good thread bro, alls good, i might add some little things, if you walk up to the bike and the back tire is roasted , good indication of a burnout queen--this is hard on all the components and is a pretty good indicator that bike was ragged out. now i know guys that love to smoke it up and they will be the first ones to tell you its bad for the bike.not that tires cant be replaced, but just an indicator. also the above mentioned storage, i hate to see sun-bleached plastic,another bad sign that they didnt care enough to even throw a cover on it. another good one is IMO stock bikes are great, as in the fact that it has not been molested by a bike butcher...not sayin this is always true as ive bought both kinds. these are not bible quotes , just things i try to look for as well as every thing in the starter thread. just throwin it out there that if the price is rite , im willin to fix anything, as ive bought a few cbrs not running for a steal, but peeps level of skill should factor that in.peace

 

Another thing to look for is to unscrew the oilcap on the engine while it's running and put a piece of paper on the opening. You should see the paper vibrating up and down but never go in or get blown out. If it starts going in that means the bike's gonna eat up oil. If it gets blown out that means burnt fuel gases going in the engine and bad compression. Both are pretty bad cases which means that engine has to get oppened to fix.. if possible. Not really worth it and a dealbreaker for me personally.

Good thread by the way! Keep it up!

 

When i bought my first bike years ago my boss went with me, and gave me some great pointers i still use today, besides the forementioned, Check to see if the bar ends are solid, the inner weights can break in a drop(mine did). Check bar ends, pegs even that little acorn nut on the bottom of the pegs for damage, its easy to make a bike look like it hasnt been dropped but alot of the little details people miss. If its been modified how does it look, my brother just bought a 1000RR that the undertail looks like it was hit with a sawzall with a dull blade and a shaky hand. If they half assed simple stuff theres a chance they half assed the maint. and other work as well. Ask them to take it for a ride while you watch(especially good for those no rides types) see if they are shady about riding it and how they ride it.

 

Check the front fender for tire scuffs. Try to compress the front forks a couple times then check for fluid on the forks. If there is, the bike has prolly been wheelied a lot (or the dude really doesn't know how to ride). And that'll mean you might have some fork work to do.