Of course, I hope you get every penny you want out of your bikes. That said, I have to be frank and tell you I'd be shocked beyond belief if you got anywhere near 12K for either bike. Another problem you have, besides there being leftover new bikes at very low prices, is the mileage. You ride your bikes (what a concept). I do too (really, I do) when I get settled into a bike I really love, which I think I'm at now. I put 28K in two years on my old Heritage Softail. I just didn't care for my Street Bob or Rocket III Touring enough to want to ride them that much. Thus, I didn't keep either long enough to get that many miles. I digress. The problem with selling a bike with miles is there are countless (especially Harleys) bikes that are 3-5 years old with less than 5K miles on them. Get this, a buddy of mine found a 08 Tiger 1050 Non-ABS (I have an 09 with ABS) that is MINT, as in can't tell it from a brand new bike. Why does it look so good? It has 977 miles on it. He bought it on the spot. It's hard to compete with those bikes when yours has 25K and the other one sitting at 40K. The only way to do it is to cut your price enough to make yours more attractive.
Here are a couple of things you can do to really help yourself (I also flip bikes):
- Detail, detail, detail! Put the mother of all cleanings on the bike. A SUPER CLEAN bike will gain hundreds. A mediocre or dirty bike will cost you hundreds.
- Strip the accessories and sell them separately. You'll get pennies on the dollar if you sell them with the bike. You'll get 50-75% of retail if you sell them separately.
- If at all possible, have a clear title in hand. This is something I ALWAYS do. I'm fortunate enough that I don't have to finance bikes. That said, I understand not everyone is in that position. It really helps when selling, however, if you can swing it.
- Most important, price the bike right. This means knowing the local market and also knowing what a bank will loan on the bike. Most folks don't have 10K cash laying around so they can only spend what a bank will loan on the bike. You'll have a hard time selling the bike if your pricing isn't in line with that figure.
Hope this helps and if you already know these things, then just ignore me. It's not wasted typing on my part. It's helped to wind me down so I can go to sleep. It worked too because I'm off to bed now!
