It looks like the first Yamaha factory Superbike race team

 

Yamaha for its 06 cruiser line up is loosing the 'Yamaha' name. Instead they are going with the name 'Star', and the 'Star' line, in an effort to sound less Jap. The things that plaque jap bikes is the continued change in year model. To market a jap bike currently the emphasis is placed on cc, and here lately, it is more referenced to ci (cubic inch). This is mainly a more drastic attempt to better capture the HD market. Year model sensitivity is also a huge factor in part replacement in that parts for the same model may not fit a different production year, after which with age parts will become obsolete, making the bike disposable, and killing the resale. My thoughts are if you want a cheaper imitation and plan on driving your money out of it then you may be happy with a plastic (metric) bike, but if you want a bike that you dont have to dispose of once it becomes vintage keep with the HD. You can rebuild them time and time again, instead of having to buy another one, not to mention the difference in the cost of replacement parts.

 

As to "Joe Scote" and your Shadow example. See the ebay link for a 2004 Shadow going for $2000. Sound like good resale to me.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=50008

 

Ok now that evertbody got worked up over my last post of "Road King Classic Vs. Yamaha Road Star Midnight Silverado" For those of you who don't believe in resale I say it must be nice to be rich. We all know that at some point in our lives we won't be able to ride(maybe around 90 years old) however if you think that you are going to get anything in the long run with a subpar Harley, just do a advance search on Ebay for motorcycles say 1980 to 1990 & see what you get. I will save you the trouble. You see a lot of tired metrics that won't sell for even a couple of hundred bucks. And you will see the Harleys in nice shape selling for close to of more then MSRP. Harley owners most if not all of the time have more pride in their bike & keep them up. I don't see a Yamaha or Honda forum that get 1000's of hits a day

 

I just traded in my 2003 Shadow for $3500 and that was trade in value. That guy is just giving his bike away!

 

See post from today regarding Bike Police Officer meeting!

 

I still have my Intruder because I won't give it away, and the going price here in So Cal is around $3000. Paid 11,000 for my '91 Softail Springer and sold it in '03 for 12,500. Granted I put a 'bucket of bucks' in it over the years, but it still was a 1991. The only reason the Jap...excuese me Metric Cruisers are selling is because they are copying HD designs.

I mentioned this in another forum. Wife and I were at a local bike night. Some **** rode up next to me on his Yamaha and said his bike looked just like mine, except it cost a lot less. I told him his bike was probably faster, more dependable, and mechanically more up to date than mine. Funny, the only thing you could say about your own bike is that it is a cheap piece of s**t. Guess that is the difference between a Harley and the Metric look-a-likes.

We will ride with anyone. Ja...Sorry, Metric, 3 wheel, just want to ride and have fun. Oh, and eat.

 

I would have said "Thats great! My bike doesnt have a **** sitting on it"

 

....

 

I owned a 04 Midnight Star Silverado 1700 when I bought my 1st Harley. I bought an 05 Ultra Classic. Now to compare the two bikes, both have pros and cons IMHO. I really liked both bikes. The HD has the stereo,cb,intercom, hard bags and trunk where as the Yamaha did not. The HD handles better in the curves, but the Yamaha was alot more stretched out and more comfortable. I rode the Yamaha 753 miles in one day and felt pretty good, tired but not sore. My HD does not give me that feeling that I can go that many miles in one day without getting sore (stiff). As far as resale, no comparison. HD beats the Yamaha hands down. My Yamaha was a $13,000.00 + bike with allthe extras I had added. It had 11,000 miles on it when I sold it and I was able to only get $9500.00 out of it. The HD I bought was totalled out 3 months after I bought it. It had 2500 miles on it and i had $23,500 invested in it. I got $23,004.00 on the insurance settlement. In the end, i liked both bikes. they both have their pluses and minuses, its all in the owner in which he likes best. I replaced my Hd with another Ultra Classic. Oh and the Midnight star 1700 is belt drive.