Motorcycle Marketplace / What Are Used Bike Prices Doing In *YOUR* Area?

Mar 16, 2024

Not *every* motorcycle is going down in price, at least not much, but the asking price in ads does seem to be dropping overall. But maybe that's just my area? Photo: oneinchpunch/Shutterstock.com

Time to check back in with y’all on a post from three months back, when I said: “I’m seeing signs the second-hand bike market is leveling out after three-ish years of the biggest bull run it’s ever seen. Some used motorcycle prices appear to be dropping slightly. Or at least, they’re not quite as high as they were last year.”

Now, we’re well into the summer, and around here, I’m noticing some interesting trends:

Bikes like this old Yamaha cruiser are going down, down, down in price as Boomers age out. There are deals to be had now, but I bet if you wait another year or two, these things will be practically given away. I kind of saw this coming years ago, and it’s interesting to watch that prediction play out. Too bad they aren’t the most exciting and capable machines on the market! But they’re perfectly fine for touring the open road at legal speeds. Photo: Dutchmen Photography/Shutterstock.com

For a long time, you rarely saw six-cylinder Gold Wings on the used market locally. V-twin tourers always commanded top dollar, whether they were Harley-Davidson or a Japanese equivalent. Now? I am seeing more and more Wings come up for sale; some are posted at laughably optimistic prices, but many are not. Older four-cylinder Wings are basically being given away, and the non-Honda counterparts (Suzuki Cavalcade, Kawasaki Voyager, etc.) are half the price of the Wings.

Over in Cruiserland, I’m seeing even more used tourers come up for sale. Locally, it’s mostly Japanese bikes, as a lot of people in this area never had the coin for a Harley to start with. But in more wealthy areas, I’m seeing older touring Harley-Davidsons going for prices that are much lower than I’ve seen historically. I’m talking bikes that are 10-20 years old, so you’d expect those prices to come down a bit anyway, but it seems more people are pushing their machines out the door.

The real deals here are Yamaha touring cruisers. I would never pick a heavy, feet-forward machine over a mid-mount, sensible-weight bike if I had a choice. But man, if you want an older V-Star or something like that, pricing is headed for the basement. These bikes were made to last multiple lifetimes, and are the best deal you can get, if you want to cover long miles and you don’t mind riding a barge.

Even respectable sport-tourers are cheap now. I just saw a cherry R1150 RT posted for $2,500 CAD, which works out to under $1,900 USD. Yeah, it’s an older machine, but it had relatively low miles and appeared well-maintained and well-kept. I was very tempted.

The only deals in the UJM market are non-desirable models, especially if they have twin-cylinder engines or low-rider styling… or both, like this old Honda. Photo: Lennox Wright/Shutterstock.com

You can forget about getting a cheap, practical Universal Japanese Motorcycle, for the most part. Collectors bought all the good ones, self-proclaimed “builders” have hacked up all the bad ones. The only ones that you still find for sale at affordable prices are the low-rider models, as there are many of those still around in barns. Or maybe you’ll find something like a shaft-drive GS or KZ on the cheap. They tend to carry a sensible price tag, at least.

Gixxers, CBRs, Ninjas and R-series Yamahas still continue to hold their value well, perhaps much better than they should. Other lines, such as this VFR will carry a more sensible price tag. You can get a seriously smoking deal on a TL-series machine, which is one of life’s mysteries… Photo: Lennox Wright/Shutterstock.com

Used supersport/supersport prices are surprisingly high around here. It seems speed is still a valuable commodity in 2023. Or is it? While sportbikes in the 600-1000 range are mostly priced well above what I would pay for a 20-year-old, constantly-thrashed toy, I will notice that hyperbikes have gotten surprisingly cheap—but it’s tied to the name. Hayabusas still remain popular, but something like a ZX-12 is much cheaper now. This is also true in the other classes, to a certain extent. As an example, a TL1000 is much cheaper than a GSX-R1000.

Now, since sportbike sales have basically plummeted ever since 2008, with a lot less sold over the past decade, this is a very interesting trend. The available pool of second-hand sportbikes shrinks constantly, but if demand remains constant, a used 600 or 1000 in good nick, but without the price tag of a later-production bike with advanced electronics, could be a very popular asset!

Dual sports from the early 1990s, like this old DR650, are actually cheap again, while current-production machines have gone down a few hundred bucks in prices. At least, that’s what I see locally. However, if you want a Honda CRF-L or Kawasaki KLX? Forget about it. They’re unobtainable, or priced high on the used market. Photo: Viktor Prymachenko/Shutterstock.com

ADV and dual sport bikes were the big sellers during COVID. Now, for the first time in three years, I’m finally seeing DR650s and KLRs under $3,000. Even larger-capacity adventure bikes are getting normal price tags again, if you know where to look. Facebook Marketplace is still full of clowns, but more, errrr, “enthusiast driven” groups (such as our own ADVrider Flea Market) tend to be more sensible.

Small-cc, late-production duallies are still unobtanium, though; or, prices are too high when you do see them. I think this is because the manufacturers have jacked up the prices of the 250-300 segment so much that owners of older bikes are afraid to sell, as they know they’ll never be able to find another one that cheap.

Small-bore beginner bikes are hard to find at dealers, and expensive (or hard to find) on the used market. Photo: karimpard/Shutterstock.com

No deals to be had here! Again, like small-cc dual sports, new supply of cheap beginner bikes is basically gone (and when available, they mostly aren’t cheap anymore). Used machines like the R3 or Rebel 300 are holding value well.

What about your location? Do you live in a warm, urban area, with year-round demand and a correspondingly strong market? Do you live in the wilds of Alaska, and see prices starting to drop as people think about trading their CBR in for a Yamaha Bravo? And what about your local dealers? Are salesmen finally starting to chase you down with offers of discounts?

Let us know below!