www.boxertrix.com

Been looking at KTM and GS lately. Got a trade in price for my 2001, 33,000m, S. Bloody hell, just £2,500. Seems like a whole lot of bike for that so kinda tempted to keep hold of the old girl a bit longer.

What experience have you had with the recent trades?

Rgds,

Rob

Hi Rob

Time of year for a start,means the dealer at the very least will be sat on it till next march,thats his profit margin from what ever he sells you,the sad fact anything with over 15,000 miles is high mileage!!,new model out as well!!!,Lloyd and i have had this conversation no end of times,i've already financially written mine off,i think Lloyds accountant valued his at under 1500 quid.

Were back to buying with head and heart thing,i bought my S as a long termer(very) it'll be my vintage ride out on new years day in the end!!!,crude,basic,easy to look after,no rad or water worry about,although when it's freezing cold and pissing down with rain wouldn't want to use anything else when we go to Le-Mans in april!!!,haveing said all that still looking for my bumble bee non abs/esa K1200s!!!,after 7 years of my S and 6 years of my Tiger, in dire need an horsepower injection!!!!.

Chris

Offered 2k for mine against a K12S at SL Motorcycles and a Sprint 1050 at Metropolis...

Mine would require a few hundred quid and a bit of time lavishing on it to make it a good clean stock bike (new fasteners, paint to fork legs, new valve covers, seat repair, new grips) but its the really the mileage that killed it - 36k

We're trying to sell bikes to a market that pampers their pride & joy in a warm garage for 360 days of the year and only rides on a sunny sunday.

I foresee lots of couriers running round on BCRs next year.

Ade.

It's a sad fact but thats the way it is,you can counteract the market by the way you buy,pottering of to your local dealer and doing the P/X is just the most expensive way i can think of,bought my first new bike in 1974 and didn't go anywhere near a dealer till 97,all the rest were bought and sold privately,more hassle but far cheaper.

Bought my first Tiger in 99,P/X it two years latter in 2001 cost £2500,afterwards thought feck this, keep the bike 4 years i've got 5 grand to spend and still got the bike!!!.

It seems that most reasonable motorcycles only drop to around £2K value regardless of age or state, up to the point they become real sheds when the value drops another grand.

Mileage, once it has affected value by being 'high', makes no further significance the higher it gets, so racking up more miles hurts the value to no appreciable difference. It may hurt resale appeal, but if you're p/x-ing it then it's not your problem. BMs are, perhaps, less affected by high mileage as it is in line with customer expectation.

I was tempted to keep my 1200 Bandit as a second bike but convinced myself I wouldn't really ride 2, nor want to keep the B12 only for winter. Even with all the goodies (Ohlins, usds etc) it wasn't worth a huge amount - 7 year old bike, 36K, 'survivability-tested' {cough}, new ones on a second facelift and only £4500 new - so I broke it instead. Sold it off via personal contacts, user forums and finally fleaBay. May have gone for £2K complete, perhaps a little more, but achieved £3300 after deducting fees with just a couple of bits to go.

With the Bandit, that's quite easy because they are common enough to have a good user base and share parts with other models. For an S it may not be quite so easy, but a little research may show whether or not that's a reasonable proposition. Just make sure you get rid of the big expensive bits first to stop the tempation from rebuilding it after selling off some small bits you really like, such as heated grips, or wheels so you can move it around.

You're better keeping away from dealers altogether, buying private and keeping your bike for a long long time. It's really insane how quick people trade in against new models only to get ripped off a second time (the first was buying a new bike). You can almost buy a decent bike privately for the VAT amount due under a new one. It's all gone completely crazy. I reckon the best way to treat new models is to take them out on test rides as that helps getting the monkey off ones back so to speak then go back to the old mount. I was looking at the Gran Turisimo at the weekend and its a joke at £14,500 with extra's. It's basically a jap engine with BMW shaft drive and panniers. I wonder if the cams run directly in the head without proper shell bearings........I would'nt be surprised taking into account BM's insistence on lowering quality standards.

If I had a pocket full of cash,.. I'd spend Saturday afternoons at the local BMW dealership offering quick cash to every guy/girl who walked out having just heard the bad news about the 'Trade-in Value of their beloved S'. Surely,.. there must be private money to be made by offering the poor 'S' owner a few hundred more than Mr BMW would and then shifting it via eBay etc. Some of the valuations seem criminal.
It would be interesting to see how the dealerships story about the '1100S' and the 'Time of Year' changes according to wether you are trading one in,.. or buying a used one from them.

Geoff

In my BM dealer saturday,they were telling me it wasn't uncommon to sell 2/3 bikes to the same person in a year!!!!,hence why i was telling e'm i wanted a k1200s no abs/esa so years down the line there was alot less to go wrong,apart from the fact i hate abs,would put a good Ohlin up against the esa anytime of the day.

winger wrote:It's a sad fact but thats the way it is,you can counteract the market by the way you buy................................................................................all the rest were bought and sold privately,more hassle but far cheaper.

Not by the time you've costed all the time/phone calls to HM Customs

Yea Yea !!!!! very funny!!!!

winger wrote:Yea Yea !!!!! very funny!!!!

I thought so but apologies to the rest of the board who aren't IN on the joke

'When' sorry 'IF' i get hold of my XT i'll tell e'm!!!!

boxerpan wrote:I thought so but apologies to the rest of the board who aren't IN on the joke

I'm IN and nobody has told me anything

You are not the first and you won't be the last.

sandbar

winger wrote:would put a good Ohlin up against the esa anytime of the day.

I've ridden a K1200S, K1200R and R1200RT all with ESA and from my point of view it's a brilliant system. Being able to change suspension settings (and you really can tell the difference between them) while on the move depending on the road and/or your mood is great, if a little gimicky. The preload adjustment at the push of a button is also useful for someone like me who rides a lot with a pillion and can never remember whether he's got preload set for solo or two-up without winding it all the way out and starting again..... But you can only use their pre-set settings, not tune it to suit your own weight/riding style which is slightly limiting.

But ESA is sold on ease of use/adjustment - I don't think anyone would argue that it competes with Ohlins in terms of quality. If I was looking for a K1200S (I prefer the boxers, personally - got off a brand new K1200S onto my 6 year old GS and it didn't feel slow!) I'd probably take an ESA bike if it was going for the right price and otherwise with the right spec but reckon on junking the system in favour of Ohlins if and when it started going expensively wrong a few years down the line. I'm not sure that the K1200S and R are built with long-term affordability in mind.......