There perfectly fine bikes, that why they sell so many of them.
Here is the best advise i have ever seen on buying a used bike, hes talking about a H-d but it certainly applies to any motorcycle.
$4K in upgrades = Zero.
Not meaningless...there's a lot to be learned here, but value=$0, really.
Unless that person has similar tastes as you, "upgrades" (also known as "people crapping up a bike with trash") will DETRACT from what I pay for a bike. There's a TON of pure garbage out there for bikes and a huge percentage of people think that just because it bolts onto their bike, they need to bolt it onto their bike. Not good.
I'll spend more if I know it hasn't been molested.
"Custom Paint"...? It's been wrecked. Custom paint falls under the "$4K in extras" category and is a bigger red flag than "Prior restraining order". Custom Paint = Wreck. Always. Make sure that's not an "upgrade".
4K miles? 2009? Never down? That's either just long enough to get comfortable on it, wreck it, get scared of it, get it fixed (for $4k), and sell it, or all the buddies sold their bikes and moved on to something else. My point is...that's a prime candidate for a wrecked-and-rebuilt. Usually the higher mileage first-owner scoots are the ones that aren't wrecked, because the owners know how to ride and it's not their first rodeo. Run the VIN at all the local dealers' service departments, and make sure it hasn't been in for a wreck repair.
Right now, there's a ton of used HD's for sale out there. If this seller isn't really flexible, move on. I'd expect to pay no more than between 12K and 13K without argument, based on things like extended warranty (depending on when it was sold, it's just coming out of the factory two-year warranty), whether the accessories are genuine Harley (still taste-dependent) or aftermarket trash, if the engine has any performance work done (and done right, by a dealer, as opposed to Home Boy down the street), etc.
In other words, is the stuff that's been done to it the same stuff that the buyer specifically was hoping to buy?
So many people get all moist about the accessories ("It's got everything chromed out!! I didn't care if it had chrome or not, but since it does, I'm going to get excited about it!") that they forget about what they're actually buying.
Subject: ST1300 Anyone? 
Sun May 15, 2011 7:39 am
