Selling your used motorcycle, from the ad to the handover

Wash it, charge the battery and fix the cheap things: a blown bulb, the tyre pressures, a dry chain. A clean bike that starts first time sells faster.

Gather both keys, the manual, the service book and the invoices. They are what convinces a buyer the bike was looked after.

• Shoot in daylight, in the shade, against a tidy background.
• Both sides, the front and the back, the dash with the mileage, the tyres and the extras.
• Show the scratches and the knocks: whoever comes to see it already knows what to expect, and you don't lose an afternoon.

Look for bikes like yours: the same make and model, a similar year and mileage. Price it in line with them and leave room to negotiate. A price well above sits for months; well below, it draws suspicion.

• The right make, model, year and mileage. If the bike is in your Motoland garage, the ad comes filled in.
• The service book: the services you logged show on the ad, and nothing reassures a buyer more.
• Say why you're selling, what was changed and the extras that go with it. If it suits an A2 licence, say so: it's a filter many buyers use.

Reply through Motoland's chat, where the conversation is kept. Be wary of these signs:

• Someone who wants to pay without seeing the bike, or to have it collected by a courier.
• Someone who sends a transfer receipt and asks for the bike before the money arrives.
• Someone who asks for bank codes or sends a link for you to “receive” the payment.

Show the bike in daylight, somewhere busy, and with someone else if you can. Before a test ride, ask to see the riding licence and check that your insurance covers another rider.

• Hand over the bike, the keys and the documents only once the money is in your account. Check it in your bank's app, not on the receipt you're shown: a fake looks just like a real one.
• An instant transfer arrives in seconds: arrange it for the moment of the handover.
• Whoever receives money never needs to go to a Multibanco machine or give codes. If you are asked to, it's a scam.
• Whoever receives money never needs to go to a cash machine or give codes. If you are asked to, it's a scam.
• On MB WAY, the person paying you sends the money. If you get a money request, you would be the one paying.
• In payment apps, the person paying you sends the money. If you get a money request, you would be the one paying.

On the day of the handover, write a sale receipt with the date, the plate and both your names and addresses, signed by you both, and keep a copy. It proves the bike is no longer yours. The insurance doesn't go with the bike: cancel it or move it to your next one.