As most of you know I am actively looking for a ride. I should be buying in about 2-4 wks. My wife got all her leathers yesterday and I'm next.

The question I have is about used bikes and mileage. I'm not talking about how many miles a bike will go, but how much is too much? I have been looking at a Heritage here locally that I thought I would make and offer on but it is and 01' and they are asking $13,995 for it. Now I think that is way too much for an 8 yr. old bike. So I am going to pass on that one. However it does have only 16K miles.

I was also looking at a 04 Heritage but it has 30K miles. How many miles is average on a bike? I have heard 3K up to 6K a year.

 

Aren't you going to fuss anyone out?

 

LOL! You gonna answer my question?

 

I don't know if I'd worry as much about miles per year as I would about just overall miles. If I were buying used, I'd look for a 2-3 year old bike with less than 20,000 miles, or a 1 year old garage ornament with under 3,000 miles that some RUB decided was getting in the way of the Miata.

 

Depending on miles I wasn't going below 03'. You think I'd have a better chance finding a better deal from a private seller before a dealer?

 

10k a year is high, you can buy a new fatboy for $14k

 

Avg Miles per year......I guess much would depend on......where you live. If you live in a climate which you can ride year round, I would expect much higher mileage per year vs. someone who may live up in Alaska.

That being said, I live in the Chicago area, number of riding months varies on the weather, and if you know Chicago, there is no telling if that could be 5 months, or 10.

That being said, my 01 Wide Glide has a little over 70K miles, and my Ole ladies 03 Low Rider has a little over 48K.

It's not always the mileage that's important, but how well it was maintained, and how it was ridden, and by who.......

I'd rather buy a scoot with 30K miles from a well maintainted scoot which was ridden by someone who wrenched his own bike..........vs........a scoot with only 10K miles......but has gone thru 5 rear tires.

Respects,
Ed

 

Without a doubt. The private seller doesn't have overhead or payroll to meet, and is far more desperate to sell his one, lone bike than the dealer is to sell one of the dozens of used bikes he has in inventory. If you find a bike you like for $14,000, offer ten. You just might get lucky.

 

Good Advice! That is what I'm going to do. Lots of bikes out there currently so I gotta be patient. I have started e-mailing HD dealerships today with all the stuff I was looking for. I e-mailed about 15 dealerships. I they want they can get back to me if not then I will move on. I figured that was better than riding all over creation looking at bikes.

I agree that the private is going to be the way to go though. I have a beauty in FL. It's a 04 Heritage w/ 30K. He wants 10,500 for it. Last week it was 11,500 so he's really trying to move it. Construction business is killin him.

 

I live in SC so there are really only about 3-4 wks. total out of the year you actually really couldn't ride collectively. This past weekend it was 22 deg. in the morning but warmed up and there were plenty out riding at 45 degrees.