Hey everyone...
I'm looking at a Tenere in Germany on the net. The bike looks good. The price is right. The dealer seems reputable. Would you buy the bike without having test driven it? It goes against my upbringing, but it seems with all the bikes that sell on EBay and the net, that it's becoming more common.
Any advice? Should I go for it, or hold off until I can go and see a bike for myself (and possibly pass up a gem - or get screwed)???

Buying from a dealer is alot more safe than buying privately.

I buy and sell a lot of bikes on Ebay. I have traveled many mile to see a "Mechanically perfect bike" only to find out it should of been left in the canal it was dragged out of.

It's always going to be a risk but the alternative is waiting until something closer to home becomes available and its at the right price... You can wait forever though !

I'm going to pick a bike up 200 miles away on Sunday and I can only judge it by pictures and talking to the seller. I won't know until I've got there (and spent £100 doing so)...

I'm sure you will have a warranty in Germany. You should test ride it there and they "should" put any issues right before you leave. Contact the dealer and be VERY precise about what you expect !

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www.touringted.com

I bought my xt on Fleabay from a private seller. Luckily an xt is robust and simple/cheap to fix so if you're ok with the spanners then could be a good purchase - but i'd steer clear of anything fragile/rare. Good luck.

When I went in for my Derbi Terra, and found it a little too large for my neads (oh what a mistake, I should have widened the gate...) I asked if they had same brand/designer but a little smaller. The dealer showed me a Derbi Cross City leant against a wall, with no engine. I spend 3 seconds looking at it from accross the....I think we were in a celler for some reason....and said "Il take one".

I almost bought a Hercules Military (the bike not the plane) from Germany with Photo refs. Risk vs. reward. Turns out I didnt have any money though.

If I was you Id buy it, and if its a heap of crap you can come and beat me up.
Hope that helps with the decision making.

Hmmm... I guess it really depends how much I want the bike... there are now 3 Teneres that I'd like to look at. The low milleage one (under 25000) is at the forefront. I'll contact the dealers and see what kind of warranty they offer. Then I'll send a deposit if need be... better to lose a couple hundred Euro than thousand.
Thanks for the advice.

Having sold my BMW last week I went back to the UK and bought myself an Enfield.. Would not part with cash until I had seen it, heard it and preferably rode it. Even though it is a low mileage bike..Some owners like to fiddle about. So far all indications are good I did use my credit card to pay for it as if it turns out to have been mis described I would then have an alternative means of getting recompense. Ferry costs were about £300. plus nearly a 1000 nmiles return journey with my little car towing a trailer.

I'd say no, unless it's new.

If you really want, put a holding deposit on it until you see it. Then choose to take the bike or walk away with a small loss.

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http://www.mongolbikers.com

I've bought 5 bikes off eBay - most recently an ST1100 2 weeks ago. What I do is bid on them, fly out to pick them up and if it is not what I expected when I get there - i.e. it isn't as described - I simply tell the seller their ad did not correctly describe the condition of the vehicle and they have therefore broken the contract.

Only once did I have to do this - on a GL1500 around 4 years ago. He wasn't happy but understood and accepted my position. He did refuse to give me a lift back to town though and I ended up walking 4km to the nearest bus stop. Still it was better than buying a dud that wasn't what it was made out to be.

Garry from Oz.