A number of different situations come to the fore here, the most distressing being that the bike wasn't in the condition that both the price and the sellers description had alluded to. It's sad that this kind of thing still goes on especially with 'top end' bikes like this. You'r more likely to expect this on a $1000 dunger but on an 8k classic, bought from a known enthusiast you'd expect more, a lot more.
With the dollar being an unprecedented high, more Aussies and Kiwis are looking to America and Europe to buy their dream bike. Both Alan Jones and I have being buying bikes from overseas for over ten years now and neither of us have had any major situations of being blatantly ripped off or receiving bikes that are less than the seller described. I guess it could be seen that we've been lucky and to be honest, there is a bit of luck involved, however I think that our 'luck' is more down to getting to know the seller as much as we can, and to examine the description and photos as closely as possible and remember that when you're spending serious money there's no such thing as a stupid question. In other words, we do our homework. Another thing that Ajay and I have done is to develop relationships with sellers and enthusiasts in the US, UK and even NZ. It's amazing how helpful these guys can be when it comes down to needing someone to inspect a bike or even to handle the occasional shipping or payment snafu. In the end though, we must still rely on trusting the seller and hope that we don't encounter one of those few sellers that take advantage of us being a big ocean away. Sadly Brad, you've been caught but eventually you'll get over it and the enjoyment you'll gain from owning and racing a genuine classic will overcome the disappointment.
