Motorcycles

A motorcycle that runs and one that has stopped:

the difference decides where each one goes. Anything that starts, rides and has its papers in order belongs in motorcycles for sale, from a city scooter to a touring bike. A non-runner is the harder call. Whole, as a project, it suits someone who wants the frame and the papers and has weekends to spare. Broken up, its tank, wheels, engine and panels go one at a time to riders hunting for exactly those pieces in motorcycle parts. A commuter with a bent frame and a healthy engine usually earns more in pieces, while a rare or big bike earns more whole, because its buyer wants the history along with it.

Electric scooters and the socket you will charge from:

work that out before you pick a model. A scooter with a fixed battery needs a socket within reach of its parking space, which rules out many tower car parks in El Cangrejo or Costa del Este. Lithium packs that lift out can go up in the lift and charge in the flat; heavy lead-acid packs stay on the bike and wear out much sooner. Brochure range is measured in eco mode on the flat, so expect less on a real commute, and the cheaper models are city machines that run out of breath on the highway. A basic electric city scooter starts around $1,000 new, and better-known brands such as NIU run from about $2,000 to $4,500. On a used one nearly all of the gap to new sits in the battery: a lithium scooter that still covers its owner’s daily trip keeps a good share of its price, while a lead-acid one from the same year has used up most of its pack.

Big bikes and maxiscooters bought for the open road:

Harley-Davidson tourers, BMW GS adventure bikes, Triumph Tigers and KTMs have a small following in Panama and far fewer workshops that know them, so how a big bike was looked after matters as much as what it is. Ask whether it was serviced by the brand’s workshop or by an independent mechanic who knows the model, and whether tyres and pads in the original sizes are easy to find. These bikes collect panniers, crash bars and louder exhausts; if parts were swapped, ask for the originals, because the next owner may want them back. Maxiscooters such as the BMW C 400 X sit in between, with an automatic’s ease and enough power to leave the city behind.

A used electric’s range and a big bike’s service book:

both tell you more than the paintwork. With an electric, ask the battery type and age, whether the original charger comes with it and what range the owner really gets. Then ride it from a full charge long enough to watch the gauge: one that drops quickly, or a scooter that slows on the first slope, has a tired pack, and a replacement battery should show the same capacity as the original. On a big bike, read the service book against the odometer, look for scuffs on the crash bars, mirror ends and pannier corners that show it has been down, and listen to it idle once warm.

Listing a big bike, an electric or a non-runner:

put the answers in the listing so a buyer can decide before making the trip. Give the year, engine size or motor power, the kilometres and recent replacements, and photograph both sides in daylight. For an electric, state the battery type, its age and the real range, and show the charger. For a non-runner, say plainly what is wrong and whether the papers are in your name, because a project without papers only sells for parts. For a big bike, photograph the service book, the spare key and any original parts. Someone who drives out to Coronado to see a GS will want to ride it loaded the way you rode it, so leave the panniers on.