Buying a motorcycle?

[Blue Ring Octopus]

What are the tips to buying a new motorcycle. I went in today and the dealer wanted about 400 bucks for a fee of some sort,and them 1500 for ADM. So I asked what ADM and it is a bunch more fees. The bike was 7200 with 2000 of fees plus tax and license. So any tips would be appreciated?

 

[Monti34]

Classified ads!!! Don’t buy new you will regret it. I speak from experience

 

[Monti34]

Find a bike that’s been out for a wile and has lots of upgrades and use the extra cash you save on buying used and upgrade it.

 

[Roy 9121]

What type of bike are you looking for? I would agree, don't buy a new one, but used. There are some great deals to be had.

 

[Roy 9121]

What type of bike are you looking for? I would agree, don't buy a new one, buy used. There are some great deals to be had.

 

[Don Lidtke]

I have never bought a used motorcycle because I ride them for 80-100+ K before buying another one.

So, it really depends on how much you ride.

 

[Roy 9121]

I have never bought a used motorcycle because I ride them for 80-100+ K before buying another one.

So, it really depends on how much you ride.

I don't really see what that has to do with it.

 

[Don Lidtke]

I don’t worry about deprecation because of the amount of miles I ride. Which is what I thought you were saying about not buying a new bike. What other reasons are you talking about?

 

[Blue Ring Octopus]

Well I was looking at a Yamaha FZ07 I haven't rode since I was a kid.

The other bike I was looking at was a KTM 390 Duke 2016 model for 3999 bucks that bike would be for my son.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Buy used... it's much cheaper and there's no dealer fees on craigslist or local sale papers. Just state tax and registration.

 

[Roy 9121]

I don’t worry about deprecation because of the amount of miles I ride. Which is what I thought you were saying about not buying a new bike. What other reasons are you talking about?

I just don't see why you wouldn't buy a used bike just because you put a lot of miles on them.

 

[Blue Ring Octopus]

Are the fees they charge legit or are they steller fees?

 

[lacrosseboss18]

Go into a couple dealers and shop around for best price. Also look online for what other people have paid even if not in your area. You can call a dealer and be like I was quoted so and so and see what they say. When I was looking for a new Harley I waited until the new model year came out and they asked why I wanted the older bike. I responded it's cheaper and he responded well how about xxx off a new one.

As for new or used. Get what you want to get. If your new to riding get a used one and get some miles under your belt.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

I have never bought a used motorcycle because I ride them for 80-100+ K before buying another one.

So, it really depends on how much you ride.

I don't know if the math works out on that.

Let's say you buy new and pay $10,000. You ride that bike for 100,000 miles. Let's say instead of buying new, you could have bought a bike that was a few years old for $7k. Let's then assume that bike had 10,000k miles on it. Again, you ride it until the odometer hits 100k miles. In this case, instead of riding 100k miles, you've only ridden 90k since it came with 10k. If this case, you're paying more than 40% more to buy new ($10k / $7k = 1.42, or a 42% increase). But, if you look at the mileage, you're only getting 11% more miles (100k / 90k = 1.11r, or 11% more miles). You may not feel that 40% price premium because you likely buy motorcycles rather infrequently if you ride 100k miles or more. But, the math still doesn't work. You're paying 40% more for only 11% more mileage.

Let's put it this way. You have one motorcycle that costs $10k. You will be able to ride this motorcycle for 100k miles. There's another motorcycle that costs $14k (40% more than $10k). You will be able to ride this motorcycle for 111k miles (11% more than 100k miles). Which motorcycle would you buy?

 

[RyanCSGO]

I used to sell bikes here in Cali. Anything over the msrp price adds to their company margin and the salesman’s commission. It’s all “extra” basically.
At least that’s how it was here

 

[Don Lidtke]

I just don't see why you wouldn't buy a used bike just because you put a lot of miles on them.

I never want to buy other people’s problems. Enough of my riding buddies have gotten used bikes with problems and I would rather avoid those and spend my time riding.

 

[Roy 9121]

I never want to buy other people’s problems. Enough of my riding buddies have gotten used bikes with problems and I would rather avoid those and spend my time riding.

Ive always had pretty good luck buying used bikes. If you look around you can find some pretty nice bikes a year or 2 old with only a couple thousand miles.

 

[Blue Ring Octopus]

Thanks everyone for your input.

 

[DLHDesign]

Freight fees should be around $400-500. Generally there's an "unboxing" or "prep" fee that should be $200-300 (or less). Taxes and license will depend upon where you are, but you should know your local tax rate and the license price you should be able to get an idea of online. Anything over $1000 in fees is too high, IMO.

Re: used vs. new
The thing I considered when I bought my bike was:
1) I had no way of knowing what has happened to a used bike. Was it dropped at some point? Was the break-in done properly? How well has it been maintained? Etc.
2) When you ride a motorcycle, you trust your life to the quality of the machine beneath you. This is true of cars, planes, and other vehicles, but in most other vehicles there are safety measures that give you larger margins of error.

 

[Shine5555]

Buy Used... and look at the upgrades. Most people that are selling used expect to get next to nothing for all the upgrades. it is a good way to get the bike and potential upgrades for a great price.

I used to ride BMW bikes, and those can be a little tricky used.... if buying a high dollar, high performance bike ask for service records and talk to the service shop first