Selling a bike: A morals and ethics debate
 

So I've not been active on the form for quite a while. Long story short, medical issues have prevented me from being able to ride either of my motorcycles for the last 2 seasons. Tough decision, but I've decided to sell both of the bikes.

To make a long story short, a young man and his father came and wanted to buy my F4i. I didn't fully understand the situation until after they looked at the bike and made what was a very fair offer (just under my craigslist asking price and honestly exactly what I was hoping to get when I put that as the asking price) and the conversation turned to how they would get the bike home. Turns out the young man was "turning 18" and had never ridden a motorcycle or dirt bike. No MC license, never taken the rider course. Even more disturbing, the father (who I guess was funding this endeavor? Was just along to make sure the kid didn't get screwed over buying a bike with no title? ) had absolutely no experience with motorcycles. I asked the dad if he understood that this was a sport bike capable of going 150 mph, if the kid had a helmet, if he was planning on taking the rider course or if they even knew the process for getting a motorcycle license (I was left with the impression that they were totally unaware that there was a special license required for driving a motorcycle).

I explained that this really wasn't a beginner bike and that I wasn't comfortable selling it to someone who didn't even have a motorcycle license or any riding experience.

They left (angry) and I just wonder what other people think.

It's your bike friend, do what you want to with it. Personally I think you did the responsible thing. It's better to have a dad mad at you than possibly crying over his son while he is in the ER or in a casket.

I would have sold it to them. It's not really your place to decide what's best for them. Your responsibility lies with providing a sound machine and disclosure of any known mechanical issues.

Call them back and apologize, then take the money. Of course, refer him to our pages.....

Serious question, would you tell them they've got to come pick the bike up with a trailer because you're not going to teach them how to ride a bike in the driveway?

Nope. They will figure it out. Just get the cash in hand before anyone swings a leg over it.

If they are local and you feel like getting involved, you could ride it to their house and have them give you a ride back, or have someone else pick you up.

That's how I got my first bike home....

If this was an off road bike (and going to be used as one), even a powerful 450, I would have sold it no problem.
If it was my bike, I would not have sold it to these two. Innocent people could be effected by me wanting a sale and that's just not justifiable in my book.

Wes, you raise a salient point. If an inexperienced person buys an offroad bike, they pretty well are just going to hurt themselves. The same person on a street bike has the capacity to hurt others as well.

You have to do what you think is right.

I sold my 2003 ZX-636 to a complete novice. They asked very basic questions about the bike. It was obvious they had little or no riding experience. They bought the bike without riding it. I was a little uneasy about selling it to them, but they had cash and paid the asking price. He loaded it into the back of his pickup and drove away. I have no idea what happened to him or the bike after they drove away with it. I hope both survived the learning experience, but don't know.

When you say 'basic questions' do you mean like "where is the brake, where is the gas, where is the shifter?" They fully admitted that neither had ever operated a motorcycle, dirt bike, or moped of any sort (I didn't ask about a bicycle...:icon_rolleyes: )

I think for me it wasn't just that they were inexperienced, it was the attitude they had about it...

You did the right thing. Sucks to have a concience (sp) right? Ignorance is all to common nowadays. Sounds like those two were full of it.