How to know if the motorcycle has been abused

[elus1ve]

Hi there,
I bought my 2007 Fz6 about two weeks ago. It had 60,000 Km on the counter and the left side had a fair amount of scratches. Since this is my first motorcycle, I didn't mind if the aesthetic was not perfect and the seller dropped the price accordingly.

However now that I have been doing work on the bike, I am having this suspicion that the bike has been abused. What I am afraid is that the engine or the mechanic have not been maintained properly. I am going to do a full suite of maintenance routine on the bike, but I was wondering if you guys could give me some sure signs I should look for to know if the bike has been abused or not.

Thanks

 

[zackattack784]

Just the scratches alone tell me the previous owner didn't take very good care of the bike. If they don't even care about the visible parts of the bike, what makes you think they care about the stuff they can't see (oil, coolant, brake fluid, proper winter storage, etc.)? 60,000km is a lot of miles imo. There are so many bikes out there with low mileage (less than 16k km) that I would never consider a bike with that kind of mileage. Chances are the spark plugs were never replaced and valves were never adjusted.

 

[Nappa]

What is it that makes you think it might be abused - other than the scratches?
Does it seem to run OK?

 

[chomorro]

Just the scratches alone tell me the previous owner didn't take very good care of the bike. If they don't even care about the visible parts of the bike, what makes you think they care about the stuff they can't see (oil, coolant, brake fluid, proper winter storage, etc.)? 60,000km is a lot of miles imo. There are so many bikes out there with low mileage (less than 16k km) that I would never consider a bike with that kind of mileage. Chances are the spark plugs were never replaced and valves were never adjusted.

Not necessarily. I bought my FZ with lots of scratches and missing bolts and rusted peices. But the engine and chain were very well taken care of. Coolant was clean, new plugs, new tires, ran like a champ. The guy lived on the beach and just got tired of cleaning the bike up, so just made sure all maintenance was kept up.

 

[elus1ve]

What is it that makes you think it might be abused - other than the scratches?
Does it seem to run OK?

- There are spiders in every nook and crannies where I have looked. Really, they are everywhere. Under the tank, in the fairings, fuse box, even inside the throttle control box on the handle. I am thinking that it must have been a long time since the last maintenance for that many spiders to have wind up in the motorcycle. And the spiders all seem to have been fossilized.
- Front wheel was not aligned with the handle bar. I fixed it myself recently. That doesn't take much to do if you care a minimum about what you are riding.
- Various light bulbs were out. Again, basic maintenance.
- The thing was just really dirty too when I got it.
- And a big one, the left slider was 'used up' / 'eaten' by a good 2 cms. It was when I received a replacement slider did I notice that an undamaged slider was supposed to be much longer.

However, the bike does seem to run ok, that's why I got it anyway. The engine, gears, suspensions responded fine when tested and still does now.

I am just wondering if I missed something important / and whether I should go do a full maintenance and change the spark plugs etc.

 

[Nappa]

I would say that if you don't know the history, you'll never know the condition of things until you replace them - like oil, filters, plugs. Better to just do it and know that it's been done.

 

[tanman]

I bought my fz6 with 2,300 miles on it so basically new. I only have the bike so it's used day in day out, sun shine and snow (sometimes) without fail. It's now coming up 25,000 miles in just under 2 years. I've done all maintenance bang on time and it's mechanically sound touch wood. But it's been down twice so has a few scratches and a small dent in the tank. It's also got plenty of spiders living in it and a lot of fastenings are nice and crusty and rusty. But it still gets washed and cleaned and loved. It's still maintained well but it's used year round so it's to be expected really. I would have a look at the oil if it's not been changed by yourself recently and check for metallic bits. Check the filter and plugs and if you want to get them replaced give it some tlc and stalk eBay for replacement bits for those scratched bits. But if it's your first big bike like mine is it way well be dropped again anyway. I don't think you can tell if a bike has been abused if it
Looks well used but it could well be. Just my opinion, though

 

[ChevyFazer]

- There are spiders in every nook and crannies where I have looked. Really, they are everywhere. Under the tank, in the fairings, fuse box, even inside the throttle control box on the handle. I am thinking that it must have been a long time since the last maintenance for that many spiders to have wind up in the motorcycle. And the spiders all seem to have been fossilized.
- Front wheel was not aligned with the handle bar. I fixed it myself recently. That doesn't take much to do if you care a minimum about what you are riding.
- Various light bulbs were out. Again, basic maintenance.
- The thing was just really dirty too when I got it.
- And a big one, the left slider was 'used up' / 'eaten' by a good 2 cms. It was when I received a replacement slider did I notice that an undamaged slider was supposed to be much longer.

However, the bike does seem to run ok, that's why I got it anyway. The engine, gears, suspensions responded fine when tested and still does now.

I am just wondering if I missed something important / and whether I should go do a full maintenance and change the spark plugs etc.

From what you are describing it sounds like the bike sat for a while, especially if your finding spiders. It's possible that after the slider was used it scared the PO and he parked it for a while. As long as it runs fine you should be alright, these bikes are remarkably resilient and really do have a bullet proof engine.

 

[elus1ve]

Thanks for your input guys. I am going to assume that the most important parts which are the frame and the engine are fine. So I won't worry too much about it.

Will replace a few things such as filters, spark plugs and then follow the maintenance routine from zero.

ChevyFazer, you might be right. The battery was also almost dead when I got it.

 

[FinalImpact]

A couple of things:
1) your gonna have very hard time determining if a bike was rode hard. Oil pushed out of the crank case breather is one tip and a bike with 2000 miles on it AND bald high mileage tires are the other. Beyond that, the ECM doesn't track how many times it bounced off the rev limiter. :thumbdown:

2) neglect - that you can see. Spiders, bugs, rust, pitted forks or rear shock slide, rodents in the air-box etc. Rust pooring out bolts and mating surfaces, grease slung everywhere and never cleaned.

3) damage - a crash. Just because a bike went down doesn't mean the owner DGAF <think about that (Doesn't Give A F. . .). It just mean they chose not to fix as cost per benefit.

One thing I might recommend if someone has doubts is to remove the oil filter and open it up. What's inside may shed some light on the health of the engine and trans. . .

 

[elus1ve]

A couple of things:
1) your gonna have very hard time determining if a bike was rode hard. Oil pushed out of the crank case breather is one tip and a bike with 2000 miles on it AND bald high mileage tires are the other. Beyond that, the ECM doesn't track how many times it bounced off the rev limiter. :thumbdown:

2) neglect - that you can see. Spiders, bugs, rust, pitted forks or rear shock slide, rodents in the air-box etc. Rust pooring out bolts and mating surfaces, grease slung everywhere and never cleaned.

3) damage - a crash. Just because a bike went down doesn't mean the owner DGAF <think about that (Doesn't Give A F. . .). It just mean they chose not to fix as cost per benefit.

One thing I might recommend if someone has doubts is to remove the oil filter and open it up. What's inside may shed some light on the health of the engine and trans. . .

1,2,3 are all possible. I will try opening the oil filter. Any idea what I should be looking for in the oil filter. Other than oil that is.