Once again, e-bay to the rescue.

Bought a couple bikes from a local shop to flip. He's a good guy, gave me a really great deal on a few of 'em. One of those bikes was a 1978 KZ 650, had 19k on it. It was a little rough but for 30 years old it wasn't bad, i rode it around quite a bit and it was a nice comfortable ride. had some speed on it also.

Guy emails me, wants the bike. asks some questions, i'm completely honest about what it is and how it runs. he wants to ride it from my place, toledo, to his in cinci. i tell him its 30 years old, i'd run it but i'm not going to promise you it'll make it. the auction was pick up only too by the way.

he can't get a ride in form his friends, so i go pick him up at the bus station. unload his bike from the back of my truck. start it for him, show him everything on it. i even put a new rear tire on there for him, no charge. i ask him if he's satisfied, tell him he's welcome to ride it around if he wants. he says no, i'm good to go sign the bill of sale and i'll be on my way. so i do, he hands me a money order, i point him to the highway and he's off.

he send me an email later, tells me he just got home. bike blew up around exit 118. oil all over the back tire, says he popped a head gasket. rode the bike to the next exit and then it quit on him.

he send me this today,

When I saw that you had not put the title in your name, I almost backed out of the deal. Then, when you told me how long you had owned the bike, about a week and a half, I should have caught the next bus back down to cincinnati, but I did not trust my instinct. I believe that you had the bike long enough to run a compression check on the bike, determine that there were serious problems, like maybe holes in the number 2 and 4 pistons, and then sell the bike as quickly as you could. All I can say is that I hope that your motorcycle riding days this year are full of crashes, broken bones, and fractured skulls. I hope that your bike catches on fire with you riding it and renders you sterile for life. You are truly a piece of shit, and its deals like this that will come back to haunt you.

Sincerely, Griffin Thompson

heres the listing: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120231782441

heres what i sent him back,

Dear gat9622,

Actually, none of that is correct. I bought the bike from Metric and Domestic cycle in toledo, ohio off Airport Hwy from a friend of mine who works there, his name is Brad. He took the bike in on trade from a woman and I bought it along with a Honda magna c30 two days later. i wanted to restore the kz and sell the magna to my dad. i sold the magna and my gf was PISSED i bought another bike, so i put it up on ebay. When i bought it from metric, to save me money on the taxes they gave me the title from the previous owner that was ready to be transferred. Since i wasn't going to keep the bike anymore, i figured i'd pass that on to whoever bought it from me. i am not a mechanic, i didn't do a compression check on the bike. he started it for me, i rode it around the parking lot and bought it. when i got it home i rode it some more and it seemed in very good shape to me, a lot better than some of the older bikes i've restored. i wouldn't have sold it if there was something wrong with it. if it would have had a problem while you were still local i would have gladly taken it back and paid for your bus ticket home, but since it happened a ways away i don't know how fast you were riding it or what happened. if you popped the head gasket while you were headed south it could cause problems internally if there is no oil, like on the 2 and 4 pistons. i did not, have never, and would never sell a bike that had problems to someone without clearly stating so in the ad itself. its 30 years old. i'm sorry it did not make it home for you as i thought it would, but i definately did not try to screw you in any way.

Nick

:drinkbud

The guy gambled and lost. Now he wants to blame you?

What an ass-gasket.

It's a $850, 30 year old bike. He got what he paid for.

I just had something bad happen to me on ebay, but not nearly that bad. I won some lift coils on ebay around Feb. 25th. I paid seller right after the auction through paypal. Some time went by, and I sent him a polite message stating I was checking in to see if coils had been shipped, and that I wasn't upset, just wanted an update. He sends me a message back stating that his wife didn't get them shipped out and that he would refund me or get them sent out, but either way "he would make it happen". So at first I just wanted money back and to just be done with this, but said I still wanted the coils (4" lift coils for 35 bucks shipped, can't pass that up). So he said they would be shipped out. Some more time went by and I send him another message asking him the same thing, did they get shipped out; still polite and not harsh at all. He states that the shipping is more now than what he quoted me and doesn't want to mess with shipping them and know's he can't ask me for more shipping money. He basically states he isn't going to ship them out. So I say fine, just send me a money order, not hard feelings, and I don't want paypal payment back because then Ii'm looseing money because you have to pay for those transactions. So he says he'll mail it out. I wait a little bit and send him a message asking if he got the money order shipped out since I hadn't heard back from him...nothing. Then I wait almost another week and send another one stating I was going to contact paypal because he didn't send coils or refund me, and mainly because he hadn't communicated well to me what was happening and I have been burned before. I also state I am giving him negative feedback because I never recieved item and have yet to recieve my refund. Now he sends me a couple mean messages back stating that the negative feedback was uncalled for and that mine was coming. Mine is coming for what? Because I waited over a month and still haven't gotten anything? Because I did the communicating and not him? Man, I wish people could treat others with respect.

its 30 years old, i'd run it but i'm not going to promise you it'll make it.
You told that dusch bag. He took the chance. F#*k him!!!

He took a chance and lost...tough shit

it's just sour grapes. the guy is a piece of chit for trying to turn this around on you. i'm not saying i'd be happy if it were me, but i would NOT blame the seller under those circumstances.

imo, you were more than gracious in your reply. don't give it a second thought.

Tell him you hired a witch doctor to cast an evil spell on him and that all the terrible things he wished on you will now happen to him. :toothless

Bike wouldn't have run good with holes in the pistons. It ran lean for some reason and burnt the pistons while he was driving it. Shouldn't have drove a 30 year old bike that distance with out refreshing it.

That happened to me when I sold my bronco.

Buddy drove here with his buddy, had $2500 in cash. after I wouldn't go under $2200 he said he didn't come to not go home with a truck. So I said "well I wouldn't drive it away, but I will replace the U-joint so you can." He said fine, deal was done; He went to get the paperwork sorted, I replaced the Ujoint, checked the oil and cleaned all the garbage out, and loaded all my spare parts and cleaned the windsheild.

While I'm filling out the papers with the buyer, buddy takes it for a drive behind my house, asks about tranny "Grinding" (First gear had a bit of a whine to it, I've been told its because first is not synchro'd.) and I answer. Everyone is happy with the transaction, papers are signed, money is in my hand, I wave them off and go to work.

A week later He phones me telling me he got VI'd and there were $700 in repairs that needed to be done, and if I did not buy it back immedatly he would take me to court. I told him to **** his hat, because he was a dink about it. he shows up at my house about a week later, truck all fixed up, and we talk. I agree to pay for the front brakes ONLY, because the rotors broke into two pieces (each) and I felt bad for letting him drive it away.

Not to say it is your fault but why would you put this: no warranties expressed or implied but i wouldn't hesitate to drive it cross country. in your listing not knowing the whole background about the bike?

Not to say it is your fault but why would you put this: in your listing not knowing the whole background about the bike?


i took it out around the country roads up around 50mph and then took it on the highway, cruised for about 10 miles up around 70 and went home. i would have attempted the same drive, and i wouldn't have thought twice about making an even longer drive in the condition it was in when it was here.

everything that was obvious i checked and was solid, no problems. i wasn't going to pull it apart before i sold it, just trust that the motor was solid internally. i think thats what everyone does when they buy something new to them, take a risk on the internals of the motor, tranny, etc. if i were to buy your truck and fry the motor running it wide open for a couple hours, that'd be my problem i would think for beating on it, not yours.

the holes in the piston weren't like that up here, at least not that i'm aware of. the plugs were perfect, wasn't running lean. and it had a very solid amount of power considering what it was. the kz 650 is an oil cooled bike, no radiator fluid. if he popped the head and continue to run it for a couple miles at even close to highway speeds all the time losing oil, he probably fried 'em himself. i don't know, thats what i told him...

This is actually an old scam. Do some searching and you will find that your story is very similar to quite a few other complaints.