Used vs New - how much savings is enough?

For me, it would take a few thousand (maybe 3K). Especially if you are trading in a bike (at least here in Ohio, you subtract your trade in from a new car/bike price and you only pay taxes on the remainder, you have to pay the full tax amount on used cars/bikes).

Whatever the case, I would look over the bike very carefully... Any minor scratch will bug you going forward (it is one thing if you do it, another if the previous owner did it).

Another thing to consider is any additional parts they put on... would you have put the same part on (especially exhaust)? Unless it is really what you want, it probably isn't worth it because you will end up replacing it anyway.

Just my thoughts.

It would depend what was on it for me. If it had 3-4k in extras, I might pay around MSRP.

Look at local bikes in your area and see what they are going for.

In the old days, I bought everything at auction, and got the cheapest anything I could. I had to put up with whatever turned out to be wrong. Now, I buy things brand-new and take the hit on depreciation, and if there's a problem, drive it in and have it fixed under warantee. IMHO, what's a couple of grand on something that's a toy anywho, and do you really want to wonder if that guy broke his bike in carefully, or just started redlining it on day one?

My vote would be unless the couple of grand would really make or break you at this point, just get the new one.

With the epa stuff going on, I would rather have the used one if the prices were the same. It is one thing to get an improper muffler ticket and a whole other thing to remove a cat conv.

My next bike will probably be high mileage one. Rip it apart and do what I want with it, but have HD title.

Another consideration is the many problems they had with the 05 heads leaking, and burning oil.

The 06 heads are supposed to be fixed AND flow more cfm for better power.