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I thought I'd write a thread on how to get a bike from the auction floor all the way to on the road and licenced.
Last August I was seriously looking to buy a Dirt/Adventure bike, I've already got a TE510 but it's not really suitable for the long haul. So I was scouting around the auction yards, looking on line, checking out the Quokka. There was some bikes coming up in the Manheim Fowles Repairable Write off Auction so I figured I'd go have a look.
The inspection came and went so I missed that, anyhow arrived on the Tuesday got the gist of how they run their auction, when and how to inspect the bikes, what all the strange terminology they use in the auction means and how many people are chasing what types of bikes. I stayed for the entire auction and found it really good to note all the prices paid and what I guesstimated as the selling price. So I thought I'll come to the next one seriously looking to get something.
The next Auction came up, in the listing there were a couple of bikes that I thought would be worth looking at. Since I know the dirt bikes well I didn’t look up any of the dirt bikes to check whether they were lemons or not. There was a KTM superduke that I thought would be worth looking at. Take note of if the bike is a statutory write off as these can't be relicensed, but the Repairable ones can.
On the Inspection day get there early as there is most likely a bloke roving around starting all the bikes and making sure they run, I can't stress enough how important this is, to hear the bike running. Apart from that have a detailed look over all the bikes your interested in and take photos of it from many angles so you can refer to them late at home. Also take not of the damage the bike has taken, everything from bikes torn in half, to stuff that has just been low sided so for sale and you will need to know how much it could cost to repair. Try and gauge how many people are interested in the bike, if there is a swarm of people hovering over it, probably not worth spending much time on it as it could well sell for more than it's worth. Take extra details like VIN numbers and KM's, if you’re not mechanically competent bring someone who is and get them to look over it with you.
Once you have inspected your bike/s and are in the comfort of your home. Establish whether the bike (that particular model) is any good. Knowing the dirt bikes for me is no problem but the road bikes I know bugger all about. I scouted around the forums and on the general internet, I didn't find anything that shouted "LEMON". Check the service intervals to make sure you don’t buy something you don’t like.
Next needed was a reasonable price for the bike/s considering KM's and age. So I had collected about 6 weeks worth of Quokka, looked through them and found the dirt bikes but no superdukes... Next best is Redbook.com so I priced it up, something 2 years old was looking like 13-17 thousand private sale. This will give you a bench price to work from.
Once you have a reasonable price you need to subtract the cost of repairs, this will be a bit of guess work as you need to assess what needs to actually be repaired to get the bike licenced. You need to keep in mind if the auction is inclusive or exclusive of GST, and what the auction houses fees are. Once you have taken the repairs, fees and possible GST the answer will tell you what you might be prepared to pay in the auction. Now is a good time to figure out how to get any bike/s you buy home.
On the Auction day bring the prices you have formulated, grab a catalogue and copy your prices over. You need to bring photo ID to register for the auction and it costs a token sum like 2 or 5 dollars. Take your opportunity to have one last look over the bike. Feel free to revise your price downwards, one of the worst things you can do is revise it upwards. Emotion and crown mentality can take over and you might end up paying way too much for the bike. Look at your catalogue and note when the bikes your interested in will be on the floor.
As for the actual bidding I found the Manheim’s guys don’t like people who drag their bids out and will happily drop the hammer on an item to keep the whole auction flowing. Quick bidding shows real interest in the item and will flush out your competition pretty quickly as well as keeping any internet bidders on the back foot. Just be certain you keep an eye on your max price and don’t be afraid to let a good bike go as there will be another one.
Once you have won your bid/s bugger off and arrange payment and transport to get it home.
You need to pay a deposit on the day and have the bike gone within two days or you start paying storage fees which are pretty steep.
From home there are currently two places you can get these motorcycles inspected. I dealt with Southern River Motorcycles (SRM) as they are close ish and were the first mob I rang. Firstly get it inspected, and they will fail it automatically, but then they can tell you what needs fixing and what the insurance assessor reported the damage as. My bike proved to be quite interesting as the thing had clearly been flipped over, but was reported as hail damage. While I can’t remember their names, the husband and wife team that run SRM deserve a big thank you for getting the thing ironed out with the Transport department.
With your list you can go about getting parts and repairs done. Make sure you keep your receipts for all the parts you replace as you need them when you get the second inspection. Now there are somethings like mine you find are damaged but don't need replacing. My muffler had taken a fair beating but at $5200 to replace I can happily repair it myself and live with it looking a bit rough, other things like scratches on the tank I just ignore.
Next time it gets inspected for free as you already paid your fee the first time around. As long as you have fixed the items that are listed on the WOVR form then it’s an easy inspection, they sight your receipts, take the bike for a short test ride and then your written off status is removed from the bike.
From here it’s as easy as getting the bike licensed. Make a booking at any of the licensing centres that deal with written off vehicles. Firstly you get it road worthy inspected and then go and get it licensed, be prepared to cough over your money for stamp duty and there the bike is yours and licensed
Here is the extent of the damage that need fixing to get the WOVR status removed.
The rear subframe was also twisted off centre by about 5-10 mm so I straightned it out too. Reasonably easy, just removed all the stuff from the rear of the bike, plastics, muffler and wheel arch. Then got it with a real crowbar and straightned it back.
Additional damage that needed fixing.
Finished.
The cost??? Note this is a GST inclusive auction with GST inclused in the knockdown price also with "admin" fee added which is Manheim's Profit.
Plus things I had to get
Foot rest $67
Start Stop switch $95
Rear Light $171
Mirrors and mounts $150
$80 worth of movement permits.
$420 worth of stamp duty and licensing.
$60 for Pit inspection
$99 for Southern River Motorcycles inspection
Plus another 600 in radiator guard, crash knobs and clutch and alternator covers.
Looking foward to the rest of my gear arriving and getting out there for some rides.
Cam
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Originally Posted by Helipos 
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