You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
My mate in Leeds is selling a 125cc motorbike. He's just had a call from a bloke in north London interested in buying the bike.
He seems happy with the bike and is proposing to travel up on Saturday to collect the bike - he'll be paying cash.
It just seems a little odd that's he's travelling such a long way to buy, what is, a common make/model of motorbike.
The risk is the cash is dud and by the time that is known, the bike is long gone. But that could be the case if it was someone local buying...
Are we right to be a tad concerned?
I travelled from Prestwick to York to buy a van, and to Durham to buy a road bike. I'm not dodgy, really.
My sister travelled from Surrey to Newcastle to buy a car.
It could be that the saving on price between Leeds and London is worth the travel. Also, given the volume of nicked bikes in London, the buyer might be avoiding ringers.
What bike is it?
have a mate there, check the cash, if he gets shirty about it send him packing, he's spent the money getting up there.
My dad travelled from central scotland to Newcastle to buy a bike, it's not unusual the great prophet Tom Jones once said
I bought a 125 from a lad in saaaaaarf London, unseen, cos I'm up in Durham and hate the M25. I PPed him the wedge and booked a courier to collect the bike for me. People do odd things for stuff they want.
You should be OK. We have done it with a few cars. Did a 500 mile round trip this year to buy a S Works Stumpjumper frame which was cash only
Meet him at a bank, ask the bank to check the cash.
Meet him at a bank, ask the bank to check the cash.
This. Check the cash by paying it in to your mate's account
You could argue that a scammer wouldn't bother travelling too far in case they get rumbled and it is a wasted journey.
You'll also have their name and address (for the logbook) and a telephone number in case it does turn out to be dodgy.
As others have said, I have driven silly distances for cars, motorbikes and bikes in the past. Sometimes I'll use it as an excuse to visit family or a friend in the area or on route.
My brother in law travelled from Aberdeen to Cheshire for a motorbike. Admittedly there’s a lot less choice in Aberdeen than London. I’d do the pay the cash into a bank or post office and then be happy with it thing.
I know someone that flew to Belfast and drove back to Southampton for a shed of a £800 car.
My friend sold a spares/repairs motorbike to a chap that came from Poland. Turns out he comes with a big van and collects about 10 bikes and heads to Poland weekly.
People do all sorts for what they want. There's no risk if they are comming to him and he can quickly check the money. Just make sure he's got someone with him.
I bought a van in Fife.
I live in Milton Keynes.
I flew up to Edinburgh and drove it back.
I looked for the right van for months, and this was what I was looking for, I could by a transit anywhere in the UK, but I was tired of looking at high mileage builders vans or Amazon delivery hacks with mileage to the moon and back.
My mate just bought a scooter in York and rode it back in that high wind! I did offer to pick it up.
Sometimes its the best way.
Just check the cash, not everyone is dishonest, but it doesn't hurt to be cautious.
I'm thinking of buying a proper square Land Rover in Johannesburg where they don't salt the roads and shipping it back in an empty container.
What 125? There’s a lot of Choice down here but there is also a price premium. And most are dealer or trader bought. We sold our YZF R125 to a lovely lady, gave her training on how to ride it and stored it for a couple of weeks until she was confident to ride it away.
I prefer bank transfer, but check the cash. It’s a long way to go for a scam. He’s not asking for a courier collection by a mate.
I travelled form Surrey to Stratford upon Avon for a car being sold by aain dealer recently. Nothing special but was a lot cheaper than the local prices round here so easily worth a day of time and travel costs
It sounds like more of a positive if the buyer is travelling as they are likely to be genuine.
A mate recently sold his BMW M5 and as he could face tyre kickers, test pilots and potential thieves he took a hit on the price and sold it to we buy any car.
I’m thinking of buying a proper square Land Rover in Johannesburg where they don’t salt the roads and shipping it back in an empty container.
Mate of mine imports old vw campers for that very reason, does very well at out of it too.
Thanks for the replies all. It's a Yamaha 125, but as suggested he may be able to save some cash by buying further afield.
Sounds like we're right to be wary but no need to suspect anything massively untoward at this point.
Thanks once again for the advice, appreciated.