Theres a theory out there on higher end vehicles that if someone can afford a nice car or bike or boat or whatever, they get a new one instead of paying a almost new price for used. Leaving a relatively low market demand for used. At the same time giving buyers of used the potential of a good deal.

Also, dealers have unsold previous years that are discounted quite a bit to make room for new models. The used of that year will be priced less than the "new" year old one so the trade in amount is driven lower.

 

bikes and cars usually depreciate almost a 3rd per year, sad fact no matter what brand. Divide by 1.3 per year eg: year 1 15000 divided by 1.3 =11540
year 2 11540 divide by 1.3 = 8900 ish
after that any formula kinda goes out the window.

 

I firmly believe it is foolish to buy new motorcycles, yet that is normally what I do.

 

I feel the same, but then when I buy one it's usually because they've just released some feature or model not readily available in used equipment. The FJR, for instance, added cruise control in 2013; I bought one in March of 2013. Kawasaki released the ZRX here in 1999, and I bought one in May of 1999.

Around here, sport touring bikes just aren't that popular. I had to order the FJR; none of the local dealers had any in stock or planned to get any. The closest dealer to me said he'd had a 2011 on the floor for over a year before selling it. Sport bikes, cruisers, and Goldwings move pretty well -- sport touring bikes not so much. That hurts the resale value. A person wanting to sell one has to price it to sell if he wants to move it.

 

Here in Australia, it's because the cops use them in 3 States & the ACT and flog them off at auction when 2 years old.
I really pity the members that buy them, I've worked on at least 6 of them and all poorly served if at all, no Master key so if a problem upwards of $3,500 to rectify
Some have had a rather hard life and it shows, no books or rubbers stamping in warranty book, services .....not, by local dealers.
All Gen2's to be sold off in NSW vey soon, and the Gen 3's will start to flood he market anytime now.

I think I've worked on one reasonable one.

I'll stick with a new bike.

 

There's a flip side for this.

The seller's loss is the buyer's gain. Without depreciation, I'd only have one motorcycle in my garage instead of four for the same price and I wouldn't be on this forum.

That's probably true of many forum members.

Could be worse. You could have bought a new BMW!

 

Haven't shopped Victory have you?

Buy it, ride it, forget about it. It's only money.

 

I have no problem buying used as most here are decent bikes. When I buy new, I patiently wait for a good discount on a year old or two year old leftover, when maybe there's a Yamaha incentive program on. But, the longer you keep it the less the depreciation factors in. Just don't buy new and sell it a year later........

 

It seems as though Yamaha is trying to help by not over producing the FJR. I hear that the 2016 models are kind of hard to find on some dealer floors. I'm waiting to either pick up a used 2016 or leftover unsold next year. We'll see what 2017 brings. Mark

 

A lot of you guys haven't been around very long but when I bought mine new it was $12k and the popular statement of the day was,"no f'in way I'd pay $16 or $17 thousand for a new bike! Geez, some Harleys don't cost that much!!" Cost is the single biggest reason I haven't bought another.

IMHO if someone is concerned about his investment and resale value then he should be buying art, not motorcycles.

 

IMHO if someone is concerned about his investment and resale value then he should be buying art, not motorcycles.

I try to get a decent deal from a dealer I like -- I don't do much price shopping. And I keep them so long I know it won't be worth much when I sell it. Resale value just doesn't mean much to me.

 

Most bikes do with the exception of harley. I still havent figured that out. Any point in time you can find 100s for sale locally, doesnt matter the age you pay a premium price. To me, having owned over 20 bike and 3 harleys the fjr is one of the best on the market. No jap bike holds its value. Check out the consours 14. Same way if not worse.

 

Remember our bikes over this side Down Under are nearly $30,000 for the ES and nearly $29,000 for the A.
It's criminal how much they depreciate, like the dealers pay off Red Book to screw you.
Then buy a 2 year old cop bike at auction for $4000.

Recently they have been selling a bundle of FJR's maybe 3-4 at a time in one lot for around $12000 where dealers snap them up.
One gent in particular on the Central Coast then sells them off for around $8000.
Team Enoggra Yamaha had 4 cop bikes at a good price for unsuspecting buyers, some of the big dealerships here buy the entire action items for all their dealerships, the TEAM Yamaha shops.
The of course you have a dozen cop bikes driving down the prices on the better bikes, God help if you bike is more than 30K kms old, no one will buy it.

So it's better to buy a good bike to start off with and just sit on it until it rusts away.

 

I bought my 2014 new and ride as often as I can. When I was at the Yamaha dealer the other day I looked at the new 2016. Love the blue color and for a minute, I could hear it calling my name.

I rode mine around all day that day. One of the rides where all of the traffic lights are green and the scenery is just perfect. Not too hot and all the songs on the radio station were one's I liked.

I did not even think about the new one again. I am very happy with my purchase, it is the right bike for me. I will probably ride it until the wheels fall off.

I think it was the idea of riding something brand new that I was really entertaining. Good thing I walked out of there when I did. Ha!

 

And all of the above is undoubtedly aggravated by certain years. For instance, I would guess that '13's with their ride-by-wire and cruise control had a worse than average effect on the late models Series II's. Likewise the '16's (LED lighting, new clutch, and 6 speed transmission) compared to the earlier Series III's.

I also was a beneficiary. In May 2014, I bought a nearly new (630 miles) 2013 for $11.7K.

 

I am still believing that several years from now, Yamaha is going to announce the dreaded.... end of production of our glorious FJR.

Perhaps to be replaced by something different and new and all that.... but still. The end of an era.
Imagine being the last person on Earth,
to buy a brand new FJR....,
...and then... No more new FJR's to be had....

But that does bring forth some intriguing possibilities...

Pretty much any Velocette is worth more now than it originally was. Also, Triumphs, BSAs, Matchless, Laverdas, Ducatis, and Indians are all worth more now in nice shape than they were even 10 years ago, and certainly more than they sold for new.

Can anyone envision a time... when the FJR's will "appreciate!"

 

Can anyone envision a time... when the FJR's will "appreciate!"

ummm, no. I can't simply b/c of the miles that we [generally] ride them. Sure, we see the "630" miles ones but overall I think 63,000 is more like it and despite we we know after 50k the value of a bike plummets.

 

They only appear to depreciate fast if you compare the used price with the manufacturer's list price.

If folk are buying new ones for $12000, then $9000 at 2 years old doesn't seem so bad.

If 2-year-old bikes can be had for the 9-10k price, then your 17k new one will not be worth any more than the others.

 

The last bike I bought new was my 1980 CB750F.

Paid $4750 for my '03 FJR in Feb. 2014. Have had virtually no issues with it.

I will never, ever purchase a vehicle of any kind new again.
Paid $5k cash for my wife's '95 Wrangler a year ago. Since then only 2 issues: water pump (about $400) and starter ($300). With no monthly payments (which I haven't had on a vehicle in about 10 years), that's about $58/month to own the Jeep (excluding fuel and insurance of course).
Thanks to CarFax it's pretty easy to check a vehicle's history now, and the newer ones are built so well that for the most part you can feel pretty good about buying a 10-15 year old vehicle.

I just don't understand people throwing money away on new vehicles. Yeah, you can talk about the warranty, but by the time you've bought a 5 year old or so vehicle, the warranty is long gone anyway and any major issues that would have been covered have probably already either been taken care of, or aren't ever going to pop up.

 

I have proven to myself over and over that the most economical way to own and drive a vehicle is buy used and keep it a long time. I've bought a bunch of used cars and motorcycles in my life and generally have good luck with them.

Like I said earlier, I generally buy new now just because they've just released something I think I can't live without. But I keep them so long and spread the depreciation over so many years it doesn't matter so much.

Largely, though, I feel like my wife and I have worked hard all our lives and put back enough money not to have to worry so much, and if we want new vehicles, we're gonna by golly have 'em And at our ages, we've probably bought our last vehicles.

Dang! That's a little sobering to type out loud.

 

I have proven to myself over and over that the most economical way to own and drive a vehicle is buy used and keep it a long time.

This ^^^ A thousand times this.

Let's do the math .... 2004 Taurus bought in 2006 for $9000, current value $3000.

That would be $6000 in 10 years, or $50 per month. That I can live with.

My FJR ... an '05 bought 18 months ago for 2750 ... Miles at purchase 88k

Now showing 118000 .... That's 9.2 cents per mile depreciation, assuming it now has zero value.

... and it did an Oklahoma In-State SaddleSore 1000 last weekend, so it probably still has some residual value

 

I buy new just because that's what I want. I don't buy new cars but I love new motorcycles. And if I could afford it I would buy a few more. And the last 3 that I have owned I gave away to my kids. They all had a lot of miles. One Suzuki had 50,000 and the other had 75. My 05 FJR had 88. And my oldest has been promised my 14 FJR when I'm done with it. But he might have to wait awhile. Don't have to worry about depreciation or trading them in or selling them when you are giving them away!

 

If you're foolish enough to pay MSRP on the FJR, the value will appear to go down the toilet.

But for people who got heavy discounts on leftover bikes it's not really that bad.

I paid $11.5k for my '14 in April of 2015. Average mileage '14s with some add-ons sell for the $10k range.. so I don't think I'm doing too bad.

 

I don't need the latest/greatest. So leftovers works for me, and I'm willing to travel for a deal. My last four new bike purchases were leftovers, And the combined savings from msrp would be about $14,000. That's 14k in savings, and factory warranties included. Makes it hard to be interested in used.

 

That's like ... Buy four, get one free

 

Guy comes home bragging to his wife that he went shopping for a new Chevy, but saved $25,000 because he decided to keep their old car. She called him a **** fool for not buying a BMW and saving them $60,000.

 

That's nuts. Some people just don't understand economics.

 

Vehicles aren't (usually) investments. Pays your money and take the hit. Or not.

 

My 14 was only the second NEW bike I ever bought and the first was in 1983. (The LTD 440 was the only bike that ever left me on the side of the rode walking .....and it did it on two separate occasions ).


I usually look long and hard for a truly mint truck of bike with a SERVICE record that indicates to me it has a long life yet left in it.

 

Yep. A detailed service folder, maintained by the owner(s) is critical to the value of any used vehicle (IMO). It goes far beyond the minimalist thing that Yamaha includes at the back of their owners manual.

Any oil, tire, accessory change/mod should be included with the receipt noting date and vehicle mileage.

Anyone who has done this over the life of the vehicle is more likely to actually have done the work (meticulously) instead of just pencil whipping it for the sale.

 

I keep my service logs in Excel. It's got everything -- even fuel and MPG calculated for each tank. If I plug a tire it's there. Call me anal

But you're right. When I'm selling a vehicle I print that out. Since I usually keep one ten years or better it'll be several pages. And it does help sell the vehicle.