High Bike Prices?

Blog Date - 13 April 2012

Eeeeeee…when I were a lad bikes wuz affordable…

Late last year I got it into my head that I wanted to replace my bike.  I never did, the Fazer’s still the best bike for my needs and its working as it should be.  But…well…you know…new toys and all that.  However looking around back then the bikes seemed to be reasonably priced and there were a few options that tweaked my interest in my price range.

I’ve just been looking again, out of interest.  YIKES!  A bike similar in mileage, age and condition to my scruffy old Fazer is up for sale at £1,700.  If I got £1,700 for my Fazer it would mean I’d owned the bike for 3 years and clocked up 23,000 miles over its 7,000 mile starting point for a loss of £400!  As far as depreciation goes I think that’s blooming marvellous! 

There’s a CB 250 (Two Fifty) for sale, the one with the CD200 motor bored out to 233cc.  I love these bikes, the motor’s bullet proof as I despatched a CD200 Benly, they sip fuel at 90mpg, look pretty groovy to my eyes and just seem to work well.  This one’s a minter but for £1,800 it seems high.  I thought about £1,200 would be about right. 

Old knackers seem to be fetching a grand.  Dirty old Diversions and BMW’s with high mileage command over £1,000 and as for 125’s, well, if it’s got 2 wheels and a month’s MOT left its still worth over £700. 

What is odd though is the mid price bikes don’t seem to have moved.  You can still pick up a very tidy ER6 for about £3,000 complete with low mileage, crash bars, service history and 3 months warranty(for what its worth, depends on the shop).  Similar options like 600 Hornets, Fazers and the delightful SV650 can be had for slightly less. 

Just seen an SV650, 2003, 8,000 miles and service history for just over £2,000.  Compare that to the £1,800 for the CB250 and the CB looks a bit silly.  The CB will do better mileage but it’s a lot less bike for a £200 saving. 

Perhaps there’s a trend here.  The mid range and mid price bikes are toys, bought by Sunday riders who can’t quite afford something silly.  Toys are a luxury and in these hard times luxuries are hard to justify.  Yet 125’s and 250’s are cheap to run and provide transport to daily commuters that look for economy, reliability and cheap spares.  I still find it hard to believe, but perhaps the rising fuel costs are driving up the prices of cheap bikes and halting the prices of “toys”.

It’s also possible it’s because it’s the start of the biking season…but that would force the price of the “toys” up.  Oh hell, what do I know.
 

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