I was recently in the market for a used bike. Started checking out the local dealerships and was blown away by the number of bikes there and elsewhere that had $800, $1,000, even $2,000 plus in mods on 'em...and had virtually NO miles on them.

I can understand one or two...but the damn things are everywhere! Don't people read up or test ride before they buy? I found my '13 with some nice mods on it and only 1,074 miles. Saw a Slim with 46 miles on it. Forty-six miles. Bunches of them with 2K or 3K miles...

I've only managed to get in about 12-13,000 miles a year lately, but I just can't figure out why so many people spend so much money and then don't ride...

Weird.

But sure makes for a nice used bike market for the rest of us, I guess.

 

Keep in mind that not everybody is broke.
Some people buy new "toys" whenever they get in the mood.

Low mile used HD's have always been around.

 

I know some people that have spent tons in mods and don't ride much at all. Others have modified the bike then got laid off, wife got pregnant etc. There's a whole lot of reasons people part with low mileage modded bikes. There loss is the new buyers gain in some cases.

 

Yea, saw a bunch of these when I stopped in at my local dealer yesterday as well. Must be some people out there with cash to burn.

 

Yeah, I know there are circumstances that can force a sale (been close to a few of 'em myself) - but a 2-3 year old bike with only 1,000 miles? Or a year old and 46 miles? Crazy.

But like ya said - good for us.

It just surprised me how many there were out there.

 

It is not unlike many of us that purchase a new ''starter kit'' modify it then sell/trade for another new ''starter kit'' months later. This revolving exchange is great for the secondary market. Considering the '13 that you picked up, you should be glad for this cycle.

 

Some of those bikes could be repos.

 

We're looking to move to an ultra so blows 2500 in mods. But I figure you don't really move up from an ultra and the wife has been extremely uncomfortable lately. Plus we need tunes!!

 

Just read this forum. New models come out and people just have to have them because they are so much better than the previous. (Who cares when you put on 2500 miles a year?) And everyone says 'If you can afford it, why not...' Well - Most people can't afford it.. and they blow thousands of dollars because they are stupid to be honest. They reset their payments for another 5 years and think they got a great deal because their payment stays the same..

Rich people didn't get that way because they make stupid decisions. One older guy I ride with does buy a new bike every 2 years.. but he rides like 25,000 miles a year, and doesn't do ANY mods, because as he admits, its a complete waste of money. He pays cash for each new bike. I'm guessing almost every one of these bikes you see on the showroom floor have been financed and people just keep rolling that over from bike to bike because they can 'afford the payment'.

And we wonder why nobody has any retirement money put aside. They'll worry about it when they are 70 years old and have no income and start voting for the guy that will give them the most cash because they planned poorly.

(My biased opinion as a 40 year old saving for retirement)

 

+1 on that...it's just an accounting trick really, rolling over the prior loan into a new one...the dealer laughing all the way to (their) bank...because people don't understand what their signing.

This is where dealers make their money: repeat customers who endlessly "upgrade" on one side of the coin, and get a well-disguised (but crappy) trade-in deal on the other.