Do harley davidsons hold their value like in the past?
orchard_littlejoe asked:
All bikes depreciate to some point but Harley was one bike that didn’t depreciate as much. I was told “today” it depreciates pretty much like all the rest. Is this true?
All bikes depreciate to some point but Harley was one bike that didn’t depreciate as much. I was told “today” it depreciates pretty much like all the rest. Is this true?
December 11th, 2008 at 1:56 am
From what I can tell in the used bike market here ( Toronto, Canada ), used Harley’s still retain their value.
December 11th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
As long as they are not an AMF Harley Davidson. Those where built from 74 til 80 I believe.
December 14th, 2008 at 11:36 am
I think that Harley’s still retain their “value” just as they have in the past. Really you will never lose money on a Harley. The problem I see is not so much the cost, but instead with the reason you want a motorcycle is the first place. I want one for having fun, not worrying about “value”. Have fun with your new bike.
December 17th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
I think that the true value falls like the rest…but people are always going to be willing to pay more for a Harley, because it says Harley…its a status symbol…most new bikes are all made really good but a Harley is just that…and people are willing to pay for the name.
December 20th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
for the most part Harley’s hold there value pretty good compared to the Japanese bikes
December 22nd, 2008 at 9:16 am
Myth. “Holding their value” is relative to the value of less expensive imports. H-D hires a marketing genius .
December 22nd, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Not as bad as most but nowhere near as well as the old ones
December 24th, 2008 at 7:18 am
I keep hearing about how Harleys never depreciate and other bikes are quickly worthless. You hear it so many times that you just assume it must be true. But when it comes to anything Harley related….a person might be smart to not believe everything people in the harley cult tell you.
My quick and lazy look-see in the nada bluebook. I picked two bikes at random and the year at random, ymmv.
05 Harley FLSTFI fatboy softtail
New msrp $16500
Average used $12400
05 Honda VTX1300c
New msrp $9600
Average used $7200
Draw your own conclusions or better yet do your own bluebook survey and see what you find.
December 25th, 2008 at 10:14 am
California: They hold their price pretty well.
But these days, I see that metric bikes are holding price too — people are selling their bikes on Craigslist from 1989-1994 for about the same price they bought them new, even though they now have 20K miles on ‘em.
As for the AMF comment someone put above, an AMF Harley that runs will fetch a good price. You KNOW it’s been rebuilt.
December 27th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Each time Harley changes to a new motor, bikes with the old style motor tend to depreciate a little more. You will suffer depreciation on any new vehicle purchase, but a used bike can remain fairly stable in value over time. If you live in a state that has recently adopted CA or NY emission standards, you may find that the pre 2006 bikes are becomming worth more. Many of them will be grandfathered in for smog requirements and they do not have oxygen sensors on the exhaust pipes so you can modify the exhaust without having to worry about how it effects the fuel injection.
December 27th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
HD forever!!!
December 28th, 2008 at 8:05 am
The reason the majority of Harley’s hold their value, is low mileage. They have to work on them more than they ride them. Check the motorcycle traders, and compare the Harley’s to ALL other brands. Still three times as many Harley’s. The market is now flooded with them, therefore the theory of supply and demand comes to play. You can drive through any town and find several “newer” Harley’s for sell. Making them harder to sell so prices have to come down.
December 31st, 2008 at 4:47 pm
They depreciate slower than the others is probably the more accurate way to state it. A harley will still lose value unless it’s vintage. But the other brands lose much more value faster.
But buying and selling in the right markets goes a long way. Take my bike as an example, I have an 01 Sportster 1200 std. In th US new, it probably cost around $11,000
I am a Canadian, I bought it out of the US for $4500, but at home in Canada, I can sell it today for $8500. No way I’d get that in the US, but that’s the difference between markets.
Doesn’t seem like a bad deal to me