He must remember me, let me know either here or via personal message.

Maybe someone from Germany can explain to them and then it will be OK.

I am willing to disclose any personal information and identification to convince that I am not trying to scam anyone.

Regards,
Evros

Evros ist ein sehr netter Kerl.

Solche Unterstellungen hat er wahrlich nicht verdient!

Erstaunlich sind aber Verkäufer, die sich nicht melden!

If you try a bit harder you can possibly talk or post a TR1 from germany to cyprus. Otherwise you have to take the money, travel to popeye and buy the bike from him. The first generation TR1 is nicer than the second gen with the fast plastic back and if popeyes bike has the needed technical modifications it will be a good choice. So if you really want a TR1, go and buy it.

Quote:

This process works as follows: Sit down at the kitchen table, sign a buying contract, pay the bike with real money, receive the papers and keys, go home with the bike.

Klar, es steht auch jedem frei, sich anständig zu verhalten oder auch nicht.

Beides hat Konsequenzen.

Hi all,

dear Evros, I understand you are looking for a bike that gives you kind of a "love at first sight" feeling. (This was at least what I hoped to feel when I started to look for interesting old motorbikes and beginning to build up my little private classic bike collection.) Furthermore, your favorite model is a 2nd generation TR1. And therefore, a 1st gen bike most probably won't be able to give you the "Yes, I want it" feeling. I appreciate your interest and sympathy for the TR1 bike. And I believe you: To me, you seem to be seriously interested in buying such a bike. So you will organize everything around the deal in a way that is absolutely fair and okay for the seller. This is why I would like to support you if I can.

So, first of all, let me report you some of my experiences when establishing my little classic bike collection and buying old motorbikes from far away.

I live in the northern part of Germany (near to Hamburg). In 2016, I bought a Yamaha XS 850 bike via Ebay. The seller was located in the southern part of Germany (Bavaria, 650 km away from my home). On Ebay, the bike had been described by the seller as "in fine condition, perfectly running and very reliable" with a full technical service "shortly ago". And the photos looked fine to me, too: The bavarian collector owned not only the Yamaha triple, but also about seven other fine looking dream bikes of the 70ies and 80ies - plus a convertible sports car (Alfa Romeo). So, to me all that looked as if I could be confident: "He is a reliable guy. He has enough money and technical knowledge to maintain his bikes properly, and has in fact given them the total loving care that they need."

So, optimistic as I am, I went to Bavaria by train (one-way ticket) to get "my new and shiny bike" and ride it home proudly on a sunny spring sunday. But my journey ended early: After 60 kms only, the fine triple engine stopped running in an impressively dark bavarian forest. The battery had no juice anymore. The root cause of that was a heavily corroded/burnt connector between alternator and rectifier. Therefore, the bike was absolutely unable to charge the battery. I am completely sure that the seller knew about that issue before giving the bike to me, because the photos in his Ebay offer showed the XS 850 constantly connected to a battery charger. And of course, either the rest of the bike was not as good as the photos had made be believe: Dead battery, rust on frame tubes and battery fixation bracket, brake fluid color "something between brown and black" with some kind of thick "honey material" in the brake cylinders, rusty brake pistons - and so far and so on. No, this was not at all a "well serviced beauty".

I experienced the same before in 2015 when buying my green 1st gen TR1: The seller (located in Saxony-Anhalt, 350 km from my home) seemed to be a reliable guy. He honestly told me about the dead battery and the worn out steering head bearings. But after having taken the TR1 home by trailer, I found some more "hidden issues":

• carburetor and starter with broken cast housings, nevertheless remounted again by some ruthless person (not necessarily the seller)
  
• rust hole in the left muffler (The usual area, down at the front tip. Welded already, but broken again)
  
• electrics not working (cable harness modified in a dubious "DIY style", rear indicators and horn without function)
  
• and so on.
  

And 2018, when I bought a little 80 ccm two-stroke Honda MT8 in the Netherlands, it was the same experience again:

• seller was a collector and an expert for those little Honda bikes ("brommers", as they call them in the Netherlands)
  
• bike in original condition, looking absolutely fine on the photos, but...
  
• battery missing
  
• electrics completely without function, cable harness corroded
  
• broken spokes in rear wheel
  
• worn chainset
  
• old tires ("wood instead of rubber")
  
• speedo cable missing (-> mileage obviously not true)
  
• exhaust rusty and with some "creative drilling holes" in it
  
• some small parts missing.
  

Furthermore, when buying the little Honda in the Netherlands, I experienced similar issues to yours when contacting the seller:

• As I'm unfortunately not able to speak Dutch, I wrote him in English. (Which might have made me look as "some of those payment trick artists from Africa"...)
  
• In order to proof that I'm reliable, I offered him to send him half of the money in advance and paying the rest cash when visiting him to get the bike.
  
• Nevertheless (or maybe just because of my money offer), the seller was very cautious and skeptical: He obviously believed that I was in fact one of the usual spammers. It took me a lot of energy to convince him that I will really visit him to get the bike. (I wanted to avoid that he sells the bike to someone else in the meantime, so that I would make a 2 x 600 km Holland trip just for nothing.)
  

See part 2...