Brand new. You have a color choice, then. Plus, it's brand new. Brand-new.

Make mine brand new.

 

And the next day it becomes used. For years Iwould only buy new and then I got this hair and went to ebay and bought my one year old 1200 C with 1300 miles and I've been hooked on used ever since. The original owner lost between 3 andf 4 thousand and I got what was and still is a perfect motorcycle.

I was so jazzed about my good find that I thenmade my first used car purchase in years. I bought a 5 year old Mazda Miata with 14,000 miles on it.It too is absolutely perfect.

It's a great feeling to come out on the winning end for a change.

 

I'll stick with buying low mileage, used bikes, and let someone else take the huge depreciation hit...

With all the weekend warriors that purchase a Harley, with plans to try and escape into another reality, only to find that they hardly even ride the bikes, it's a buyers market.

 

Buying new is great if that's what turns your crank but also a great way to loose a bunch of money the minute you leave the dealers driveway. There are plenty of very low mileage sporties out there in great condition bought by Wanabe RUBs looking to sell. The savings can more than pay for the options to deck the bike out first class.

 

The only problem with buying used is that there can be many unknowns (e.g. did they break in the bike properly? service in a timely manner? ride like a raped ape?... etc.). Service records and a mechanics inspectioncan help answer some questions; but buying used is always a risk.

 

I'd go used on the 04 - must have service records, but take cHarley's advice with a lower offer. My initial offer would be much less. I've seen fantastic 04-05's go for cheap. Start in the low 6's. All she can do is say no to the offer; hopefully, she won't be too mad to listen to a counter. Who knows, she may have to sell.
Like it's been said above, it's a buyer's market.

 

The '04 sounds like the best deal to me.

 

I have never bought abrand new motorcyle or car. I guess that's why I have no monthly payments to make. $2,000.00 or $3,000.00 saved adds up in a hurry at compounded interest.

 

Look at it this way. Someone has to take the $3K-4K loss to take a new bike and make it used. If not, there would be no used bikes to buy. So the question is...who wants to take the deprication hit....not me!! I have never made a motorcycle payment...and never will.

 

I hear what you are saying, but some people are willing to take huge hits when selling low mileage bikes.

My Softail FatBoy is an extreme example, but shows that there are great deals out there, if you look hard enough.

My Softail was 3 years old when I bought it, but the previous owner rode it very little, and he had receipts showing a total investment of over $22,000. He was an older gentleman, and had purchased a larger touring model for him and his wife, so the FatBoy just set for the most part.

I had a couple of my HD mechanic friends check out the bike, and it was in better than new condition, with zero flaws, and it had many extra's. Had new tires, new brakes, high dollar detachable passenger backrest/luggage rack, detachable leather saddlebags, detachable windshield, all kind of extra chrome, Screamin Eagle intake and exhaust, Screamin Eagle Race Tuner, recent dyno tune, etc., etc...

Apparently he didn't care about the loss, as he accepted a cash offer of slightly over $13,000, which was an investment loss of over $9,000. [8D]