The trouble with bikes...
Discussion
Flicking through the classified section of MCN this week, I noticed you can buy a new (06) model CBR600RR for 5,499 GBP. Great! I hear you all say, such value, so much motorbike for so little money etc. It is great value, providing all you want to do is buy another bike.
Not such good news if you need to sell the one you’ve already got, first.
A bit further into the classified rag, there are at least 3, 2005 bikes with 2,000 miles or less on them, loved, cherished, properly maintained, never ridden in the wet, blah, blah, blah…and guess what?
According to the adds, their owners would like between 5k and 5.5k back on them (from the 7k plus they shelled out, just over a year ago.) Not much hope have they?
So what are these low miles, year and a bit old bikes worth? The first number is going to have to be a 4, which in turn puts pressure on the 3-ish year old bikes, and so on.
We see the same thing with cars, any make that consistently gives big discounts has miserable residuals, while the makes that are nigh on impossible to get a discount on, hold their value.
Just wondering if anyone else wishes that; bike dealers and UK distributers would get their acts together, annualize their business properly and stop trashing the market every Autumn?
We would all be better off in the long run.
PS. I’m tempted to buy a couple of these CBR’s and break then for parts!
M
Not such good news if you need to sell the one you’ve already got, first.
A bit further into the classified rag, there are at least 3, 2005 bikes with 2,000 miles or less on them, loved, cherished, properly maintained, never ridden in the wet, blah, blah, blah…and guess what?
According to the adds, their owners would like between 5k and 5.5k back on them (from the 7k plus they shelled out, just over a year ago.) Not much hope have they?
So what are these low miles, year and a bit old bikes worth? The first number is going to have to be a 4, which in turn puts pressure on the 3-ish year old bikes, and so on.
We see the same thing with cars, any make that consistently gives big discounts has miserable residuals, while the makes that are nigh on impossible to get a discount on, hold their value.
Just wondering if anyone else wishes that; bike dealers and UK distributers would get their acts together, annualize their business properly and stop trashing the market every Autumn?
We would all be better off in the long run.
PS. I’m tempted to buy a couple of these CBR’s and break then for parts!
M
mtbr said:
Flicking through the classified section of MCN this week, I noticed you can buy a new (06) model CBR600RR for 5,499 GBP. Great! I hear you all say, such value, so much motorbike for so little money etc. It is great value, providing all you want to do is buy another bike.
Not such good news if you need to sell the one you’ve already got, first.
A bit further into the classified rag, there are at least 3, 2005 bikes with 2,000 miles or less on them, loved, cherished, properly maintained, never ridden in the wet, blah, blah, blah…and guess what?
According to the adds, their owners would like between 5k and 5.5k back on them (from the 7k plus they shelled out, just over a year ago.) Not much hope have they?
So what are these low miles, year and a bit old bikes worth? The first number is going to have to be a 4, which in turn puts pressure on the 3-ish year old bikes, and so on.
We see the same thing with cars, any make that consistently gives big discounts has miserable residuals, while the makes that are nigh on impossible to get a discount on, hold their value.
Just wondering if anyone else wishes that; bike dealers and UK distributers would get their acts together, annualize their business properly and stop trashing the market every Autumn?
We would all be better off in the long run.
PS. I’m tempted to buy a couple of these CBR’s and break then for parts!
M
Not such good news if you need to sell the one you’ve already got, first.
A bit further into the classified rag, there are at least 3, 2005 bikes with 2,000 miles or less on them, loved, cherished, properly maintained, never ridden in the wet, blah, blah, blah…and guess what?
According to the adds, their owners would like between 5k and 5.5k back on them (from the 7k plus they shelled out, just over a year ago.) Not much hope have they?
So what are these low miles, year and a bit old bikes worth? The first number is going to have to be a 4, which in turn puts pressure on the 3-ish year old bikes, and so on.
We see the same thing with cars, any make that consistently gives big discounts has miserable residuals, while the makes that are nigh on impossible to get a discount on, hold their value.
Just wondering if anyone else wishes that; bike dealers and UK distributers would get their acts together, annualize their business properly and stop trashing the market every Autumn?
We would all be better off in the long run.
PS. I’m tempted to buy a couple of these CBR’s and break then for parts!
M
People should try to get more out of the machine they have...too many are fashion concious needing the latest model which is 2 hp up on the old model.......My advice ..buy a year old bike for £4.5K and avoid the large dip in depreciation when new...Most of `em are utterly mint...
F.M said:
People should try to get more out of the machine they have...too many are fashion concious needing the latest model which is 2 hp up on the old model.......My advice ..buy a year old bike for £4.5K and avoid the large dip in depreciation when new...Most of `em are utterly mint...
I'm with FM here 'cos everytime I think about getting a Gixer thou I just can't justify the cost over my old SRAD 750 and when I'm going round Cadwell, there seems no point chucking more £££ down the road at roughly the same speed.
I paid £4800 for my 96 model Gixer in 99 and it's cost very little extra to do 21k miles (now 25k) and it still cuts the mustard as on track.
That and I'm tight as a Boris Johnson's belt!
You'd imagine that if the new bikes cost less and therefore the worth of second hand bike is proportionatly less then the cost to change up is less than if the new bike cost more iyswim. For example, new bike costs 9k and 2 year old bike is worth 50% of that the cost to change up is 4500 but if new bike costs 6k and 2 year old bike costs 50% of that then the cost to change up is 3k.
If you want better value for money then buy something that will last a few years and stop trading the buggers in every year.
If you want better value for money then buy something that will last a few years and stop trading the buggers in every year.
F.M said:
People should try to get more out of the machine they have...too many are fashion concious needing the latest model which is 2 hp up on the old model.......My advice ..buy a year old bike for £4.5K and avoid the large dip in depreciation when new...Most of `em are utterly mint...
Good advice, given the way the bike market works, but why should a mint condition bike that's probably not even fully run in, have lost 40% of it's purchase price in the first year? (Not that it affects me personally, my bikes are 17 & 7 years old and also still cut it on track) But when new bikes are offered at huge discounts, at the end of every season, it drives down the value of all bikes, your's and mine included.
Put another way, why pay 4.5k for a year old bike, that may have some "history," when for another grand you can have a box fresh one?
You or I would probably say "save the grand and spend it on a years worth of track days". But for someone who doesn't know for sure if they could spot a "wrong un" a new bike may be the only option they feel comfortable with.
Some of this is caused by the way the manufacturers and their distributors treat the dealers, but a lot of it is just plain bad management. I wonder who will be first to post the "rang my dealer to find out how the first service on my new bike was going and found myself speaking to the reciever instead of the service manager" thread this year?
Hi,
bought my CBR 600RR in July, and have done almost 3000 miles on it already - way more than I thought I ever would, so I considered changing it for something more becoming of the daily grind, i.e. a VFR 800.
Having paid £7299 for it I was somewhat surprised to be offered a paltry £5100 against a brand new VFR. With the negative equity on the current finance, and some simple mental arithmetic, I'm left looking at a real-world ten grand (ish) for a VFR!!! The spotty scroat in the dealership couldn't grasp the math, so didn't understand why I almost choked on the crap coffee and gave him a graphic description of what he could do with the VFR :-)
The smack same CBR was on the dealership floor at a knockdown price today, no doubt in readiness for the 07 model.
I'll never buy a brand new bike ever again...
bought my CBR 600RR in July, and have done almost 3000 miles on it already - way more than I thought I ever would, so I considered changing it for something more becoming of the daily grind, i.e. a VFR 800.
Having paid £7299 for it I was somewhat surprised to be offered a paltry £5100 against a brand new VFR. With the negative equity on the current finance, and some simple mental arithmetic, I'm left looking at a real-world ten grand (ish) for a VFR!!! The spotty scroat in the dealership couldn't grasp the math, so didn't understand why I almost choked on the crap coffee and gave him a graphic description of what he could do with the VFR :-)
The smack same CBR was on the dealership floor at a knockdown price today, no doubt in readiness for the 07 model.
I'll never buy a brand new bike ever again...
Surely a lot of this is down to seasonaility? Car use (and thus sales/demand) is pretty steady through the year.
You can either:
- change in spring, get an excellent price for your old bike as everyone else is changing or new/returning bikers buy, but pay top dollar for the latest and greatest bike.
- change in autumn, get a knockdown price on the bike you want but having missed the entire summer and get a poorer price for your old one as only the hardy bikers are interested in buying yours.
If you're buying at the most popular time and trying to sell at the least popular, then yes you'll lose a big chunk of money. Simple supply/demand at work really.
You can either:
- change in spring, get an excellent price for your old bike as everyone else is changing or new/returning bikers buy, but pay top dollar for the latest and greatest bike.
- change in autumn, get a knockdown price on the bike you want but having missed the entire summer and get a poorer price for your old one as only the hardy bikers are interested in buying yours.
If you're buying at the most popular time and trying to sell at the least popular, then yes you'll lose a big chunk of money. Simple supply/demand at work really.
I agree that this is a timing thing. I'm planning (test is on 17th Oct) on being in the the market in the next couple of weeks. I am looking at a KTM 640 Supermoto. Now the new 07 model has just been announced this week in MCN (and to be honest it looks horrible to me) so I will be aiming at using that fact to get a decent discount on the 06 model. If none is coming then I'll get something second hand.
Luckily for me in a way I failed my test a week ago, because had I passed I would not be aware of the 07 model in such detail and would not have been as pro-active in getting a discount.
Luckily for me in a way I failed my test a week ago, because had I passed I would not be aware of the 07 model in such detail and would not have been as pro-active in getting a discount.
I generally buy year or so old vehicles where someone else has run it in and taken the biggest depreciation hit.
I bought the Aprilia, £11K list price, for £6K and the R1, £9.5K with the alarm, for £6.7K with only 1800 miles on it. Did the same with the car at 6 months old with only 6000 miles on it for a £7K saving over list.
I wouldn't say I'm tight - I wouldn't run an 18mpg car if I was.
I just don't like to waste (too much) money.
I bought the Aprilia, £11K list price, for £6K and the R1, £9.5K with the alarm, for £6.7K with only 1800 miles on it. Did the same with the car at 6 months old with only 6000 miles on it for a £7K saving over list.
I wouldn't say I'm tight - I wouldn't run an 18mpg car if I was.
I just don't like to waste (too much) money.
I think a lot of this is to do with the economy and the relative wealth of our nation. It's the same with cars - if some of you are crying into your beer over losing a couple of £k on a year old bike try buying a new premium car 
Fact is there are plenty of people around who can afford to pay that little bit more for a brand new shiny bike/car than getting a used one.
As has already been stated manufacturers flooding the market are also partly to blame - when I bought my Aprilia Factory I had a cracking good deal on a new one but knew full well it meant it would be worth 50p and a conker if I wanted to move it on in a year's time
My advice is if you love your new bike/car then use it loads and don't worry about putting miles on it - it may end up worth a bit less but not much and it'll cost you a lot less per mile overall.
Fact is there are plenty of people around who can afford to pay that little bit more for a brand new shiny bike/car than getting a used one.
As has already been stated manufacturers flooding the market are also partly to blame - when I bought my Aprilia Factory I had a cracking good deal on a new one but knew full well it meant it would be worth 50p and a conker if I wanted to move it on in a year's time
My advice is if you love your new bike/car then use it loads and don't worry about putting miles on it - it may end up worth a bit less but not much and it'll cost you a lot less per mile overall.
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