Signs of bike being dropped

Motorcycling
1

I am looking at a reasonably nice example of gixer thou K4 and have some doubts. It is not a private sale, ti’s a dealer, but…

The price is at the low end of whatever I see on the web, and it has done only 4k miles. It may need some bits and bobs done (like bleeding the brakes because the front brake fluid is on low, etc), but what concerns me most is whether this bike has been heavily dropped. It had two owners. For some reason it has Renthal grips, not the original ones, mirror housing is a bit chipped, but apart from that I cannot see any significant damage.

I looked at it generally but would like to ask what do you usually look at/for to assert that the bike hasn’t been dropped? Maybe there are some particular weaknesses of the K4 model I should be aware of?

2

New grips don’t necessarily mean anything. A lot of people add tacky bits to their bikes because they believe it makes the bike look better, despite the majority of the world disagreeing with them! :slight_smile:

I would check these personally:

  • Bottom of fork legs for marks.
  • Bottom of swingarm for marks (excluding where it may have been jacked up onto a stand repeatedly).
  • Top of forks around the clamps for slicing marks (hard to see without loosening them off, which you can’t do!).
  • Repainted engine covers.
  • Check the tail is straight and in-line with the bike, subframes can bend in a drop.

Sometimes there’s innocent damage though like scuffed crash-bungs where the bike’s been brushed up against a wall or something whilst parking, or if the bike’s fallen over whilst stand-still (not a crash or anything to worry about, we all do it at one point or another!).

Ultimately, you need to see if the bike’s straight, i.e. inline and handles as it should. And considering bike’s don’t stand up on their own without the aid of a stand, I’d say there’s a good chance most second-hand bikes have been “dropped” at one point or another, whether stationary or otherwise, so I personally wouldn’t worry about it too much, but that’s just me.

BTW, the K5 is a much nicer option if you can stretch to it.

3

Hey, less of the ‘tacky bits’, the Renthal grips are top quality kit :wink:

Another thing to check is the lock stops on the front of the frame, they tend to get damaged in offs as well.