buying a bandit

Hello all ,
Very long time between rides, but I felt compelled to share my observations and experiences with relation to looking for a new bike. Long story short all sorts of stuff went on in my life resulting in me not owning a bike for a couple of years.
Hence now I started looking for a new bike.
So the usual things we all start looking for in a bike is the overall condition. Photos on web sites are misleading.
They may look great in the photos but when you get there, they look very ordinary. Guys wash and detail your bike if you want to impress your prospective buyer! First impressions count for alot.
Secondly we usually ask for log books. Ive found a huge number of bikes with no service books. Whats to deal with that?
I dont take my bikes to any dealer for a "service" or "wallet flush". Being ex motor trade, I have my reasons. I found bikes with no service history on paper as such but the owner did his own oil changes etc etc and it rode beautifully. I found a bike which had all the services done by the same selling dealer on time every time and the best way to describe it would be to say it was loose and rattly. Similar kms too btw. Why? If you are like me and DIY, use the log book to record your efforts. It will be in my opinion worth much more than a dealer stamp.

Also, buying a bike privately make sure you do a revs check. Ask lots of questions about all aspects of the bike.
Simple things which may sound obvious but as I found are worth checking, like...
Do you actually own this bike and can you produce a receipt?
Is it registered in YOUR name?
Does anyone else own this bike?
Do you owe money on this bike?
Have to dropped it? Did you go bike bowling with it ever?
If you cant test ride it and cant cold start it, walk on. Cold starts can reveal things that a previously warmed up bike will hide.
Ummm, well thats my rant over.
I am the proud owner of a 07 1250s which im currently cleaning and polishing up to my OCD standard, gus knows.

Anyway, so to conclude, a dealer stamp isnt a gtee of a good bike.
Ride it, listen to it, ask plenty of questions, look at it objectively, if your guts say something isnt right, ask for clarification and prepare to walk away.
I hope that this helps someone and remember this is my experience and opinion and these things are just like a holes, everyone has one.

Some good points there Ironman for a prospective buyer 

Of course the only problem of the owner doing the log book themselves is, has the service really been done? Or has the owner got creative with the log book to make it look good.
Not saying your doing that, but I'm sure its happening just as often as a dealer stamping a book but only doing half of the work.

A good inspection is the only real way to access it condition.

I worked for a major service department years ago it had 5 pits operating all day every day plus another 10 service bays also operating all day every day to give you an idea of the size. I came across a situation where the owner was going off their head about our workman ship. He was completely correct. The tech in question couldnt remove the oil filter so they cleaned it and washed down the engine and just changed to oil. Obviously the owner was well familiar with their car.
The tech owned up to this error in judgement.

The bike I inspected had a distinct cold start rattle like the big ends were thumping. This bike was with a complete service hisyory by the same dealer. It could be owner abuse on their riding style who knows.

Imho each bike has to be viewed on its own merits and fully inspected.
By the way, how many of us inspect the integrity of the air box drain tube? Better go check eh?
Just what I found on a couple of candiate bikes.

No doubt there is some dodgy dealers out there. I'm sure most of us have some story to tell.
Just saying even private sellers who claim to have done the work themselves may not be entirely truthful either.

yes, absolutely.
the bike I just bought, found the air filter contained what looked like a victa's  grass catcher
no matter how hard you look, if you are OCD like me you will always find something wrong.

All valid points.
Add another, If you have a budget stick to it.
Funnily enough I am looking at purchasing a new car, my budget is 20000 for a late model commodore VF or Camry Altise with no more than 50000klm on the clock. If I am lucky enough to find the one and the price is right, if I can't negotiate down to 20000 I walk away. I have enough experience to know there will always be another "the one" soon enough.
PS I am in Nth QLD and we tend to pay a bit more for stuff up here due to lack of competition I think.

All good advice Ironman.  

I can't say as I followed any of it when I bought my '07 1250s.  I just bought it.  

It was standing there, not a mark to be seen.  The price was on the sign. It was a fair price and well under what I had been looking at on other similar bikes that had NO options fitted and many more kays.  This had ….. and he went on and on, giving his reasons for selling it (he was 72, only used it to go to the island once a year with his son) He was over motorcycling. Just wanted it gone. I knew what I wanted and was happy with the price.  

He started it, asked if I wanted to go for a ride.  "Nup, lets just do the deal" (Shocked look) I'd had hours on them in the months before.  This was a good'n - 10K, over serviced, Tyres with 4 km on them, current RWC.  I just moved the money and went and got it 3 days later after the money had cleared. 

Too easy.  The "I know where you live" principle works well in small country towns.  Not that there was any doubt about it. 

I wish all motorcycle deals were as simple.  This deal was about as risk free as ever there could be.  I won't haggle as a matter of principle.  As it was, he was saving me thousands and lots of time.  

I'm a bit fussy when it comes to maintenance - everything spent (apart from fuel) gets logged.  A school exercise book is a good thing - staple in receipts, running history of anything that goes wrong, and what was done to put it right.  The Bandit has very few entries - Rad-Guard screen, Auto-oiler, engine bars, touring pegs, oil/filter changes.  Dream run. 

The book is a quick reference for when someone needs to remember little things like the wattage of a globe, valve clearances filter #, which oil (I'm not that absent minded but have 4 vehicles and a heap of small engines around here). 

there are a few details that can go in the front of the book to save digging for the owners manual again.  The book for the SRX reads like a novel - a sad one.  The book for the Bandit is a short fairy tale.  Books like this have another purpose, that is, should I ever sell, I can easily determine "what it owes me" if that is a factor, and usually it is not.  It's all there.