Buying Used Motorcycle Parts From a Breaker

When a part has been discontinued, a breaker is often the only place left. You are buying the correct original component at a fraction of the price, which is the good news. The bad news is that you are buying something with an unknown history from a photograph.

I am a time served maintenance engineer and a biker, not a dealer, so this is written from the buying side of the counter. Search every breaker’s stock at once by searching used motorcycle parts on eBay, since most of the established yards list their inventory there.

The three kinds of yard

They are not all the same operation and they suit different jobs.

• The dismantler. Buys damaged and end-of-life bikes, strips them, catalogues the parts and sells them. Parts are cleaned and usually tested. Most also list on eBay, which is how you find them without ringing round.
• The self-service yard. You pay a small admission, walk in with your own tools and remove the part yourself. Cheapest by a distance. You need to know what you are doing and you need to bring the right spanners.
• The parts-matching network. You post what you need and affiliated yards come back to you. Useful for something obscure, less useful when you want a price in the next ten minutes.

One thing to check first: a legitimate dismantler is an Authorised Treatment Facility, which is a licensing category rather than a marketing claim. It means the site is regulated for depollution and disposal. It is a reasonable proxy for whether you are dealing with a business or a shed.

What I buy used and what I never do

The questions to ask before you pay

A good yard will answer all of these without hesitating. A bad one will get vague, and that is your answer.

• What was the donor bike, and what year? Model name alone is not enough, because of mid-year changes.
• Was it tested, and how? “Off a running bike” and “looks fine” are different statements.
• What mileage was on the donor? Relevant for anything mechanical, irrelevant for a bracket.
• Why was the bike broken? A theft recovery, an insurance write-off and an engine failure produce very different parts. A front-end impact means you think hard about anything forward of the headstock.
• What is the guarantee and what does it cover? Thirty days on an electrical part is meaningful. Thirty days on a fairing panel is decoration.
• Can I have the part number? If they can read it off the part, you can verify it fits your frame number before committing.

Reading a used listing properly

• Count the photographs. One photograph of the good side is a decision to only show you the good side.
• Look at the background. An organised, labelled shelf tells you something about how the part has been stored. A pallet in the mud tells you something too.
• Read the returns policy before the description. It tells you how confident the seller is.
• Treat “untested” as “faulty”. Price it as though it does not work, and be pleased if it does.
• Be wary of a part with no marks at all on a fifteen-year-old bike. Either it has been refinished, which is fine if declared, or it is not what it says it is.

Stolen parts, and how to stay clear

This is the part nobody enjoys writing, but the market for used bike parts is exactly where stolen machines end up.

• Buy from businesses, not from a car park. A licensed yard has records and a reason to keep them.
• Be suspicious of a complete set from one bike at a very low price, sold privately and in a hurry.
• Frame and engine numbers should never be ground off or defaced. Walk away, immediately.
• Keep your receipt. If a part is later identified as stolen, being able to show where you bought it matters.

What used parts are actually worth

There is no fixed rate, and anybody quoting you a percentage is guessing. What I use as a sense check:

• If the part is still available new, used should be a large enough saving to justify the risk. A small discount on a part you can buy new is not worth taking on an unknown history.
• If the part is discontinued, the used price is the price. There is no comparison to make, and a working example is worth what somebody will pay.
• Factor in the postage. Bodywork is bulky and fragile, and the carriage on a fairing panel can exceed the part.

Common questions

Will a breaker fit the part for me?
Generally not. They dismantle rather than assemble. Some have a workshop, most do not.

Can I return a used part that does not fit?
Depends entirely on the seller. Buying through a marketplace with a returns policy gives you a route that a phone call to a yard does not.

Is a used genuine part better than a new pattern part?
For anything that does not wear, usually yes. A used genuine casting is the correct part at a sensible price. For anything that wears or seals, buy new.

How do I know the part fits my exact bike?
Get the part number from the seller and check it against your frame number rather than your model name.

What if the yard is at the other end of the country?
Most of the established ones list on eBay and post nationally, so distance matters less than it used to. It also puts a protection scheme between you and a part you cannot inspect.

Where this site fits

The parts search on this site runs an eBay search filtered to motorcycle parts and set to sellers worldwide, which covers the breakers’ own listings alongside everything else. Set the condition filter to used and you are searching most of the country’s dismantlers at once.

Get the part number rather than the model name before you start, and if it is a Japanese machine with a genuinely dead part, Japan is often still holding stock.

If you buy something after searching here I earn a small commission from eBay. It costs you nothing extra and it does not change what you are shown.

Search used motorcycle parts on eBay