Mudah : A Lemon Purchase @ Aprilia RS250

A fellow biker, Hafi (IIRC), brought his newly-bought 2007-registered Aprilia RS250 to Az's workshop for a quotation. It had a nice no. plate Wxx 3663 and nice decals plastered all over the bike. Poor Hafi had been pushing the bike for the last km or so, as it had died on him while on the road to the workshop. As we asked further, it seemed that this was the 3rd time it had happened to him in his short ownership of the bike.

I thought I recognized the bike from a Mudah advert and asked him if it was the same 3663 that was advertised, and he confirmed accordingly. 

I had earlier been interested in the same bike- attracted by its nice decals and advert that read, "Aprilia RS250 to letgo. Weekend motorbike. Condition...no problem....just start and vrooommm.... Location : Rawang/Kota Damansara (Zali)". The seller advertised the bike for RM14,000 and was willing to negotiate downwards. I contacted the seller but steered away as I felt that he was not very forthright with the questions that I posed. 

"There would be other fish in the sea", I thought to myself then.

Anyway, Hafi bought the bike for RM13,000 and was told that it was in good condition. There was a problem with starting the bike but the seller convinced him that it was a small problem.

It wasn't, and Hafi ended up pushing a bike that went dead suddenly on the road, three times including today's experience.
 

The bike couldn't be started while at Az's workshop, which Az felt was not good news as the ignition may needed to be changed at a substantial cost. The rear suspension was a goner and needed to be re-built at the same RM450 that Silver went through. The rev throttle was tight, which the seller informed Hafi was typical of RS250. But Az told Hafi to try the throttle on the many RS250 in the workshop and none was in that condition. The brake level was broken, and the fairings had some broken points- indicating that the bike had crashed or fallen on its right side, which could have affected the handle and throttle.

All in all, the bike was in a sorry state and much moolahs would be necessary to have it done up to be road-worthy again. 

 
Buying a used bike depends much on the buyer's luck and the seller's honesty and attitude in maintaining the bike. As Hafi found out today, he's gotten a lemon and he had to now bear the hefty repair bills. Or he could just repair it slightly to be able to start, and then sell it off to get a better RS250 that actually works. But the next buyer would then face what he faced. Ouch.

Ouch... Good luck, Hafi!