I've seen FXR's and Dyna's selling for what a used Sportster 1200 goes for lately. Any money you put into customizing is pretty much a loss unless you hold out for a buyer that really likes YOUR bike. The new "dark" softails aren't going to help out Dyna resale, either.

 

Economy.

 

When you get serious about selling it you will price it to sell. Two years ago, my '09 cost $9k. This may not be the hottest selling season but, if you can't sell your bike, now, it will be because you allowed it to become a stale listing by advertising it, for months, w/ an inflated asking price.

Make sure your bike has been well detailed before photographing it. Take quality, clear, well focused photos; include close-ups of any issues. State clearly and completely the bikes condition, including all issues. Have clear title in your hand or, at the very least, a fast-track path in place. Make yourself instantly available to any prospective buyer. Decide if you will allow test-rides. Make sure all service and maintenance is up to date and include mention of these records in the listing. Advertise everywhere practical and allowed.

Be realistic.

 

I paid 8 for mine last year but its an 07, with about 1500 worth of upgrades i wanted.

I think around 9 or so would be right for yours

 

Hate to say it, but this should be a lesson to prospective buyers. Don't buy a bike unless you are a biker. If you are a wannabe, waste your money on something else. I'm not saying you are a wannabe....I sold mine because I lost my *** on a house and sold the bike to get some revenue, but alot of folks buy them as status symbols and later realize it's just a huge lump of money sitting in the garage.

 

Well, greenstreetbob, I AM a rider. I have reasons for selling the bike that readers on this site do not need to know, so give the judgements a rest please. I guess I was living in fantasyland, expecting to sell the bike for what it is actually worth. Thx for the input.

 

worth only has to do with what someone will pay for it

 

As a former car salesman (19 years ago), I can tell you that there are a few problems with Kelly Blue Book.

It is good for basic comparisons and to keep from overpaying, but it does mislead a lot of people. There are a number of problems with basing your pricing on KBB.

The suggested retail price that they give online for motorcycles is the average asking price at the dealer. No one will actually pay the dealer the asking price, and few people will pay private parties anywhere near what they would pay a dealer. A dealer is a one stop shop where you can get financing and they deal with the MVA and registering your bike for you, for many of us that is worth a premium. Add the common expectation that the dealer will back up the purchase, and sometimes an actual warranty, and people will pay the dealer more for the same bike.

The next issue is that KBB doesn't give current average prices. They give average prices based on some past time period. So they go back, what, 3 months, 6 months, the average for the past year? At any rate, since used vehicles (especially late-model vehicles like your bike) continue to depreciate, today's average asking prices are not what they were when KBB compiled the data and the price you see is already obsolete. You always see used car dealers advertising that their prices are below KBB, there is a reason they can do that.

The KBB price that you get on the website is based on a bike in "excellent" condition. KBB "excellent" condition is a fully reconditioned vehicle. If your bike is not in brand new condition, new or nearly new tires, any scratches have been buffed out, no chips, not any imperfections, then it is not in "excellent" condition and is worth less than KBB.

Finally, the price is based on what they determine to be average miles. For a 2010 with 750cc or more displacement which is not a touring bike, KBB says your bike should only have 3300 miles. You are over 3 times that, so it will be worth significantly less than the reported values you see online.

According to KBB, your bike in brand new condition would be advertised (but probably not actually sold) by a dealer for over $12k if the miles were no more than 3300 if it was sold during the time period they actually gathered their data. At your miles, sold by you, now and not months ago, and in the condition it is actually in will make that a lot lower. KBB says trade in value for your bike in "good" condition is $9300, but given it is based on 3300 miles and a previous time period, I doubt you'd actually get that if you traded.

Further, as others have said, we live in a capitalist economy (thank God). Anything you have to sell is worth as much as someone else will pay for it and no more. It appears that the market in your area won't pay what you want.

I suggest that you take it to a dealer to find what they'd pay you for the bike to give you a bottom line number. You know not to take less than that. Then, figure how much your time and effort to sell it yourself is worth to you, and if you don't get an offer above that, then you may want to either keep it or just trade it. If you don't want to take the time to get a quote from a dealer, take some time and shop the classifieds for bikes like yours in your area and see how they are being priced (and ideally, note how long they take to sell at that price). My guess is that realistically a price where you will actually be able to sell it is $1000-1500 over the actual trade-in value (not the reported KBB trade-in value). Best case scenario, you are probably priced $500-1000 too high for your asking price, and you'll probably get $1000-1500 less than you are asking.

 

Jeff--Really good post.

 

Yep, I agree, finally someone put to words what most folks know, KBB is almost never right