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Selling Your Bike? Watch Out for This Classic Test-Ride Scam

There are only two reasons you are allowed to sell your motorcycle - get a better one or pay medical bills for a family member. Either the case, motorcycle thefts are on the rise, so when it’s time to part with it, make sure you outsmart any potential scammer.
Ducati 899 Panigale ad 1 photo
Photo: screenshot from YouTube
For some reason, it appears there are still people out there falling for the oldest trick in the “industry”. And that is lending your motorcycle for a test ride to a complete stranger without any assurance, as this Australian man recently did and lost his beautiful Ducati 899 Panigale

So, you posted your motorcycle up for sale on some websites and the next day some potential client says he wants to come and take a look at it. You arrange an hour and meet the person who looks interested in your machine and claims to have enough cash to buy it. But he or she wants a test ride first to see if it fits him or has any running issues.

The potential buyer arrived by car, and he’ll say he will leave it in your driveway to assure you he will come back with your motorcycle and will complete his purchase if everything is OK with the bike. He might even leave you the keys to the car to make everything look legit.

All sounds good, and you accept the test ride option so you hand over the keys and watch the guy leave and disappear in the horizon. One hour later you get nervous and call the guy only to find out his phone is off and while you’re fidgeting around inside, you also notice the car is gone.

You call the police, and they tell the man scammed you for good, his ID is fake, the car was probably stolen or had stolen number plates, the keys were just some blanks, and you are basically f*****. Moreover, the insurance company won’t cover your loss since you gave the keys to the thief and isn’t considered legitimate burglary.

So, next time you plan selling your motorcycle on your own, don’t handle the keys to the potential buyer under no other pretext than giving you the cash you asked for.

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