Free checklist
What to check before you buy a used motorcycle
One page to take with you: the paperwork that decides whether the bike is even sellable, the cold start the seller would rather skip, and the mechanical checks worth doing in the ten minutes you have. Download the PDF in one click — free, no sign-up — or print it and fold it into your pocket.
Used motorcycle inspection
Revvo· getrevvo.app
- Make & model
- Year
- Mileage
- Asking price
Paperwork first
- Title is in the seller's name, spelled as on their ID (in most states)
- Title status: clean, or salvage / rebuilt — rebuilt cuts value and limits insurance
- No lienholder listed, or a signed lien release in hand
- VIN on the frame matches the title, digit by digit
- Odometer matches the mileage recorded on the title
- Run a VIN history report before any money changes hands
Cold start (insist on it)
- Engine stone cold on arrival — a warmed-up bike hides hard starting
- Watch the exhaust: blue smoke is oil, white is coolant
- Listen at idle for rattles, ticking or a knocking bottom end
- Look underneath for fresh drips after it has run
Frame, forks & wheels
- Frame straight, no ripples or cracked paint at the welds
- Fork seals dry — no oil film down the sliders
- Front wheel off the ground: no clunk in the steering head
- Rims true, no dents on the lips
- Tires: tread depth, date code, and a matched pair
Chain, brakes & controls
- Chain slack even through a full rotation; hooked sprocket teeth = new set
- Discs above the minimum thickness stamped on them
- Brake fluid clear, not dark or cloudy
- Throttle snaps back, levers and cables move freely
- Every light, both brake switches and the horn work
Walk away if
- The title isn't in the seller's name, or all they have is a bill of sale
- It's salvage or rebuilt and priced like a clean title
- The seller won't let you start it cold
- The VIN doesn't match, or looks tampered with
- There's frame damage of any kind
- There are no service records and the story keeps changing
Notes
Bought it? Start the history on day one
Enter the mileage and the date you picked it up, and Revvo tracks every service interval from there — reminding you before each one is due. In two years that record is what proves the bike was looked after. Offline, no account, free for your first bike.
You might also need
- Maintenance log (PDF)Printable sheet with reference intervals and a record for every job.
- Tyre pressure chart (PDF)Your own pressures for solo and two-up, ready for the garage wall.
- Winterisation checklist (PDF)Step by step through laying the bike up, so spring starts first time.
- Motorcycle MOTWhen your first MOT is due, what it costs and what's tested.