schwager@uiucdcs.CS.UIUC.EDU (03/06/86)
. Well, it's been a while... but I'm finally getting around to writing a summary of answers to my question about buying a leftover bike. For those who may not remember, my question (paraphrased) was, "what are the pitfalls in buying a new bike that's a few years old?" I got four responses... not a whole lot, but with the advice recieved plus reading some articles in Cycle, Rider, Cycle Rider, Road Rider, and Motorcyclist, I think I've gotten a few good insights into purchasing a leftover bike. The basic theme is- leftover bikes are generally really good bargains. Imagine getting a new 750 for about 2000 to 2500 dollars- one that went for 3300 to 4000 a few years ago! Unfortunately, resale value on the same unit will be about even with a used bike from those years- maybe around $1500 (remember that I'm talking basic Jap bike here- HonYamSu). From reading and talking to some dealers, leftover bikes are around because the motorcycle industry predicted a larger demand for bikes a few years ago. It never materialized, and they're still trying to get rid of over produced units. One of the dealers talked of going to some kind of distributor liquidation sale about a month ago and picking up some '82 Honda CB750F's that he's now selling for $1800. One is still in the crate, the other was set up right away. But in general, leftover bikes haven't been sitting around on the floor for a long time. Dealers are still just getting some in. Here are selected comments from the folks that responded: > Hi! I'm looking forward to your summary, because three months ago I > bought a new 1982 Yamaha XS400. So far I really love my bike, but > it has some obvious signs of age, like a little rust showing in the > gas tank. Nothing to concern me yet. I'm going to make sure I investigate the gas tank on whatever machine I buy. If it's rusty, the dealer's going to fix it! mike, > saw you note on the net and figured i'd give you the benefit > of my experience. > i bought a leftover 82 yamaha vision --- manufacture date > jan 82 --- in march of 84. the dealer had installed a > recall kit supplied by yamaha....[explanation of carb kit... ed.] > ...these changes were exactly what yamaha itself did for the > 83's. > > because of the recall, the dealer had done a good job of > making sure the carbs were cleaned out and ready to go, > and i've never had any problems form them. he did say, tho, > that they had been kind of gummy before he started, so they > would have needed cleaning even without the recall. i > haven't had any other storage-related problems --- fork > seals are still fine, tires were fine until i wore out > the rear at 10k. i'm still on my original battery, which > is the 82 vintage. i've met a couple of people who'd bought > the 82 leftover visions that had the battery dies pdq, one > in about a month. the dealer covered the truly short-lived > ones... > ...one word of warning, tho, about leftovers. you can't get > a new bike for that kind of cash anywhere else, but keep in > mind that if you ever want to sell it, it'll be tough. i > paid $2400 for mine, including the yamaha fairing (upper and > lowers). looking thru the local adds, i'd say if i got $1200 > for it now --- 2 yrs later at 12500 miles --- i'd be doing > good. 50% value drop in two years is pretty hefty, esp. > since the recent article in motorcyclist about the "real" > cost of owning a bike uses the 82 vision as an example and > states the "book" value is about $1900. March '86 issue of Motorcyclist is indeed a good one... I was able to find it at my local White Hen Pantry. I asked the net this question: >I also looked at a Suzuki GS650. It's an '83, but has 100 test miles on >it. I'd bet the dealer hasn't bothered to protect these bikes from the >aging that comes with sitting over a length of time- like squirting >oil in the cylinders of the Suzi. Would that be necessary on a bike with >that little mileage? Should I avoid that one? Thanks a lot for your help. Response: > Both my bikes have been two year old new bikes. I got a 1981 Honda CM400 > Custom from Hollywood Honda in 1983. It was factory new in the crate; I > had my choice of colors since he had several. After using this as a > trainer, putting 8,000 miles and 4 drop marks on it in 14 months, I bought > a 1982 Suzuki GS650G from Cole Brothers in North Hollywood. It was set up > and ready to go, with about 5 test miles on it; there was a black one in the > crate, but I wanted the red one that was already set up. I asked about > how long it had been set > up and he said "several months," ever since Suzuki had authorized them to > sell off the remaining models (the 1983 had blacked out engines, and they > stopped making them in 1984). So the bike had sat for several months, not > several years, and I have had no trouble with it since putting 1,000 miles > a month on it over the last 17 months. > Ask the dealer when he set the bike up. You'll probably find he did it > only months ago. If so, don't worry about it. If it's been since 1983, then > I don't know what to recommend. > Good luck! I asked one person a question, here is his response: > do i think the price of leftovers drops faster than non-leftovers? > if there are only a few of the particular model and they go fast, > probably not too much. in the case of the vision, tho, they didn't > sell much at all during 82 and even 83, so most of everything built > was leftover and you could still get good buys on new leftovers > last year. this really made the used price plummet. as a general > rule, the existence of many leftovers at real fire-sale prices > knocks the bottom out of the used bike market. i think the leftover > binge is coming to an end as the manufactures have recognized they > grossly over estimated the market growth, so hopefully things will > firm up for the new models. as for those of us that bought leftovers, > i think we made out like bandits at the dealers and will have to > pay the piper when/if we sell. > > would i do it again? that's really hard to say. i wanted the vision > when it first came out, before it became a leftover and then an orphan. > i've been really happy with it. it suits my style of riding --- mostly > mid-range touring, not just highway trolling, but not excessively > agressive either. the fact that it was only a 2 year production run > and isn't super interchangeable with other models means that you're > limited to yamaha parts ($$$$$) in a lot of cases, but such is life. > the only thing cheap about motorcycles is the gas. i don't intend > to go for another bike in the next couple of years, so the whole > question of doing it again will probably be moot by then. > given that test riding a new bike before > purchasing it is almost non-existant, the mag reviews are much > more important than when buying a car. There it is! Many thanks to all who responded to my question. Here in Central Illinois we're allowed to test ride, so I think I'm going to try out: an '82 CB750F They're asking $1800 an '83 KZ750 (chain drive, although I may try an '82 KZ750 Spectre- shaft, and real sharp looking!) an '82 Yamaha Virago - V-twin; not the real thing, but I don't have the cash for a Hog right now. They want $1950 for this one. an '83 Yamaha Maxim and lastly, an '86 Yamaha Radian - yup, it's this year's model. $2400 for a sharp little 600 cc bike. They look like a real good deal- they use parts from their older models, like the FJ600 (engine), so there's hopefully plenty of parts to be available for years to come. It's gotten raves from all the magazine personnel that have ridden it that I read. -- {ihnp4,convex,pur-ee}!uiucdcs!schwager schwager%uiuc@csnet-relay.arpa University of Illinois, Dept. of Computer Science