| Author | Message | ||
     Southsidebuellone |
Kelley says: Trade $3800. Retail $5510 NADA says: $3705 LOW, $4875 AVG. The bike: 2003 XB9SL. Black. Stock. not all debauched like I seen a lot of guys doing already. Just shy of 11,000 miles. Bought new in 2004 at slight discount. $9gr. for the 9 out the door." Not thinking that it would be worth half of what I paid out the door in less then 3 yrs. bogus bob | ||
| Xl1200r |
If you bought your bike with the intention of selling it, maybe you should have bought something esle, like a house. I kept my Sportster for 3 years. I paid $8700 for it brand new. Sold it for $6500 with $4500 worth of custom parts on it. I'm over it. | ||
| Mortarmanmike120 |
How much would you consider fair for a bike that cost 9K 4 years ago? 7K? 6K? Now compare the cost of a brand-spankin-new XB9 with warranty and several factory upgrades (shocks and belt come to mind) against an '03 model. Buy used. There are good bikes out there for a fraction of new cost. Either that or just figure depreciation into the cost of ownership. OR, just get your moneys worth out of it by riding the tar out of it until it dies. Then sell it as an antique. | ||
| 4cammer |
I bought my '07 XB9R knowing that if I sold it in 2-3 years I would lose my shorts. I also bought this bike pretty much convinced that I would never sell her. Go buy a 07 Ninja 600 and see what happens in 3-4 years. | ||
| Dongalonga |
I have had this conversation with my little lady and we both agree I am better off just buying another bike and keeping this onee as well when I am ready for something else. You will never get what you want for a bike you have grown attached to. | ||
| Barker |
I always buy used, less of a butt kicking on resale. Last bike i got $4500, XB9R w/ race kit 10kmiles Now it has 20k. I can still get about 4 out of it. Bike before that 02 M2 $3200. Fixed it up, put 400 more in it and put 8k miles on it and sold it for $4300! | ||
| Dongalonga |
I plan on looking for a used 12R once this one is paid off. After looking at price the last few months there really is no other way to go. I will have to wait for the Cherry Bomb crowd to rack up some seat time first though. | ||
| M_singer |
"Go buy a 07 Ninja 600 and see what happens in 3-4 years." Resales on jap sport bikes, that have not been trashed, are much better then on Buells. Buells generally interest more mature riders and there are plenty of clean used ones on the market. I recently bought a like new '05 XB12R with less then 4 k miles and some nice upgrades for $5400. I couldn't buy a Jap 600, that sold for a few grands less new, in the same condition for that money. IMO new Bulles are VERY poor value considering how much you can save on slightly used one. }}} | ||
| Metalstorm |
I've never thought of a motorcycle as an investment. I see it simply as the means to keep me sane & pleasant. That's something you just can't put a price on  | ||
| No_rice |
RESALE??? wouldnt that mean i'd have to want to sell it?! | ||
| Ekass13 |
What about the fact that when you buy new, you know everything about the bike. Thats peace of mind 4 me. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Resales on jap sport bikes, that have not been trashed, are much better then on Buells. A GSXR 1000, R1, etc. would be assumed to be "thrashed" at 11,000 miles. Last I checked little old ladies weren't riding them. They are higher than Buells, but ALL new to used bikes are going to lose a significant portion of their value. | ||
| Mortarmanmike120 |
you know everything about the bike. Thats peace of mind 4 me My peace of mind comes from tearing into a used bike, seeing if anything needs work and then realizing that I still have 4 grand in the bank. No debt and money in the bank is where I find peace of mind. | ||
| Rogue_biker |
I've owned many Japanese bikes and believe me, resale value on them varies greatly from model to model. Some models, like the Honda VFR tend to hold on to their values. But trust me, after 3-4 years and over 10k miles, they depreciate very, very quickly. It's not unusual for a $10k Japanese bike to have a value of 50% after a few years and over 10k mile on them. People in the US treat motorcycles as disposable toys. In addition, most buyers assume bikes won't last much past 50k miles. Plus, it is very easy to just buy a new one at an average price of $8k-$12k. Thus the used bike market is NEVER going to be a seller's market. The next time you attempt to sell your bike, don't think like a seller. Think like a buyer and ask yourself: how much would I pay for THIS bike? If you are honest, then you will understand where the prices are coming from. It has little to do with how good a motorcycle is either. | ||
| Ulendo |
dont forget to look at 'asking' vs 'going' prices. I'm in central BC, which is its own kind of bike mecca, and the used imports I see here can go for as little as 50% of the asking price ... I suspect most of the Buell crowd set the price something close to what they actually expect to get, but there just arent enough Buells here to get a clear picture of the used prices. **Kelly blue book, and others are WAY out to lunch compared to general used bike prices here btw. All twisty roads, and only the kids buy race replicas: 10,000 km ( 6000 miles) and up drops prices in the toilet. Somehting to consider when buying on Ebay, etc: where/how is it likely to have been used, and stored?!?! | ||
| Dance |
Prices, from what I see bikes actually selling for (Ebay, local sales, etc). Firebolts/Lightnings 2003 3500-4000 2004 4100-4700 2005 4800-5500 2006 5600-7000 Depends on mileage (over 10k price drops, less mileage gets better price), shape, etc. Also depends a lot on the buyer and how bad they want it. I see loads of all different kinds of bikes sitting for long periods of time as the owner prices them above what they are really worth. | ||
| Tx05xb12s |
I bought mine with the intention of keeping it from now on whether I'm riding it or have moved on to something else. I do intend to buy a newer one in a year or two, but my first road bike will always have a spot in my garage from now on for sentimental reasons. To me it's worth every penny I've spent on it. I would suggest that you either buy new and keep it a long, long time if you don't want to take a beating, or just buy used bikes and ride them a little while and then get another used bike. I don't know why you'd do that right now though, unless the one you've got is trashed. You're ON a used bike, so ride it. (-: My little brother, not to be outdone by me, also purchased a motorcycle when I got mine. Now after 1.5 yrs ownership and basically letting it sit in the garage and collect dust, he wants to get rid of it. He thinks that because it's basically a brand new bike with only a few thousand miles on it he's going to be able to sell it for maybe $500 less than he paid for it in 2005. LOL! I don't have the heart to tell him how badly he's in for a shock if he even gets an offer on it. It's a 2005 Honda Shadow 600. Very nice bike to look at, but too light and underpowered to be taken seriously in my opinion. It's a toy for tooling around the neighborhood. Of course to his credit, that's all he wanted it for. He rode it to work about two miles down the road when the weather was nice and that was about it. If anybody's got an old lady or a youngster wanting to learn, this would be an excellent bike for them. Give me a PM and I'll give you his contact info. I'm sure once he realizes he will be lucky to get maybe 60% of what he paid for it, it'll make somebody a nice learner bike. | ||
| Southsidebuellone |
I didn't buy the bike to make money on it, but I did expect it to hold better value then is the case. It's not worth selling for a 4-5 grand loss on a completely good motorcycle. It's the first year XB series if nothing else, down the road someone after me whoever ends up with it will have a first. | ||
| Permagrin |
I got my '05 xb9r for 4200 w/ only 1800 miles on. Still stock everything but it needed plugs. Plan on getting a xb12r next year or the year after and if I can get $3k for it I'll be happy. | ||
| Sneth |
There is a simple reason why buell resale is so low. Buell is pricing the MSRP $2k-3k too high. HD can overcharge and get away with it due to the demand and brand name. Buell is overcharging to make the bike seem high end, which it is..but not $10k+. For the same price you can get a ducati monster or a Triumph Speed triple. Both of those have MSRP's under $10k... Another reason people look down on the buell's. I bought mine at 1 yr old, for $4k less, so i dont feel bad. I get a lot of people who say they really like the buells, but bought a suzuki XXXXX , because of the price. | ||
| Rpmchris |
I just sold my super clean '04 XB12S with LOTS of mods and 13,800 miles on eBay for $5499. Do I wish I'd gotten more? Yeah. Am I crying about it? No. My choice to sell, my choice to set my reserve so low. I'm moving on... I'll be back on a Buell in the future. | ||
| Spatten1 |
With cruisers, HD holds the best resale value. With sportbikes, Japanese bikes, especially literbikes, seem to hold value much better than Buells. My guess is that many Buell buyers are HD guys that end up not liking their Buells and selling them quickly. I've seen disproportionate numbers of low mile used Buells. Too much supply crosses that demand curve at a low dollar level. | ||
| Spatten1 |
There is a simple reason why buell resale is so low. Buell is pricing the MSRP $2k-3k too high. I agree with that too.} | ||
| Jaimec |
I always tell people that as a general rule they wouldn't want to own a bike that I decided to sell because I'd've most likely already ridden it into the ground. Never had to sell my 1985 K100 because it was stolen (with 158,000 miles on the odometer). I did sell my R100RT with only 40,000 miles on it because I didn't need TWO BMW touring bikes (I'd just purchased my K1200LT, and I sold the boxer to buy my first Buell). Sold my Cyclone with 36,000 miles and I refused to sell it to anyone I knew because I had so many "issues" with it. Actually, I traded in the Cyclone to get my XB12Ss. I got $3,000 on trade which was $1,000 BELOW Kelly Blue Book trade in value... but at least it was off my hands. It sat in the dealership for MONTHS before it was sold, too. I have 104,000 miles on the K1200LT and I've no intention of replacing it anytime soon. So far the XB12Ss has been problem free at 13,000 miles so I plan on running it into the ground too... | ||
| Blake |
"Buell is pricing the MSRP $2k-3k too high." That could only be true if the bikes were not selling, which isn't the case.} | ||
| Ridrx |
Whatever the market will bear. | ||
| Spatten1 |
"Buell is pricing the MSRP $2k-3k too high." That could only be true if the bikes were not selling, which isn't the case. That is obviously a fact. But, maybe we have to look at it as two different markets and types of buyers. For a new Buell, the set of buyers obviously believe the price is correct. For a used Buell, the set of buyers may look at things differently and buy with different criteria. Used bike buyers tend to be more discerning about different traits than new bike buyers, and especially value consious. Also, if many of the new Buell buyers are Harley consumers, they are less price sensitive than the average motorcycle buyer. I'd be curious about the ratio of HD riders that buy new Buells VS. the ratio of HD buyers that buy used Buells. It may be totally irrelevant, but there must be some difference in new buyers and used buyers that explains the drop in resale. The XBs are not radically different than they were in 2003/2004, so value should hold up. Next question: What would happen to the sales level of Buells if they were priced higher than an SV650 due to better suspension components, but lower than literbikes. I think that would be reasonable pricing for a new Buell because tooling is not updated at the rate of Japanese literbikes, so the cost should be lower (excluding the union labor, production volume, and other things the consumer should not be concerned with). This idea of "value" pricing excludes any premium for brand loyalty, and might appeal to a larger audience. | ||
| Ridrx |
I really would have preferred to buy used, but all the used bikes I rode were seriously beaten. I bought new knowing depreciation was gonna suck, however I have a warranty, the peace of mind the bike hasn't been abused, was broken properly, and I bet you get treated a little better at the service dept. if you bought your bike at that dealer. As far as poor resale, I think a lot of younger riders buy Buell then sell because their bud's 600 is faster, and what youngster can stand being outdone. Most young riders I talk to that have ridden a Buell all say the same thing,"...it's too slow..." then I reply "a fast bike doesn't make you a skilled rider, however a skilled rider will make any bike fast". I say we shouldn't complain about resale, I think it encourages younger riders to give the Buell a chance, and it makes it cheaper to find that track bike we all need so badly. If you can find a good example the Buell is one of the best bang for the buck used bikes IMO. | ||
| Spatten1 |
I think a lot of younger riders buy Buell then sell because their bud's 600 is faster I'd like to see the stats, but I'd be surprised if many young riders buy new Buells. If this board and the Denver Buell club is any indication, Buells appeal to an older crowd, in general. I thought Buells were the dumbest bikes in the world until I was in my mid-30's-- because they were too slow. When I decided to go Buell it was because I wanted a slow bike to keep me in check, as I was suddenly aware of mortality. I doubt Buell will ever get a big piece of the youth crowd with the current engine. I know I wouldn't go near one when I was riding really fast. If, in fact, youth riders are not buying Buells proportionaltely, that will keep a huge portion of used bike buyers out of the Buell market too. | ||
| Ridrx |
Maybe I should have worded that differently. I didn't mean a large perc. of young riders buy BMC., but rather, a large perc. of Buell's that are purchased by younger riders get sold soon after. Don't have any hard numbers, just what I have heard in conversation with a couple of local dealers. I agree with the Buell drawing an older crowd, we deserve our own niche bike dont' we? I had the same "mortality" thoughts when I started shopping. My reflexes are not what they used to be. |
