slyguy wrote:
How many of you will buy a yami next? You may wind up with one, but you will consider offerings from kawi, honda, suzuki, hd, etc.


The yamaha R* looks much better than that of any honda, kawi, suzuki, and is less expensive to buy and WAY less to maintain than a HD. For me, i wouldnt even consider anything other than a R*.


I dont like the stylings of the vulcan, the shadow or whatever suzuki has. Im a pretty loyal follower.

MitchellNJ wrote:
Mr_Shamrock wrote:
I will NEVER buy a new bike ever again!
I have absolutely no regrets buying a brand new 2007 R*MS leftover for $9k. Like you said, it's impossible for me to lose $10k.

I understand there is definitely alot to be said for new. You know the full history of the bike for one thing and with all the financing specials they run it makes alot of sense for certain budgets. You have to admit though, if you shop around the used market, you can find a bike with a few thousand miles on it with $1000 or so worth of extra's for $1000's under new. Take the bike I am currently working on...my goal is to have a nice bike done to my taste for around $3500. I shouldn't have to worry about losing a dime for a few years and IMO a decent Road Star should be worth that for at least the next decade. I also think it depends on a persons mechanical ability. I am an ex bike shop owner and have worked on my own bikes since my first Honda ATC 110 back in the early 80's so if a bike has a few issues it's not a big deal to me. I actually enjoy working on them and customizing them almost as much as riding - I said "almost". So I agree with you, but I personally won't buy a new bike again. Also understand I am in the business so I come across dozens of bikes a month.

Mr_Shamrock wrote:
MitchellNJ wrote:
Mr_Shamrock wrote:
I will NEVER buy a new bike ever again!
I have absolutely no regrets buying a brand new 2007 R*MS leftover for $9k. Like you said, it's impossible for me to lose $10k.

I understand there is definitely alot to be said for new. You know the full history of the bike for one thing and with all the financing specials they run it makes alot of sense for certain budgets. You have to admit though, if you shop around the used market, you can find a bike with a few thousand miles on it with $1000 or so worth of extra's for $1000's under new. Take the bike I am currently working on...my goal is to have a nice bike done to my taste for around $3500. I shouldn't have to worry about losing a dime for a few years and IMO a decent Road Star should be worth that for at least the next decade. I also think it depends on a persons mechanical ability. I am an ex bike shop owner and have worked on my own bikes since my first Honda ATC 110 back in the early 80's so if a bike has a few issues it's not a big deal to me. I actually enjoy working on them and customizing them almost as much as riding - I said "almost". So I agree with you, but I personally won't buy a new bike again. Also understand I am in the business so I come across dozens of bikes a month.

My first bike was a 2001 V-Star 1100. Bought it used with 2400 miles on it in 2006 for $5k. Put over 12k miles on it and sold it a year and a half later for $5k. Not a bad return. I went new for just the reason you listed. Because I knew where it had been. I will have to go to the used market for my next bike because Yami stopped making R*s with carbs.

Let's just put it this way: Anyone who buys a motorcycle as an "investment" doesn't know the meaning of the word! Bikes are for riding not for padding your 401K.

-M7

Wouldn't that be a fun 401K...a garage full of toys HMMMM! No I guess it isn't possible - although selling these things has put food on the table for quite a few years.

It's true the the HD will hold its value. But I sure can't complain about my 93 Virago 1100. I bought it used in 98 for $4900 from a dealer. I sold it in 2008 for $4000, and I could have got 200 more if I had waited it out. Ten years for 9 hundred bucks. You can't complain about that. And I still see them listed for much the same price today. And when you consider that in 1997 you could buy a brand new Virago for $7200, and sell it for over 4 grand 10 years later, that's pretty darned good return. So, percentage wise, I think the Yami holds up very well to the HD, even better.