Question about buying/selling a high mile ST

Knowing your next bike of interest could help.

The high mileage bike may not need anything for 10,000 miles.

If that works, then if prices drop after covid, the price of your high mileage bike could plummet.
Or inflation picks up where covid drops off you could be wanting a bike that the price has moved up faster than your paycheck. And that could likely happen while supplies head back to normal further devaluing the ‘03.

If moving from a higher mileage used bike to a lower mileage used bike, you could end up spending money to bring a used bike up to par twice.

Does the 03 have a power windshield? If not, it’s value is already down to $1900.

If finances are tight and you want a ride now, I suggest either find a way to spend another grand or call the ‘03 a keeper from the start.

If you are dealing with the aggravation that prices are high but your finances aren’t really a problem, get what you want now.

Good luck and enjoy the hunt for your next bike.
 
TPadden said:
As others already pointed out bikes are seldom a good investment. That's why I call a high mileage older bike disposable; it doesn't mean it's subjectively worthless or can't be a great deal economically for the purchaser. To me it just means a repair can easily cost more than it's objectively worth, or it can be cheaper to simply replace the bike than to repair. :)

That explains why so many owner's who actually ride their older high mileage bikes end up with multiple nearly identical ST's in their garage ... :rofl1:

Tom
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Who you talkin about?
 
Igofar said:
Because he found he needed to repair all the things listed :rofl1:
(attempt at humor folks)
:WCP1:
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... or like EVERYONE on this board I used to ride with, he got too old to ride. :old1:
(not humorous at all)

Tom

PS. Not you John and Larry :thumb:

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At this point in the game the ST is not a bike to purchase to sell it again down the line. It is however a good one to purchase because it’s a good bang for the buck. It’s extremely capable of putting a smile on your face, reliable performance at a fraction of the cost of a late model bike that would do the same for thousands of dollars more.
No matter which used bike you purchase you will need to deal with consumables…brake pads, tires, fork seals, batteries, possibly suspension components, hydraulic fluids, coolant.
Depending how new the used bike is it will come with comfort accessories standard. Heated grips, cruise control, aux lights. ( for the most part there are aftermarket options that can be added at a reasonable price that you can install on the 1300)
When you look at cost per mile including initial purchase, repairs, insurance and the consumables the ST 1300 is a good value compared to it’s competitors.
I’m running a 2002 ST1100 that I purchased for 1500 Canadian a couple of years ago and I’m having a blast with it.
 
Now you guys have done it! :well1:


You've scared the crap out of him and now he's going to go buy a low mileage 2004 BMW! :rolleyes:
 
kiltman said:
At this point in the game the ST is not a bike to purchase to sell it again down the line.
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^ ^ ^ THIS ^ ^ ^
One of the wisest, most salient thoughts I've seen here.
And I've seen most.
Of course you can resell one, but if you think it's anywhere near an "investment" or profit venture, I would strongly suggest you rethink your dream of becoming a successful commodities trader.
That's not to say you cannot economically own one for years to come, or even enjoy riding it for the rest of your life, but I think it safe to say the vast majority of today's motor heads have turned their backs on this bike.
Which is fine.
Because that leaves more of them for those of us who appreciate them.
Back to the point, most motorcycles will not be purchased with the intent of "making a profit", but if you wish to prove me wrong, re-read my comment on commodities trading.
 
Sadlsor said:
Of course you can resell one, but if you think it's anywhere near an "investment" or profit venture, I would strongly suggest you rethink your dream of becoming a successful commodities trader.
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To be fair, the OP stated he fully expects to take a 25% loss on his "investment" . These threads do take on a life of their own sometimes and it's difficult to even remember the OP. :)
 
I understand, but I still remember in the early days when *I* thought I could buy a bike and "break even."
Well, sometimes it's actually possible, and every transaction is different, but it's kind of like buying a motorcycle and believing we'll save money instead of driving a car. You know the drill: we'll get better gas mileage, we only need 2 tires instead of 4, and all the other naive myths we adhere to, in order to justify our wants and desires.
So my post you reference is as much a reminder to myself, as it is a warning to others.
In fact, I suppose in many ways, my posts here are of a similar vein. I need to tell myself these things, as much or more than I need to tell anyone here.
 
Thanks for all the help guys, may have saved me a lot of trouble. The good news is I found a low mile 07 for a fair price, now if I could only find the discontinued mirror deflectors...

If for some reason someone is interested the 114K bike is in Denver and I was really impressed when I rode it, the brakes felt like new actually.
 
Dave Pitman said:
To be fair, the OP stated he fully expects to take a 25% loss on his "investment
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I will admit I didn’t acknowledge this when I drew up my response, and thanks for the clarification.
I think there’s a threshold that one could get back the initial purchase price of a bike, without penalty of too much depreciation. I will venture to say that threshold is between $1000 and $2000. (The range in price that most feel is a disposable cost)
I did manage to sell my 97 for a couple of hundred dollars more than I had paid for it. I purchased it for $1150 sold it for $1550. ( over the 3 years of ownership I had invested a couple of thousand dollars to making it a very reliable machine)
It was still at a price that the new owner felt they were getting a good deal.
I believe the OP has taken that into consideration, however, the idea to get the bike into roadworthy condition varies from member to member from getting it road safe to showroom condition in one go.
For example when I bought my 2002 because of age,some would choose to change the timing belt right away…I chose to wait till I met the mileage requirement thus saving the initial expense to a later date when I had more cash to do so.
My initial statement should have included that you are highly unlikely to make a profit when you resell an ST.
I will also venture to say given the demographics of owners of STs, they are older owners who tend to take care of the basic maintenance items and are in reasonable roadworthy condition from the get go.
 
Getting off topic, digressing, robbing the original OP theme, making mostly no sense whatsoever, so yeah, here I go again.

A couple years ago, it was a no brainer, I mean a real no brainer to buy my 2009 VStar 1100 Silverado Edition - the name alone, eludes luxury and prestige - with 3,000 km for the asking price on CL.

I had just earlier that day relocated one of my other investments from it's eleven year stay on jack stands to the far corner of the yard, where I'm planning on getting started on it any day now, yeah, nothing says alchoholic like a stripped down A body on stands for eleven years. Hmmm, where was I, different story.

The only thing to do was verify that it wasn't too good to be true. Having scanned this type / model / year for three years pondering the possibilities, here it was - stupid cheap.

All I had to do was lift myself out of the bathtub and ask [beg] the lovely contestant from the studio audience for a ride as I had spent too much of the earlier part of the day in the consummatory performing various evaluations.

Previous owner paid Daytona Motorcycle double the price [plus taxes] 28 months previous, barely a scratch. She loved it, only trouble was, after several efforts, they couldn't get it working right and she decided to leave it for a Harley like her husband and friends were driving and three bikes on a carport, this one's gotta go - don't care kind of deal.

As luck should have it, a YouTube search revealed carburetor needle / seat assy O - Rings that frequently fail and / or are overlooked. Total final repair cost...

$22.00 / 400 O-Rings = 5.5 per ring X 2... Be a great story if I could say it only cost me ten cents to restore this machine to virtual perfection and enjoy a couple thousand k, but I'd be stretching the truth, it cost me eleven cents.

So for three years before and now a couple years after, I haven't seen anything advertised that I could say is as good a deal.

But, here's the thing, since I haven't sold it, it's entirely immaterial; the opportunity to be the savvy entrepreneur [if it ever was there] has sailed, as everyone knows, if you like these cruiser types, they come about once in a while, many very good, in fact hard to sell a non - pristine condition one.

So, the way I look at it now is I could probably get $3,500 seems to be where the rubber hits the road, maybe, but...

People pay more for a painting, don't I deserve a painting at this point in my life? Some people pay ten grand for a bicycle.

Truth is, it was love at first sight, I fell in love with it, always the same motive.

It was the look; like the picture on the ST1300 Owner's manual, didn't care if I would like riding it or not. Didn't care if it ran or not, really, in hind sight, all of the rationalizations and reasons that come afterward are good for a laugh.
 
While some folks purchase used motorcycles on craigslist, just to fix them up, and re-sell them for a marginal profit, (common practice in our youth) most purchases on motorcycles now a days will almost always cost more money than you'll ever get back out of them.
There are exceptions (classics/historical) etc.
I purchased a brand new BMW R650LS back in the 80's for less than a months pay, rode it for about 30 years, then sold it for 3 times what I paid for it.
I did the same thing on a burnt orange R90S, but that does not mean any of the new BMW's will be as collectable as the older ones etc.
These are rare exceptions, and I got lucky and found a dealership (owner) who just had to have that particular bike/model/color etc.
Sometimes you take a chance, and it pays off, other times not so much.
I took a chance back in 2018 when a good friend of mine inherited several motorcycles from a person he was caring for (Cancer-RIP).
This British guy left at least 3 really nice bikes to my friend, who then called me, and asked what we should do with them.
The Vincent went to a museum, where we maintain ownership.
I took a chance and invested $5,000 dollars cash out of my savings, to start the restoration project on his 1968 Velocette Thruxton.
All Vin/Serial numbers were correct, and the bike was used as a daily driver for many years.
Many months later, when the dust cleared, and the bike was deemed finished, we took it to the Mecum Auction, where it was sold for $38,500.00!
The flip side of this coin would be the 2003 HD CVO Road King that a guy purchased new in Illinois, and paid $42,000.00 and change thinking it would be collectable since only 2000 were made etc.
I purchased it from him for about $6,500 dollars with about 10,000 miles on it.
Because of the low mileage, I had to replace the fuel pump / lines / wheel bearings / tires / Oil(s) / Rebuild the forks and rear shocks / new battery / do a complete flush of the hydraulic clutch system, as well as the brake system, and replace all the seals / gaskets / plugs / wires / bulbs / etc.
I dumped about a grand into it doing all the labor myself, and now have a pristine CVO Road King that's still only worth about $6,500 dollars.
I don't plan on selling it, because my son wants it, so it was purchased with the intent to pass it on to him as a gift.
The market on ST's has dropped out from under us in the last few years, and with dealerships selling NIB 2016 models for under $10k, used ones are only going to be purchased by folks who know how to maintain them (since shops won't work on anything over 10 years old now) and know, when treated properly, will last for about 200k miles etc.
Find one in good condition, learn how to wrench on the thing, and have many enjoyable miles together.
 
Igofar said:
While some folks purchase used motorcycles on craigslist, just to fix them up, and re-sell them for a marginal profit, (common practice in our youth) most purchases on motorcycles now a days will almost always cost more money than you'll ever get back out of them.
......
The market on ST's has dropped out from under us in the last few years, and with dealerships selling NIB 2016 models for under $10k, used ones are only going to be purchased by folks who know how to maintain them (since shops won't work on anything over 10 years old now) and know, when treated properly, will last for about 200k miles etc.
Find one in good condition, learn how to wrench on the thing, and have many enjoyable miles together.
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Being, one of those persons that have bought wrecked ST1300s, and fixed them up, I was commuting 125 miles a day, 95% of the year. I mainly wanted a back up bike, one at the ready at a drop of the hat, or flat tire. Which happened a few times! :think1:

After fixing up each of those bikes, my thoughts were to get at least 50,000 miles out of them, before even thinking of selling them. I felt that since most motorcyclist don't even get 50K miles out of their bikes, @ 50K, I got most of my money's worth, after selling them. But, then the market fell out for them, due to the adventure bikes taking over the market. The two bikes I have sold, my '05 with 174.3K miles, and my '04#2 with 50K miles, I figured I at least broke even on both for the price I got out of them.

And now, that leaves me with the three I still have:

2010 : I have put 99K miles on it. (Bought wrecked and fixed it up three times now) - originally took the tupperware off the '04, but then bought all new tupperware for it. Then fixed it after the accident back in November 2019.
2012 : I have put 30K miles on it. (Bought new)
2004 : I have put 37K miles on it, (Bought it wrecked) Been stored since 2015. Since 2018, replaced the clutch & clutch slave, waterpump/hoses, still working on it. Hopefully to have it on the road by next spring!

It seems the prices have come up a little since Covid hit. Maybe next Spring the prices might still be up and I'll probably sell one of them. Just not sure which.
 
I would expect anything with a wrecked title could only be sold at a steep discount.
I consider my bikes as consumables. Anything I can get from them at the end of their use to me is just gravy. If I always have in the back of my mind that I have to maximize what I can sell it for, I don't think I can enjoy them as much.
 
drrod said:
I would expect anything with a wrecked title could only be sold at a steep discount.
....
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Well, you are correct, but, with all three bikes I have bought wrecked, only ONE of them had a Salvage title. That was '04#2, and that's the bike I fixed, put 50K miles on and sold to a good friend of mine, that knew the history of the bike and also why I didn't sell it to him for more than I thought it would be worth, with the salvage title, which he really didn't care about.

That was two years ago, and Bill has ridden that bike back and forth between Las Vegas and the Riverside area many times. And he will be bringing that bike up to me sometime in February or March, so we can replace the clutch & waterpump. (I replaced the waterpump on it once before, but I won't replace just the clutch with out replacing the waterpump. )
 
Igofar said:
I took a chance and invested $5,000 dollars cash out of my savings, to start the restoration project on his 1968 Velocette Thruxton.
All Vin/Serial numbers were correct, and the bike was used as a daily driver for many years.
Many months later, when the dust cleared, and the bike was deemed finished, we took it to the Mecum Auction, where it was sold for $38,500.00!
Click to expand...

Funny how timing works. I was just across the street at the older english guys place yesterday and he has one of these, restored and mint. I was going to snap a pic and ask if anyone knew what this bike was, but I guess I know the answer. I had never heard of it. It has a wingnut adjuster for the steering head bearing preload and the upper shock mounts are adjustable, where sweeping the upper mount changes the spring rate by changing the shock angle. I'm not usually much on these older things, but I thought it was really cool. He also had a mint Norton 750 Commando as well as a few other old bikes in different stages of restoration.
 
Bmacleod said:
Funny how timing works. I was just across the street at the older english guys place yesterday and he has one of these, restored and mint. I was going to snap a pic and ask if anyone knew what this bike was, but I guess I know the answer. I had never heard of it. It has a wingnut adjuster for the steering head bearing preload and the upper shock mounts are adjustable, where sweeping the upper mount changes the spring rate by changing the shock angle. I'm not usually much on these older things, but I thought it was really cool. He also had a mint Norton 750 Commando as well as a few other old bikes in different stages of restoration.
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This one was his daily rider.
He never put the nose fairing on, it was still wrapped up in wax paper when we picked up the bike, along with a couple Avon tires.
It was a memorable moment when I kicked it over and it fired up.
Riding it around the block a few times was like being in a time machine.
Something I won't forget.
 
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