I often see post by folks with very recent bikes trading in for the latest and greatest. Very often I see it with touring model owners, but it certainly isn't limited to them. Of course with the new M8's out I'm seeing in more so, but even before seems like ever time I turned around I was reading about somebody getting rid of a bike only a few years older than the new one they were acquiring.

So what's wrong with the older bikes? Got money burning a hole in your pocket? Just have to have the latest and greatest? I know some put a lot of miles on their rides annually, but trading up for new bike when the current one is only 1 or 2 years old? So what's causing your itch?

 

Everyone is different. Some like the latest and newest. Some feel that they must trade up when the warrant runs out
Others like myself enjoy getting a bargain on the garage Queens. I had a car I drove for 19 years. It's just needed to get me from point A to B

 

 

Really? That's what was bugging you when you got up this morning? Why do people want new bikes instead of perfectly good used bikes? Winter is officially here.

 

 

Actually, nothing was bugging me when I got up this morning. Well... Other than having to actually get up.

 

If I had to tell you , you wouldn't understand.................

 

Honestly, I don't have a problem with people's fascination with the new bikes.

Because of the fascination of the new, there has never been a better time to be a contrarian and buy a 2016 touring bike. The 103 is rock solid. I almost upgraded from a Heritage to a 2016 street glide as the dealer near me was taking 4-5k off of SGS msrp.

I'm glad harley continues to move the needle. The new engine should be popular for a long time.

 

I'm interested to hear what's better about 2017 versus 2014 or something, may help my shopping that will occur in the not so distant future, but as they keep pumping out uplevel engines, ie 103, 107.. whatever is next, and you start to see features like ABS that may not have been on your bike a few years ago, there are reasons I think, nice to have latest & greatest.

Myself I haven't bought a used bike yet but with cars/trucks I'm generally into buying new, then beating the hell out of what I own, putting it off and/or doing bare minimal maintenance while I rack up miles, then about when it's paid off I can no longer get a sticker because of an impractical list of things to fix (ie 3 things causing check engine codes that are $3000 to fix on a vehicle that's only worth $3000 due to poor overall condition).. then I carefully shop for the perfect fully loaded latest & greatest model, keep the old vehicle as a a spare until something actually breaks that is too expensive to fix and keeps it from being driven anymore, and begin the process of destroying a new vehicle .. Other people pay all the $$ to keep something maintained over it's full life, others try to get rid of things before they become $$ pits.

I see nearly new Harley's sitting out in the driveway all winter from time to time, my guess is some of those owners treat the bike the way I treat my cars, except maybe they try to trade them in before the lack of care really starts showing. It all depends how you look at it.

I've known one person who buys a new snowmobile and another who buys a new outboard for their boat every year. Why? Well they figure the lost $$ for trade-up (say it was 5K a season) is well worth it to assure a great season with a new machine, call it $400 a month as a round number, not really that outrageous, all depends how you look at it, and you never pay a dime for service that way because it's always warrantied (not to mention I bet those people get a great deal).

Jon

 

Why do you even care? If I want to buy a new bike every 6 months, and I can afford it, I don't really care what anyone else thinks about my purchase.

I have no clue what the basis of your question is. Move on, dude.