previous owner(s) have serviced it or not. How would we know? Why are you even asking?
____________________
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

[instigator]

What are you looking to pay for that? I'd hope not more than ~2200 tops. If I were to buy a bike of that mileage without service history, I'd always check the valve clearances. They were probably due at 32k on that bike and may not have been done.

[Polarbear]

I don't suppose there are too many bikes of that age with full service history. I find most bikers are mechanically minded enough to do it themselves once it's out of warranty, epecially the basics like oil/filter change.

Modern bikes, when they go for a service in the dealers, unless it's a valve check service, get very little more than an oil change, fluid top up and a nuts and bolts check anyway. Go on line and find the service schedule for the gixxer 600 and I think you will be suprised on how little a dealer does to a (japanese) bike at most services. Put it this way, you will take better care of your own bike than most dealer monkeys will.

Lack of service history wouldn't bother me particularly unless I was buying a Goldwing or something similarly expensive, and then only for later resale value. I'd be more interested in the state of the consumables. Condition of chain and sprockets, brake pads, cables etc. can tell you as much about how a bike has been looked after as a service history.

As said earlier, the only thing you really should do is get the valve clearances checked if there is no record of it being done. Think of it like when you buy a car, you get the cam belt changed to play safe if you don't know when it was done. Same with valve clearances on a bike.
____________________
Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[Efes123]

Check out the previous MOT history; https://motinfo.direct.gov.uk/internet/jsp/ECHID-Internet-History-Request.jsp This should tell you any advisories, and fail reasons for the past few years. This will let you know what work has been done on the bike in it's recent history.

You'll need either the MOT test number, or the V5 reference number, along with the reg.
____________________
Honda Goldwing GL 1000 Current love
Honda VT500 ED - SOLD
Projects Suzuki GS125 Done, then stolen - Kawasaki GPX750R SOLD - Honda VF750S SOLD

[EazyDuz]

Previous MOT's should do. Service history isnt important really. As said tappets are the most expensive things to sort if they arent the screw type which you can do at home.
Oil filter, oil, fuel filter, airfilter are all cheap really.
____________________
To shreds you say? Tss tss tss