Currently have an 84 FLHTC I bought in 88. Reluctantly I am going to replace it. 23 years is probably long enough to wait and I am tired of the downtime. So the hunt begins for the great used bike deal.

Probably going to go RK but I am remaining open to other opportunities so I am not looking for advice on which particular bike to choose although I may come back for that later. I have scanned posts in this forum and y’all are very knowledgeable and willing to share

I know there are no rules for what a bike is worth. What I am looking for is either rules of thumb or some internet resource just to use as a first cut. Kelley Blue Book is an obvious first stop. Yes I know bikes become different depending on mods; miles, etc etc. But as a first cut how would a ‘good deal’ relate to either the trade-in or retail values? Are there other resources?

Easy to find asking prices on bikes all over the place but a lot of those are fantasies; especially from those who think they are going to get full value for their mods.

 

I think 05 is a great year for rk and offer incredible value, what's ur budget? You could probably get a clean one for 9500. Good luck.

 

Can you offer a little more information , such as budget, year range, miles range, etc? A good place to begin is to decide what features/options are important to you. ABS, frame design, cat, no cat, fuel injection vs carb, etc.

For starters, i can tell you that most recently, i bought two used bikes in 2 years. First, a 2008 Heritage with 500 miles on it, and just last week sold it and turned around and bought a 2009 Road King with 5500 miles on it. ABS and the new frame design were must haves for me.

Price: You mentioned KBB. For trade in value, I have been offered KBB trade in value +/- $1000 depending on what bike i was considering to trade in for. I decided to sell on my own and came out ahead by $1200.

For purchase, I would never pay KBB retail for a used bike (unless it was a "might as well be" brand new 2011). Unfortunately (fortunately for you) in today's economy, lots of bikes for sale way under KBB. Ive done a lot of research before pulling the trigger on both bikes mentioned above. It definitely depends on whether you buy from a dealer or private individual, but regardless, I think a reasonable range to consider would be $1000-$2000 under KBB retail (depending on mods). Although many would say they dont take mods into consideration when talking price, I do.

Hope that helped a little.

Good luck.

 

Thanks - the 1K to 2K under retail gives me a starting point. I am not planning to buy at a dealership although I am going to visit all the local ones.

What I am trying to avoid is wasting my time on some of the offerings. Craig's list this morning has an 04 RK Custom with 11K miles. Some mods - OK. But he shouts "NO LOWBALLERS' and lists it for $16,900 while KBB has it for somewhere around $12K

The actual ad text - 04" Road King, only 11K miles!! 16" Chubby Apes, braided Lines, chromes switch covers, Fatty daddy spoke matching wheels 21" FRONT, Bassani TRUE duals with power curve, Chrome front end, screaming eagle intake, screaming eagle fuel pack, custom seats, windshield, Bike is MINT

 

Keep lookin....look also on cycletrader.com and at metric dealers...i find that some metric dealers sell HD for less and HD dealers sell metrics for less....Bought my wifes first bike at HD dealer for $2500 and traded the next year at a metric dealer for another metric for $2600...

 

I would try to narrow down the choice of bike you want to get first then start shopping around and see what that one is going for. Then go to the bank and ask them what the loan value of it is. It's going to be less than KBB, that's for sure.

I spent 6 months of daily searching on the internet, newspapers, and bikes for sale on the side of the road before I found the exact one I wanted.

 

A great place to research actual sales of Harleys is E-Bay. I sold my bike myself and looked for months for a new ride. I even built a simple spreadsheet to compare bikes listed on E-Bay that resulted in a completed sale. I started with the base cost of a new Harley I wanted FLHX. Then added the cost of new options I wanted and the cost of tax and prep fees. This gives you a base to start from. I then entered the used ones that sold, adding the options on them and compared to the cost of new. Even added in a cost factor of $1.00 per mile for a pick up cost. You quickly can see what people are actually paying for what you want. I ended up buying a bike on E-Bay 350 miles away but felt like I paid a fair price and have been very happy. Of course this bike was exactly what I wanted, just wondering how in the hell I spent over $2,500 more in accessories since then?

 

ok..here's a "guideline",from me, on pricing..it is just my opinion, and some will no doubt disagree...but I will say this..I am a MA State Licensed Appraiser, and deal with total loss values all the time for ins co's...so here goes...

Touring Bikes
Brand New Bike: price---whatever best deal you can get off of list(good luck)
09-10 Road King----------$16,500-18,500 (mileage and model matter)
07-08 Road King-----------13,500-16,500
02-06 Road King-----------$9,000-13,500
99-01 Road King-----------8,000-9,000
Below 1999 (EVO)---------6500-8500

add $500 for Electra Glide Classic's
add $700 for ULTRA's

 

Thanks guys. That was all very helpful.

Now I just need lightning to strike when I am looking