Best way to sell an old bike? : V-Twin Forum: Harley Davidson Forums

35386 · 09-22-2006, 04:14 PM

Ive been trying to get rid of my 94 intruder 800 for 5 months now. Ive advertised on cycletrader and riderbuys. I have a for sale sign on the windsheild and have only had a few calls. The few calls ive had all wanted to pay about half of the asking price. The bike is in good condition and runs perfect. It's 12 years old and has 26000 miles. A few minor scratches here and there but I dont think $2K is a lot to ask for. It rides great and has been maintained perfectly. Its my daily commute and has never let me down. I just dont understand. Perfect bike for a beginner or as a 2nd bike. What am I doing wrong? or is the market for old intruders dead?

Lefty · 09-22-2006, 04:38 PM

Low retail for your bike according to NADA is $1.2K, average retail at $1.6K. There's your problem. Change your asking price to $1.25K.

Lefty

cs1 · 09-23-2006, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lefty

Low retail for your bike according to NADA is $1.2K, average retail at $1.6K. There's your problem. Change your asking price to $1.25K.

Lefty

+1

It hurts to have to sell low. I know, I've done it. Good luck.

Tim

BluegrassBoy · 09-25-2006, 02:21 PM

Yeah - that's a tough situation to be in.

I can't think of a "good market" for ANY 10-year old japanese bikes.

With gas prices this summer I know a lot of day laborers were picking up bikes - but from what I saw most of them were $1K or less. These guys knew they weren't going to get anything showy - they just wanted cheap transportation and the cheaper (but halfway reliable) the better.

If you don't HAVE to sell it it might be easier to keep it than to sell at a low enough price to attract a buyer.

If you can hang on to it, keep it clean and running another 15-20 years it'll be a "classic". It might fetch $2 or 3K then.

Best way to sell an old bike? Make it irresistably cheap to somebody looking to buy one for their kid or wife.

Cdouthitt · 09-25-2006, 03:24 PM

You'll be lucky to get a grand for it...IMHO

jerry34208 · 09-25-2006, 10:36 PM

Yes it might be worth more someday if you keep it running. Let's look at the math. If you get a grand now and invest it in say the S&P 500. Average total (reinvest dividends) return is 12% in 10 year period. That would be doubling your investment every 6 years at 12%. In other words you'd have $4,000 in 12 years. Throw it into your roth IRA and no taxes to pay until you pull it out. Based on your stated year of birth in your public profile if you were to keep it invested until you were 65 you would have right around $21,000 from parting with old Suzi. And that's selling it for a grand. You may very well get $2,000 if you can wait for the right buyer. Then the end number doubles as well, As Warren Buffet once said when asked what is the most powerful thing on earth, Compounding Interest.

No, I'm not selling nothin...I'm just sayin' sell it and forget it. It's all stuff anyway. You'll always get more stuff. You'll always reminisce about the old stuff but it's just stuff.

JTS1469 · 09-25-2006, 11:57 PM

I learned that ebay is the way to go for things like this. 81 CB 900 I sold it on ebay for more then I paid for it 20 years ago!!!! No haggling no phone calls and no tire kickers. I was burned on ebay and stayed away for awhile then thought I would give it a try. I set a decent reserve price and watched it pass that price and go quite a bit further. The guy was happy I was happy all was good!
JTS

jerry34208 · 09-26-2006, 12:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JTS1469

I learned that ebay is the way to go for things like this. 81 CB 900 I sold it on ebay for more then I paid for it 20 years ago!!!! No haggling no phone calls and no tire kickers. I was burned on ebay and stayed away for awhile then thought I would give it a try. I set a decent reserve price and watched it pass that price and go quite a bit further. The guy was happy I was happy all was good!
JTS

Yep, that can be a great way to go. Read up on the scams that are out there. As long as you stick with a strictly cash deal you'll be OK. Set the reserve at the absolute lowest you'd take ($900??) just to get some competition bidding going or you wont get any action. Even then you may have to run it several times but the nice thing is eBay only charges if it sells - I think.

The Cycle Trader angle can be OK if you do the "run 'til it sells" option. I've sold 2 bikes that way in the last couple of years. Be prepared to wait & know the ad will cost you North of a hundred bucks.

RG50 · 10-21-2006, 08:14 PM

It's an old bike and most *** bikes dont hold their value well,just ask me.
I would lower the price to just get rid of it!

35386 · 10-22-2006, 12:03 AM

Well I lowered the price to $1800.00 and offered to throw in a helmet, saddle bags, tool roll bag, and service manual but nothing yet. Have gotten about 7 emails on it but all have been scams. Still the Suzi sits in the garage. I'll give it a few more weeks and then I'm dumping it on Ebay as recommended. Just want to get it out and make room for the other 2 bikes. Thanks

35386 · 02-12-2007, 06:22 PM

Finally SOLD!!! to the young man from the Tampa bay area. Dude got a great deal. $1500 for the bike, helmet, saddle bags, floor boards, Windshield, Original manual, and shop manual. Just picked it up a couple hours ago. I'm gonna miss that little bike. You guys were right.

P 0 P E Y E · 02-12-2007, 08:53 PM

Congrats on the sell.

jerry34208 · 02-13-2007, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yorgo

Finally SOLD!!! to the young man from the Tampa bay area. Dude got a great deal. $1500 for the bike, helmet, saddle bags, floor boards, Windshield, Original manual, and shop manual. Just picked it up a couple hours ago. I'm gonna miss that little bike. You guys were right.

That's what this great forum of ours is all about. Way to go!

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