Good luck, but I would hang on to the bikes as long as I could.

 

Sorry for your misfortune. I really do hope your bike sells soon and your wife fully recovers.

I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum as I'm just getting into the buying market. I'm actually going to test ride a few bikes tomorrow to see which model I want to pursue.

Like another guy said some people are asking way to much for used bikes (not saying you are) considering how flooded the market is. People put $3K in chrome on their bikes and expect to get it back when they go to sell. If a seller has a 2 year old bike with $3K in extra's is asking $1K less than a new bike, I'm going to buy a new bike.

I've seen some pretty darn good deals out there though. I'm just going to take my time and enjoy the experience.

 

I don't know about $15K-$16K on a 08 Softail Custom. I just checked the "Completed Listings" on e-bay for 08 Softail customs. They are getting bid up to around $12.5K to $14.5K. Maybe you see people ASKING $15K-$16K. Doesn't mean that's what they're selling for. And yes the market sucks right now. I had a 1989 Softail on e-bay, It only got bid up to $5100. Not worth selling it at that price. It's staying in the garage.

 

It's taken 20 years for the Harley-Davidson market to get this bad. It will take at least 10 years for it to improve very much.......... JMHO

 

+1 on that opinion. For many reasons, The market is flooded with Harleys and the factory keeps pumping out more and more. With the state of the economy few people have extra play money. The "baby boomer" generation is over. with globalization of everything the 'Ol "Buy American" motto is losing steam year by year. 10 years ago if you wanted a big cruising bike you had to pony up the cash for a Harley. Now Harley has to compete with Victory, Asian bikes and even Triumph who all make big touring bikes.

 

Money management, why so many pay interest on a depreciable, non essential item, I'll never understand. Glad I purchased used so that I could pay cash for and it's all mine. Now with all the used bargains, people are still trying to borrow to to buy MSRP new, go figure.

 

Agreed...H-D is cutting way back on production though. I think they really flooded the market with bikes the last few years and it's coming back to bite all of us. Re-sale value is down, new sales are down, re-po's are up.

My Dealer is large and has a big allocation and I've been noticing their Inventory is WAY down. On used bikes too. There's little or nothing in back either, while in the past, the place was over-flowing with bikes. Whether or not it's the MOCO cutting everyone back or the Dealer cutting back or a combination...it's obvious someone is not wanting to (or able) tie up cash in inventory that isn't moving.

A friend was chatting with a motor-cop just yesterday and he told her he goes to bike auctions. Said the H-D bike prices are way down and repo's are up. Said the H-D finance guy (Dallas TX) told him 60% of Harley financed bikes are being repo'd right now. However that statistic came to being (Dallas area or National) and whether or not it's true...moral is...we're in a heap of trouble still.

Glad mine are paid for!

 

three counterpoints:

1) for some of us, a bike is an essential item, and is the primary form of transportation.

2) someone has to buy new bikes or there wouldnt be any used bikes to buy.

3) as for financing, interest rates are low, so its actually a good time to buy on credit.

that said, im a cash/used buyer as well.

 

Harley flooded the market back in 2003 with the 100th Anniversary bikes, that model year was a 16 month production run (from memory) with every bike at or over (or WAY over) MSRP.....they cooked their own goose back then, and have been trying to recover sales ever since. Recessions are a way of life......and the "Great Recession" bit the MoCo hard.....hopefully the MoCo has enough of the "Glory Sales" fat to live off through this......

All this leads to what the OP is experiencing now.....a BS used bike market.

 

It became a buyers market when we didn't have to wait six months for a new bike when ordered. I don't sell my bikes as rule and I love this market. Just a matter of time before I pick up my third HD at the price I want and the model I am looking for.