Condition Grade Sheet

Unit

Fifteen to twenty minutes, alone, in this order. Write every finding as a dollar figure, not an impression. Header warm on arrival: come back, or price the worst plausible cold-start fault.

The twelve-station walk

• 1. HANDS ON THE CASES. Palm on the engine cases and the header before anything else. It must be cold.
• 2. COLD START AND IDLE. You start it. Count the crank, watch the first ten seconds of exhaust, listen against the platform.
• 3. VIN, TITLE, KEYS. Frame stamping, frame sticker and the title all agree. Both keys. Photograph all three.
• 4. WHEELS AND TIRES. Both sides: tread, date codes, wear pattern. A plug is a replacement, not a repair.
• 5. BRAKES. Pad material, rotor scoring against the stamped minimum thickness, fluid colour, caliper faces.
• 6. FINAL DRIVE. Chain and sprockets, belt and pulleys, or shaft housing and seal — checked to spec, not by feel.
• 7. FRONT END. Fork seals, stanchion pitting, steering head, equal tube exposure above the top clamp, bar and lever tells.
• 8. REAR END. Shock body, linkage and swingarm bearing play, subframe and mounts. Cycle air or electronic suspension and check for settle.
• 9. ENGINE, FLUIDS, LEAKS. On the stand, on the ground, from underneath. Records against the valve interval and service calendar.
• 10. ELECTRICAL AND CHARGING. Meter it: 12.6V static, 13.8-14.5V at 3,000 rpm. Under the seat and behind the headstock for taps and splices.
• 11. BODYWORK, CRASH TELLS, CORROSION. Inside the fairings and the bags. All eight crash tells. Read the climate it lived in.
• 12. THE STEP BACK. Fifteen feet, a slow circle, then the modifications conversation.

Completed by   Date

Recon, line-itemed as you find it

Deal-breakers — any one ends the appraisal. Write down which.

• Altered, mismatched, or unreadable VIN
• Any branded title — salvage, rebuilt, reconstructed, flood, theft recovery, lemon-law buyback, junk
• Title not in the seller's name, or open with the buyer field blank
• An undocumented lien
• Frame or subframe damage, including re-welded or straightened
• A hacked main harness, especially on a CANbus unit
• Flood evidence — silt in the airbox, waterline in the cluster, rust inside the top of the tank
• A non-runner the seller cannot explain, or an engine apart with no records

A deal-breaker is not a negotiating position and not a discount schedule. Read the item off the list, say the appraisal is over, and leave.

Condition tier — check one, before you price

• EXCELLENT. No defect at five feet. Tires over 70%, codes under 3 years. Records current. No crash tells. OEM accessories, clean cold start. Recon under $400.
• GOOD. Defects at arm's length, not at five feet. Tires over 40%, codes under five years. One deferred service, no structural damage. Recon $400-$1,000.
• FAIR. Defects at five feet. Tires due now. Two or more deferred services. Repaired non-structural crash history. Recon $1,000-$2,000. In season only.
• POOR. Structural, unverifiable, or both. Recon over $2,000 or unknown. Not retailed — buy only at a wholesale number with the exit named.

The grade, and the three defects that set it

Recon standards

The grade and the three defects go into the appraisal log (APR-01). The recon total is the input to the worksheet (APR-02) — reconcile any disagreement with your manager at the unit, not by splitting the difference.