Trading Motorcycles

Sometimes, especially if you have a motorcycle that’s considered cool by a large number of people, someone will offer to trade bikes with you for a bit. Should you agree? That depends. Here’s some things that you should consider before agreeing to trade.

 

1. Do you know this person?

 

2. If you don’t know them, have they demonstrated somehow that they’re an experienced rider?

 

3. What is the motorcycle that you’re getting in the trade?

 

4. How long will the trade last and how far does this person plan to go?

 

If you know the person, this tends to be an easy decision. If one of my riding buddies asks to trade bikes for a bit, I’ll tend to agree. I’ll already know the answers to the other questions. I will say no if I know that my bike is a little too powerful for them or if they have a bike that’s worth a fortune (I’d hate to be responsible for wrecking a bike that’s worth more than my house).

 

If you've just met this person, at least have a conversation with them. Unless you’re dealing with a sociopath, you can tell fairly quick if a person is experienced with motorcycles. This is also where you’ll get the answer to question 3. If your motorcycles are the same type (say you both have sport bikes or cruisers) chances are that a trade will be pretty safe.

 

The last question is no brainer. If a guy asks to trade bikes for a week, you might want to ask where he’s going. If he says he plans on riding across the country and back while you’re staying home, I’d definitely advise to say no to the trade. At the end of the day, a lot of this depends on how you feel about letting others use your stuff. I tend to lean towards being happy to share, while my wife tends to be a little leery of letting others use something that belongs to her. This ends up working well for us, as we will reel each other in when we’re erring to far one way or the other. If you’re on the fence, ask yourself the four questions above and you should get the right answer.

 

“When Donald Duck traded his wings for arms, was he trading up or trading down?” - Douglas Coupland