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Selling Your Motorbike: What You Need To Know

A lot of people assume that selling your motorbike is a case of halving the new cost of your bike, but that's one way you could potentially lose money. Whilst it's a good rule of thumb, it's not always the case. That's why we've scoured the ancient tomes, we've searched far and wide and compiled a guide on how to sell your motorbike.

17
June
2020
blog

How Do I Value My Motorbike?

This isn't ever an exact number for each bike. Different motorbikes enter "vintage" each year, or become rarer to find, boosting its value. There are so many factors to this that it's almost impossible to say, but there are a few factors that are always taken into consideration when valuing a bike.

Age

This is a weird one because certain bikes can be considered vintage whereas the newer year of that bike might not be. It's always important to keep your eye on the motorcycle market, if you're bike is newer than 15 years, chances are you don't need to worry. Obviously, a 2019 MT-07 will fetch a higher price then a 2017 one, but don't always count out your old bikes just yet.

Condition

This is more of an obvious one. A Honda CG125 that's been through the wars and has the scars to show will value less than a Honda CG125 that's received TLC throughout it's life. It's another incentive to keep your motorbike in tip-top condition, not only will the bike and engine appreciate it, but your wallet will to.

Mileage

All engines have a lifespan, and the more miles that are racked up on that engine, the more it drops the bikes value. Whilst it's possible to replace engines, it's a costly procedures and 9/10 is never worth it vs. buying a new bike. If you're beginning to have thoughts on selling your motorbike, then you may want to think about trying to reduce your time in the saddle for a while. As hard as that may be, aiming to keep the mileage as low as you can before you sell can really help.

Modifications

Modifications are a tricky one - a lot of the time they bring the cost down as there is no guarantee that the aftermarket modification 100% works vs. the stock parts. This isn't always the case however, and there are some mods that will definitely boost the sale price so be sure to include your modifications on our valuation form.

Previous Owners

Typically the sale price goes down when there are more previous owners.

Service History

You may not have considered this as a factor, but having the full history of the bike, detailing it's faults really helps the pricing. People want to know the history of the bike and are happy to pay that little bit more for a motorbike with a full history.

How Do Bikes4Cash Use These Factors?

At Bikes4Cash we combine these various factors, along with other market data to give you the best possible price for your bike. We have a team of experienced riders who know their motorcycles who are happy to work with you, not against you.

Where Can I Sell My Motorbike?

There are three main options when it comes to selling your bike:

Private Selling
This is probably the first thing that jumps to mind and whilst it has a lot of good sites out there, it's also the biggest headache out of all the options. You can find out our personal peeves with private sellers here

Online
Sites like Bikes4Cash are becoming more and more popular within the UK for selling your bike as it reduces your stress and gets the job done in seconds. There are a lot of good sites out there but here at Bikes4Cash we'd like to think our experienced staff sets us aside.

Part-exchange
This can be another good option, trade in your old model for a shiny new one - in theory this is really cool as it allows you to get a new bike for less money. But a lot of the time part-exchanges tend to knock off a lot of the value when buying the bike back and as a result, leaves you out of pocket.

Maybe we're biased, but more and more people are starting to use the online methodology to sell your bike. People aren't interested in investing time in trying to manage the whole sale process, people just want their bikes gone and their wallets full. That's why using Bikes4Cash will help reduce headaches and give you the money your bike deserves.