High mileage bikes are hard to sell. My 05 Heritage had 34k and no one wanted to even look at it. So when i got ready to sell the 06 Ultra with 42k i decided to trade it in. 16 months later they still have it on the floor.

 

the harley dealer isn't in business to break even. look around next time you go into their showroom. someone has paid for all that extravagant woodwork and tile work, etc. it's us, man. i agree with harley 0711's comment with, "why not just keep what you got?" sure the newer ones have some upgrades, but i'd not trade my 08 streetglide in towards a 2010 and likely not for a 2011 either. just ride what you have and enjoy it. i don't jump through hoops for the "newest and greatest" just because it's there. you've had almost 50k miles of pleasure on your bike and it will likely give you many more years of service. good luck with whatever you decide.

 

Do not feel insulted. You took your bike in to trade, or see what they could do. Trading is a CONVENIENCE for us,,, the dealers do not want them. Yours would have gone to a wholesaler for sure. They would not have tried to sell it I bet.

So if you don't need the down payment per sey,,, then sell it and buy the new one. Or buy the new one and sell it later. (In MO. you have 180 days to sell what you would have traded in, and get a refund for the sales tax on what you sold it for.) So, if you move quick enough, you get the benefit that someone above mentioned. (That you wouldn't have to pay sales tax on the trade)

 

Here in Washington, if you sell your bike yourself, you can have the dealer do a "pass through" on the paperwork for a couple of hundred bucks. They take possession of your title, then pass it along to the buyer. Then the sales price of the new bike will reflect the price you sold your old bike as a trade in. The dealership gets a couple of hundred bucks for basically doing 3 minutes of paperwork, but you save a bunch in sales tax.

 

Seems they only try to sell the real cherry trades the rest they wholesale. Been watching ebay and only a few bikes are selling.

 

like mentioned too many low mile bikes flooded the market...49k on a 2007 would be a real hard sell. the better part of the bike has been used up...and you enjoyed it... what would you choose if you were looking and for about 2500 bucks more you can get a 07 with say 6000 miles?

 

I do not think the figure they gave you was unreasonably low. Any smart business person leaves some room for negotiating. What were they selling you the bike for? If they were knocking off a big hunk of money from the new bike, you would have to expect less for your trade. As far as selling it outright, that never works out for me. End up wasting so much time dealing with idiots with no money and then having to make up the difference in sales tax never seems to be worth it to me.

 

It has always been that way.For that matter you would really be pissed buying a new machine and try trading it same year.

 

My Brother in law just got lucky.. They gave him $12k for his 07 Softtail 11k miles. He traded it in on an 07 Ultra that wanted $17,999 for it it has 15k miles.. Book on his bike is 9300.00 He has pipes and a thundermax on it with some added zoomies.. But nothing special.

It's the dealers I think.. I was offered 14k for my SG. Which is KBB..

 

That does seem kinda low to me. Last month I traded my 05 EGC in on an 2010 EGC. They gave me 9800 on my 05 that had just under 70K miles. Then the knocked a ton of the new bike.19K out the door before trade in. Very happy with this deal.
I would think they would deal better than that sence the 11"s will be out next week or so.