You are looking for a cheap dirt bike for sale and you happen to notice the pricing on salvage title bikes at auction. Should you buy a salvage dirt bike at auction? If you are careful and patient you can find a pretty good off-road bike at a fraction of the cost of a used motorcycle. I’ve summarized some of the main challenges facing the buyer of a used bike and the advantages.
Off Road, Bikes Pose Certain Problems But Also Advantages!
Off-road motorcycle enthusiasts take their bikes through some pretty hard riding surfaces. That can wear out vital components – including frames, engines, and forks. Usually, it means a damaged bike ending up on the auction block or scrap heap.
However, there are situations where motorcycles suffer damages that are not necessarily fatal to the bike, but which pose a problem for the insurer. Bikes get stolen, only to be recovered by the police. Other motorcycles may suffer cosmetic damage, but dealers may charge a premium for the parts in question.
Insurance companies figure that high repair costs are simply not worth it and will write off the vehicle. To recoup the costs they will auction off the motorcycle. This happens all across the country and means that there a decent number of repairable bikes at any given time being auctioned off by large auction houses like salvage vehicle giant Copart. You can now bid on these vehicles through brokers like SalvageResellers.com without being a wholesaler.
Things To Do Before You Buy A Salvage Dirt Bike
In a nutshell:
1.prepare a fixed budget,
2. research the specific bikes being auctioned,
3. inspect the motorcycles you are most interested in buying.
Budget Your Salvage Dirt Bike Build
The rule of thumb is to look at what price the specific models of used dirt bikes you want to buy are going for at dealerships and in classified ads. Then, find out how much it will cost you to buy a salvage bike at auction. That cost includes your highest bid, auction fees, broker fees + transport. Finally, add what the parts to fix it would cost. Based on that estimate, if you are well short of the going rate for that used dirt bike you want, you have the makings of a good deal. But, if the bidding goes above your maximum affordable bid, stand down. It’s not worth it.
Always Research And Inspect Bikes You Want To Bid On At An Auction
Look up the VIN Number through a service like InstaVin. That should give you an idea of what happened to the motorcycle. Try to personally talk to someone at the auction house, so there is no problem with the title if you can’t get any information from the search. If the bike was stolen and recovered, there might be a police report.
Always try to see the bike in person. More importantly, always have it inspected by a mechanic. Even if you can’t get to it personally, hire one of the local mechanics who inspects vehicles for remote buyers. There is only so much you can see from pictures, and a trained eye on the spot is just what you need to make sure you get a good buy.
Get It Done!
At this point, the best thing you can do is start browsing bikes, like the ones you can find at SalvageBikesAuction.com. Not only you will find salvage dirt bikes being auctioned, but some sold outright, as well as