Does an Australian enquiry scare you people?

[Patriot]

I haven't seen this thread till now, so I didn't vote, but I wouldn't have with the choices you provided. You just didn't give enough information, and you didn't have a reply I'd have chosen, like "I'd see what the guy is all about, and consider his offer." They were all either "Sure, no problem," or "No freaking way" choices.
Did you make an offer to buy the bike for a specific amount? Did you say you'd be arriving with cash, and how soon you'd be arriving? Anybody would be an ***** not to sell a bike, or at least talk to you, under those conditions, wherever the buyer lived. Or did you just pose a theoretical question about possibly selling to an Australian without a definite plan laid out? It sounds like it would present complications that a sale to a local buyer wouldn't--delays in particular--so why bother? As somebody said, there are lots of buyers here, so why should I enter into a much more complicated deal instead. You'd have to make it easy for the guy to decide to sell to you, IMO. If I was looking for a bike from a guy here in Sacramento, I wouldn't expect him to be very excited if I emailed him and said I'd like to maybe buy the bike "sometime." On the other hand, a reply to an email is pretty painless, even a polite "no, thanks."

If you sent him something like this, it might be a much easier transaction for him to agree to: "Dear seller guy, I live in Australia. I'll be in your city in XX days and I'm interested in your bike. I'll have cash with me. I'd like to see it, and if it's as you describe it, I'll take it (or would you take XXX dollars less?). Here's my telephone number."

That gives me something I can work with, at least. If I'm interested, I can call you, or we can exchange emails. I might agree to hold it for your inspection for a few days, especially with a good faith deposit from you by Pay Pal. After all, I'm advertising the bike for sale and somebody could be walking up my sidewalk right now with cash in hand. It's "first cash gets the bike" as a rule, at least here in the US, where we don't ever trust anybody, and especially foreigners. (Except, of course, for the several forum members who've already offered to help, the big suckers.)

as stated in the OP's post:

So, I have spotted numerous worthy FJRs on Craigslist....and have sent several emails to the owners...but no response

the problem is the free email sent to a seller and never a response of another free email (unlike phone calls for instance)

it's an invitation for a negotiation...or at least a, "hi, my name is Joe and I'd rather sell only to USA residents"

shouldn't matter what the email says as an inquiry

now is that just bad luck, or is it related to Steve being a buyer living overseas ???

 

[RadioHowie]

now is that just bad luck, or is it related to Steve being a buyer living overseas ???

I think the answer is much more simple.

The forum's greatest exposure to Oz-ians has been through Thug.

Can you possibly imagine an Australian-based FJR community who has only an inkling of Americans from Bustanut postings?

Any more questions?

:assassin: :blum:

We :wub: you, Thug!

 

[user 213]

Too many scams on CL already. Cash buyer? You show up in person with the cash, that's a cash buyer here. Anything else is suspect. We can't meet at your bank and do the transaction. It takes weeks for a certified check to clear. Weeks of waiting when we could possibly have sold the bike to a local buyer and been done with it.

The other issues are that we don't sell to other countries on a regular basis. You can't register Canadian bikes in the US w/o a big hassle, cars not at all unless they are 25 years old, for example.

If you buy the bike, and don't transfer the title, the seller gets a phone call if it's involved in an accident, towed, crime, etc. In many states, even a notarized bill of sale won't convince the Dept. of Motor Vehicles. If we're the last registered owner, it's our bike. Most states require title transfer within 30 days or you're subject to fines or increased fees when you do transfer the title.

I don't even know what process you would go through to register and insure a bike here, not having citizenship or residency here. Might be no problem at all, or impossible in any real legal sense.

 

[FJR Steve]

Guys,

Sincerely, many thanks for the replies. I am not even going to look at the poll results any more. Your responses have given me a very clear indication as to where I stand. :clapping:

With the last email to the Louisiana owner, I never indicated that I was from Australia, or that it was my intention to use the bike as holiday transport. There was a seller in SF a couple of months ago who had a sweet 08 model, and we had communicated quite well (via email), and he was genuinely interested in closing the deal. Only problem was, that my organic speed limiter had yet to provide a definitive and absolute "yes" to the whole idea. While I was waiting for her seal of approval....the bike was sold. Never mind.

In this latest instance, I guess I got a bit "pissed off", because there was no response to my email. The text of the email was this:

Hi XXXXXXX,
I saw your ad on craigslist.com, selling the 2008 FJR. Could you please advise how many miles the bike has done? Have any of the factory recalls been completed? If so, which ones? Does the bike have a service record/history? Are you the first owner? Was it purchased locally? Any other details you can help me with?

Many thanks, and merry Christmas,

Steve XXXXXX

I thought it was a reasonable opening communiqué.
I realise that I did not articulate myself well in the opening post and the poll. But I was miffed when I checked on the craigslist.com link for the bike, to find that it had been removed. I never considered all the why's and wherefore's that all of you have put forward here in this forum. I have done my research, and I can own a USA bike, garaged in the USA. Insurance will/should be a no-brainer, and transfer of ownership taxes and charges would have/will be undertaken by myself and an intermediary. At this point, I'd just like to say thanks to ScooterG, Patriot and all others who have offered advice, assistance and friendship to us, while I try and put together a 'battle plan' that will see this "bucket list" item come to fruition.

In summary....I felt a bit cheated that I had not even scored the courtesy of a response, but now realise that my expectations have been somewhat high, and I should continue fine tuning the big things....and not let the little items distract me.

I am still determined to achieve this, and will continue with the plans. And, if any of you have ideas, suggestions etc for places to go, where/where not to stay, roads that are a must do or must avoid, we'd be most appreciative. And....suggested times of the year to travel (given that there are so many variances, depending on which sector we choose to tour). The plan will be to do about 3 or 4, (21 - 28 day) visits. Maybe tour the NE section, then next time do the central area, then maybe the West Coast (not necessarily in that order...but you get an idea of what we would like to achieve each visit).

I will post a more detailed thread shortly. In the meantime...many many thanks for your generous offers, your advice, and most of all...just reading this and therefore, living the dream with us. :drinks:

Thanks guys, your comments have cleared the matter up perfectly. :wub:

 

[wheatonFJR]

Aussie?

[SIZE=36pt]SCARY!!![/SIZE]

 

[zip]

Steve, just dropped you a PM. I'd consider selling my bike if we could come to the right arrangement. I've been strongly considering moving to an AE anyhow for ease of use in commuting into Boston.

My bike has a +4,+2 Cee Bailey's, and I'm awaiting the arrival of a brand new Russell Day-long any day now.

Let me know if you're seriously interested.

Barry

 

[RsvlFeej]

The text of the email was this:

Hi XXXXXXX,
I saw your ad on craigslist.com, selling the 2008 FJR. Could you please advise how many miles the bike has done? Have any of the factory recalls been completed? If so, which ones? Does the bike have a service record/history? Are you the first owner? Was it purchased locally? Any other details you can help me with?

Many thanks, and merry Christmas,

Steve XXXXXX

I thought it was a reasonable opening communiqué.

Steve,

I figured out your problem

You're communicating in the "Queen's English" and not in American English - I would flag this as Nigerian scam immediately, and not read past the 2nd sentence.

"Could you please advise how many miles the bike has done?" = Aussie-speak for "How many miles on the bike?"

The rest of the e-mail wouldn't raise any red flags.

Good Luck,

RsvlFeej

 

[Checkswrecks]

I just sold a kit airplane to a guy in South Africa. Thanks to the weak US$, foreign buyers are buying small airplanes right and left in the US, having them put in containers for shipment, and STILL paying less than they might at home!!!

The key is up-front specifying who is going to do what. The process we wrote out was that I gave him the bank routing and account numbers from a bank account that I opened just for this transaction. He got nothing more than would've been on a check, if I'd written one to him. He used those to do an electronic transfer and I pdf'd him a receipt. He also paid a recognized airplane shipper to come and get the plane AFTER my bank assured me that the money could not be taken back and AFTER I'd moved the money out of the dummy account.

The risk was really on his part, that I was going to send what I'd advertised, and that's why it's so important for the buyer to have somebody who can check things out. In that, if I can check on a bike in the DC area, pm me.

Besides, if you as the buyer try to screw somebody, we could send one of our lovable Aussie forum members, like Thug, to break your legs. B)

Checks

 

[Thug]

Cheeky buggers! :blush2:

 

[FJR Steve]

Thug don't scare me.

much

 

[Bounce]

I sold a tank bag and some other stuff to an Aussie. I felt for him when we worked up shipping costs.

I'd approach it like any other remote transaction. Cash up front. If a personal check or bank draft/money order, I'd make sure there was plenty of time for the deposit to clear and the bank to certify that my deposit was to remain in my account (no bogus issues) before delivering the item. I would NOT give my personal banking info out. I would NOT front them the items while the deposit was clearing. If they were unhappy with the conditions, then I would apologize and move on to a local sale. It may not be their fault that such conditions of trust exist but that's the way things are.

If the sale is really important to me, then I would set up an escrow account (not the buyer) and include the costs of that into the sale price of the bike.

 

[big ears]

27 viewed....1 voted.
Guess that says it all.

I still got mine. I haven't been trying to sell it. Will probably list it in the spring or when it warms up down here which is about March. Its in perfect shape. Never been in rain except one light cloudburst for about two miles. Kept covered in a garage. Has over three years of yes left.

 

[user 213]

I figured out your problem
You're communicating in the "Queen's English" and not in American English - I would flag this as Nigerian scam immediately, and not read past the 2nd sentence.

"Could you please advise how many miles the bike has done?" = Aussie-speak for "How many miles on the bike?"

The rest of the e-mail wouldn't raise any red flags.

+1 on this. The other flag is the first sentence, unless the ad had an email address in it. If you're responding to the ad with the anonymous link provided, there is no need to specify what you're responding to, or where you saw it. Doing so says that you're not familiar with CL, and suggests scammer.

Sadly, a lot of CL sellers are flaky and leave the ad up after the sale, then don't respond to inquiries, but it does remind them to pull the ad.

 

[mtnhigh]

Greg,

Aside from the ones in this thread, there are hundreds of good people on the FJR assistance list, who may be willing to offer help, including myself.

Requires signing onto the list yourself, but the rewards could be well worth it when traveling across country(ies).

As far as paymants from abroad, paypal is your friend. Takes out the whole check cashing scare. But, from members here I would have no problems with checks. But that's just me.

If you need any assistance in Northern Virginia give me a shout.

Chris

 

[Tenchi]

I know Steve. He's cool. Steve, if you want someone to transport your bike from point A to B... *tries unsuccessfully to hide a look of glee*

*votes Where the bloody hell is Australia* It's right next to Zambia, in Europe right?

 

[FJR Steve]

I know Steve. He's cool. Steve, if you want someone to transport your bike from point A to B... *tries unsuccessfully to hide a look of glee*
*votes Where the bloody hell is Australia* It's right next to Zambia, in Europe right?

Thanks Chris....how are you? How's the Micro-blob business going? You running the show or what? Trevor said he needs more Call Of Duty genre games for the XBox...come on mate, pull your finger out!!!!! Write more code.
Seriously....I clean forgot about you being there. Now this may change everything. Still in Redmond, Washington? And I think it's time I got your Dad to dust that Honda off a bit.

I'll be in touch soon buddy. Happy New Year.

Oh....and no...not next to Zambia...we're that little country in Europe, with the Alpenhorns and stuff.

 

[dustyrains]

Story goes like this....
Could be coming to the USA for a number of bike related touring holidays. I want to purchase an FJR and have it garaged in the USA while waiting for my wife and I to return (annually...or twice a year).

So, I have spotted numerous worthy FJRs on Craigslist....and have sent several emails to the owners...but no response. The latest one (was in Louisiana) was an absolute ripper...but like the crap fisherman I am...he got away.

Oh...and I will be a cash buyer.

For Patriot:

Mike...I'm thinking it may be better if I find something I like...that maybe you send the "initial" enquiry on my behalf. Just thinking....you know?

I have noticed that Americans are quite leery if they receive inquiries from people overseas. This is my personal experience though. Even having a potential seller on the phone and explain that I'd be sending the money and he can send the stuff as soon as he has the money, I got: "I'm not sure if I want to sell to someone in Europe" which usually gets an internal (non-verbal) WTF?

Living somewhere else than the US or having an accent can be a scary thing. :blink:

It says right at the top of the Craigslist pages to only do business with local people. People have been scared off doing business long distance on CL due to the many scams perpetrated. So when a legit deal comes up, it just makes it harder to get it done.

 

[highcountry]

Steve, there has been so much scamming on CL that Americans are very wary of out-of-state buyers and especially international buyers. CL is really a local, come and see kind of bulletin board. That said, I sold my Honda Sabre to a fine Canadian gentlemen who was coming to Denver on a business trip and the state of the American dollar is such that it was favorable for him to buy a bike here.

You might want to explore finding a FJR listed on eBay by a dealer.

 

[FJR Steve]

Cheers guys.

I have (now) reviewed the links on CL and I can understand the concerns that any seller would have. Also....I can see how my approach could be viewed as *scammer alert*.

I have had some awesome offers of assistance (Thanks Patriot, zip and others), but having just realised (doh...how stupid am I) that young Tenchi is up in Seattle....I can see some action happening.

Chris (Tenchi)...how do you feel about scoping out some deals for us? Might even try and talk your mum & dad into coming over. Reckon he would do that?

 

[Thug]

Sometimes you just have too trust your instincts.

If the buyer is upfront, a deal is made and the funds are cleared so what's the problem??? None ....It's not rocket science folks?