Alright, let’s talk about selling my old bike fast. Needed the cash, honestly, and didn’t wanna wait months for it to finally disappear. Here’s exactly how I went from “should I sell?” to money in hand real quick.
Step 1: Getting It Ready (Cleaning Like Mad)
First things first, that bike looked rough. Dusty, had some grime, maybe a bug cemetery on the windshield. So, I dragged out the hose, grabbed my bucket and soap – nothing fancy, just car wash stuff. Sprayed it down, scrubbed the body panels real good, tackled the wheels with an old toothbrush (gross, but effective!). Dried it all off with some rags. Took some tar remover to a couple sticky spots too. Made sure the chain wasn’t looking like one giant rusty clump – quick clean and lube. It didn’t need to be perfect, but gotta make it look like it wasn’t totally abandoned, ya know?
Step 2: Taking Pictures That Didn’t Suck
Sunny day is your friend here. Parked it on my driveway, made sure the background wasn’t full of junk piles or my neighbor’s gnarly garbage cans. Wiped it down one more time. Snapped pics from every angle: front, back, both sides, close up on the odometer, and the engine. Even took a shot of the title lying on the seat, proving I actually own it. Tried to show everything clearly, warts and all – little scratch on the tank? Better show it now than have the buyer yell at me later. Took more than I thought I needed.
Step 3: Writing the Ad & Picking Sites
Okay, time to describe it. Started simple: Year, Make, Model, Mileage, that’s gotta be right up top in BOLD LETTERS. Then just wrote it like I was talking to someone:
- “Runs good, starts up every time, just changed oil.”
- “New battery put in last spring.”
- “Minor scuffs here and there (see pics!), but overall solid.”
- “Need it gone ASAP, price is OBO!”
Set the price a bit higher than my bottom line, left room for them to haggle. Figured out what similar bikes were listed for and priced it slightly under hoping to get more interest quick. Put it up on just one or two local selling apps – the ones people around here actually use, not a million places. Didn’t wanna get buried or deal with too many scammers. Made the ad live around 7 PM on a weeknight, heard that’s when people browse.
Step 4: Dealing with Buyers (The Flood & The Filter)
First few hours? Ding ding ding ding… phone almost exploded! Mostly “Is this still available?” One-word wonders. Replied fast to anyone who seemed like they actually read the ad. Started asking basic questions back:
- “When do you wanna see it?”
- “Cash okay?”
This scared off the totally unserious ones real quick. Anybody asking weird payment stuff got ignored instantly. Set up meets for the weekend. Made them come to ME in the day time, parking lot near my house felt safe enough. Had two guys show up on Saturday. First guy looked it over good, kicked the tires (annoying!), asked the usual stuff. He offered way low, like joke low. Said “Nah, can’t do that.” Second guy seemed more legit, knew a bit about bikes. Took it for a quick spin up the street, came back happy. Said, “Would you take [price about halfway between my ask and the super lowball]?” We haggled a tiny bit more, settled on a number I could stomach to just end it. He pulled out cash.
Step 5: The Handoff & Paperwork Mess
Cash felt damn good, but gotta be careful. Counted it right there in front of him. Twice. Signed the back of my title – over to him. Made him sign it too. Wrote out a stupid simple bill of sale:
- “I sell [My Name] a [Year Make Model], VIN #, to [His Name] for $[Amount] on [Date].”
- Both signed that.
Made two copies, one for each of us. Took my license plate off – kept it! Showed him where the kill switch was one last time. Shook hands. Handed over the keys. Watched him ride off. Went back home and filled out the DMV online form that I sold it right away, so I’m not responsible for any tickets he racks up. Felt relieved!
Whole thing? Start to finish? Maybe 5 days. Wasn’t fancy, wasn’t perfect, but it worked. Cleared some space and got some cash. Worth the hassle for a quick sell!
