De-farkle?

Hey guys and gals. I have a 2013 Suzuki V-Strom that I am going to put up for sale before next riding season. In general, does it pay to remove the higher value farkles, ie.,Sargent seat, Givi windscreen, Jesse hard bags, etc. and sell them separately or will I get enough more for the bike to compensate if I leave everything as is? There is around $3000 plus (original price) in goodies on this puppy. If sold separately, can I expect to get half of the original price...more?

I'm interested in your experiences.


Harry

Buyers of used vehicles will base their offer on sites such as KellyBB, Hemmings, Cycle Trader, Craigslist, etc. These average prices do not include owner add ons. That value is purely subjective to the potential buyer.
If the upgrades are in worse wear condition than your stock parts, put the stock parts back on. If removing a farkle will leave a visible blemish, leave it in place. General appearance of the bike will go as far or further toward a bigger take on the sale than performance.
Just my opinion.

It's almost always the best deal to buy a used bike already outfitted the way you like, and that suggests the add-ons come at a bargain.

Still, ya gotta ask yourself if it's worth the effort and risk to remove them.

I like to sell a bike as stock as possible. Often the extras won't change the value, in some cases it can cause the buyer to not want to buy the bike.

Depends on the accessories. For example, if you have a custom made seat (say an RDL) and you are a big guy, that won't add to the value of the bike if an average size guy is buying it. You might pull the farkles (as said, those that don't mar the bike by their removal) and offer them as an enticement to help the sale along and mitigate negotiating. Sell the rest on ebay. And yes, you stand to get around 40 to 60% of the initial value of the accessories selling them yourself - but it might take some time to liquidate them all. Price them low to move them quickly.

My $0.02:

Farkles mainly add value for the person who chose to put them on. Your tastes may or may not align with those of a prospective buyer so it is a crap shoot as to how much, if any, they affect the offering price.

Sold separately they MAY return more of your investment because those buyers will have specific interest in the item, or they may languish unsold on your shelf gathering dust. You just never know, and it probably depends on the specific item as to whether there is a demand for it or not.

Good luck, whichever direction you head.

I'd generally say de-farkle and sell the bits separately. It may take some time but selling them separately will probably get you more than if on the bike.

Wear plays a big part. Most people like bright/shine and like-new. Overall do what makes the bike look its best. You can join other forums for the sole purpose of selling your bike and parts.

OR: if it's just too much trouble then just leave them on and don't expect them to increase the selling price.

It's generally better to defarkle. You'll get more if sold separately, and you can offer them to the prospective buyer. A local dealer here told me when evaluating a trade-in, their forumula, farkles that are generally desirable are valued at 25% of their original cost.

SupraSabre said:

I like to sell a bike as stock as possible. Often the extras won't change the value, in some cases it can cause the buyer to not want to buy the bike.

Click to expand...

+1.....

The consensus iiiiis...de-farkle! So that will be my project over the winter. Thanks all for your input.

Harry

If the extras look clean and are stuff that MOST people would expect, it's fine. For example, having a suzuki Vstrom bare vs a Vstrom with an engine guard, metal sidecases and maybe a custom seat, you'd be fine to leave that stuff on and add it into the price. When it starts to go a little wild (custom windshield, throttle lock, power outlets), stuff that you're generic weekend warriors don't care about or don't care if it's stock or not (they just want a windshield, they don't care what one is on there), it's best to take that off and sell separately.

Assume that the bike will be sold to someone who will have a garage queen, and keep the farkles to that. Any serious rider might be particular enough to want his or her PREFERRED farkles and is apt to take yours off and resell them anyway.