NGC Where do all the Harleys come from?

[willowstreetguzziguy]

Whenever I check Craigslist in my area and in other areas, half to a third of the bikes listed are Harleys.

Today, 62 of 118 are Harleys.  These were bought by riders. Did they give up riding? Did they move on to another bike?   

Where did all these Harleys come from?

There are so many for sale on all Craigslists that if I was in the market for a Harley, I would have a field day looking for one!!!

[PhilB]

Their widows are selling them, 'cause the dudes all caught - at Sturgis.  ;)

Realistically, times are hard right now, and probably a lot of riders for whom it's just a hobby are (a) not riding much right now because of the pandemic, and/or (b) need money right now due to job loss, or business downturn.

PhilB

[danomar]

I cannot speak to the nether regions from which the iron brutes emerge (do I reference the bikes or owners?), but one place I know they do NOT come from is garages of riders. You know those types, the ones who actually ride their motorcycles places and stuff.   

[DaveJT]

Their widows are selling them, 'cause the dudes all caught - at Sturgis.  ;)

Realistically, times are hard right now, and probably a lot of riders for whom it's just a hobby are (a) not riding much right now because of the pandemic, and/or (b) need money right now due to job loss, or business downturn.

PhilB

+1

[tazio]

They're everywhere, like cockroaches
I got mine. Ride the hell out of it. Perfect fueling. Beautiful. Makes all the right sounds, even with the stock pipes I run.
I've met some of the most generous people (with their time) riding theirs.
But yeah, great time to pick up a Harley if you always wondered what the fuss was all about.

[Guzzistajohn]

I think they come from "the good land" in Algonquin    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRCTc6stICc

[cliffrod]

As long as you aren't looking at anything Shovelhead or older, Harleys are dirt cheap now.   Seems like HD sold approx one billion bikes in recent decades.  now the reality of market saturation vs depreciation curve cannot be avoided.  Prices on used HDs were crashing well before - came to town. 

You don't have to drink the kool aid or be all leather & tattoos. Get one and have some fun.

[JJ]

Just another data point to consider...Up here in Vortex-Land (northern AZ), on New Year's Day, I took my wife's '67 Mustang out for a joy ride locally. 

I must have counted 30-40 Big Twin Harley's passing me and all out and "In The Wind".

It seems out West, whenever I take a "Road Trip", the majority of motorcycles I see on the road are Big Twin Harley's...(just sayin').  Of course, because of the location, many riders fly in and RENT bike, which is OK also...

[kballowe]

Harley has (by far) the largest market share of large cruiser and touring bikes, so it makes sense that there would be more of those for sale than the others.

I disagree that Harleys are dirt cheap right now.  According to our local dealer, they have two guys actively buying Harleys from individuals, so that they have some used ones to sell.  They say that they are selling the [censored] out of everything motorsports - and that the manufacturers have pulled back most of the incentives/rebates because of the high sales numbers.

Here's our Heritage Softail.  Great 2-up tour bike.

[Motormike]

I spent all spring looking for a nice, low milage touring Harley in the Chattanooga/Atlanta area.  Couldn't find one.  Of course, I wanted one that was stock or nearly so.  Like looking for a unicorn.  I'd see an add for a late model Electra Glide with low miles, click on the add and as soon as I saw the ape-hangers I was done. 

[Moparnut72]

Three years ago my shop burned down taking my 2006 Softail. I looked everywhere at used Harleys. Everything I looked at had some kind of modification, mainly loud azz pipes and or goofy ape hangers. I passed and bought a new one. It was nowhere near the quality of my 2006. It was hot, noisy engine and terrible suspension amongst other things. I got smart and replaced it with an Audace. Noisy engine but at least I know what the noise is and why unlike the Harley. Anyway Harley has 50% of the American market so that is why you see so many. In my area Harleys and BMWs are seen the most on the highway. Harley dealers make lots of money on used bikes, they give peanuts on trade in bikes and sell them for top dollar.

Kind of a funny story, I went to the rally at the Broken Arrow last summer in Idaho. I went with two friends, one on a V7 and the other on a Lario. We were fueling up in Salmon and another Guzzi pulled in. We naturally assumed he was on the way to the rally but he didn't even know it was going on. Any way he was dumb founded when he pulled in and saw three Guzzis. He said he was doing a Four Corners ride. He had left South Carolina, been to Maine and was heading west. He had not seen another Guzzi on his trip to that point and pulled into the station and there were three right there. He was a neat guy, we all went to lunch together. He checked out the rally on his way west.
kk
kk

[bacongrease]

duh......seems like every bike I saw this summer was a HD.  I have a HD FXR  I rode nearly everyday, and  i rode in the Black Hills  in july.   I have 3 Hondas, and the Stone which is always needing somethin.  I never saw one Guzzi all summer.
  they sold millions of HD  so of course they would be the most in the ads. 

[twowheeladdict]

Considering their market share over the last 20 years, is it really a surprise?

Why does anyone sell a motorcycle?  To get money to spend on something else.  Another bike, bills, divorce lawyer, etc.

When I sell my Harley it will because I have become too feeble to handle it.  Hopefully long time from now.

[LowRyter]

Lots of old guys bought a Harley just because they wanted on.  Then they rode it for a few bar hops and parked with their golf clubs.  So lots of cheap Harley garage queens.

Even better when they trade their Harleys for Ducatis and park them next to the jet ski.   Get one of those.   

[kballowe]

Why does anyone sell a motorcycle?  To get money to spend on something else.

To get another motorcycle !

 

[blu guzz]

A theory.  Many of them are probably coming from the "Weekend Rebel Accountants".  Guys who finally had the kids educated and maybe got that divorce, had some extra $ and heard the siren call of the HD.  HD's marketing was spot on for this kind of fellow.  In his late 40s to mid 50s, could afford the bike and the garb and wanted to exercise his weekend "rebel'.  You have seen them at all the watering holes.  These were not true life stylers.  It was great for the company while it lasted, but like us, those guys are getting greyer.  Since many didn't even start riding until they got those bikes, they have had their fling with HD and with riding and are ready to move on to something else more age appropriate.  This theory does not account for all because there were just too many, but accounts for some.

[larrys]

A theory.  Many of them are probably coming from the "Weekend Rebel Accountants".  Guys who finally had the kids educated and maybe got that divorce, had some extra $ and heard the siren call of the HD.  HD's marketing was spot on for this kind of fellow.  In his late 40s to mid 50s, could afford the bike and the garb and wanted to exercise his weekend "rebel'.  You have seen them at all the watering holes.  These were not true life stylers.  It was great for the company while it lasted, but like us, those guys are getting greyer.  Since many didn't even start riding until they got those bikes, they have had their fling with HD and with riding and are ready to move on to something else more age appropriate.  This theory does not account for all because there were just too many, but accounts for some.

We called 'em credit card bikers... Walk into an HD dealership with a loaded credit card and walk out a wannabe 1%er.
Larry

[Perazzimx14]

There are a lot of Harley's built and sold so there are a lot of Harleys on the secondary market.

As for CL having mostly Harleys I think they still have about the same numbers they always did. Now its just the lack of other manufacturers as Cl is dead. Places like FBMP, BaT and Cycle Trader are the go to places now. 

I know personally I used to peruse CL mutiple times a day as there was a lot of traffic and lots of fresh inventory. Now I might go there once a month and its the same stuff.

[twowheeladdict]

I know personally I used to peruse CL mutiple times a day as there was a lot of traffic and lots of fresh inventory. Now I might go there once a month and its the same stuff.

There is a used bike dealer about 100 miles away that bombards our local CL with overpriced used bikes.  I think they constantly delete and repost the ads to keep them on the first page, which makes it frustrating when checking to see if anything new has been posted.  True bargains go quickly. 

I find 98 percent of Cycletrader ads are new bikes at dealerships.  The prices vary by 25%, but when you get to the OTD prices they all end up about the same.  The games dealers play 

I don't do Facebook, but it sounds like the place to be these days when selling.

[grebmrof]

I've noticed the same thing, but it isn't surprising given the demographics of their riders and the market share of HD.  Those that have the most reasonable prices seem also to have the highest mileage.  Some of their riders really pound on the miles.  If I knew more about which models/years of HD's are the very best, I might be tempted to pick one up - but my knowledge is pretty limited on Harleys and for that matter on a lot of things it seems...

[cliffrod]

What a dealership sells (and buys to sell) has more to do with what they can finance.  HDs are still popular and  money is still cheap.  If they only sold for 100% cash like most private sales, it would be a very different world.

On the Internet sites like craigslist and fb marketplace, fair value bikes & similar items sell fast- like within a day.  Legit Deals sell in minutes and many expect you to be onsite to pick up & pay just as fast.  If you're not online looking all the time and ready to leave immediately with cash in pocket, you'll miss many if not all of them.  Between regular people checking whenever they can and serious flippers who live online, it's a fast scene.   

if you see a very good price with <20 min on the ad and don't buy instantly, you're usually too late.  Unless its a super obscure item or badly listed- like that V7 Sport & 850T in Arkansas the other day apprently was- if the ad is more than 1-2 days old, it's probably already been appraised by the serious buyers as priced at or beyond its value.

[Motormike]

Right now, the sweet spot for Harley prices (full dressers I'm talking about) is when the price matches the year. ie: 2017 for $17,000, 2018 for $18,000 etc.  More than that and you're overpaying.  Of course all the dealers are asking more than that, but private sales can be found around that sweet spot.  But if the bike is clean and low miles, it's gone fast.  The hard part is finding one that hasn't been all fu*ked up with ape hangers and other aftermarket garbage.  As an engineer friend once told me, "stock is trick."

[ampm7]

Here in SoCal there are a lot of Harley's. And on Craigslist there are a lot also. Some good prices, some not so good. The three types of bikes I see on the road are Harley's, adventure bikes and sport bikes. When I was traveling out of state (by bike), I see mostly Harley's/BMW's eating up the miles, no sport bikes and some-but not very many adv bikes. Guzzi's are practically non-existent. I bought my Harley because I simply could not mount a high seat bike because of a bad back and a needed hip replacement. Otherwise, I would probably have a FJR1300 for long distance stuff. I needed to do a lot of things to the Harley namely, remove the ape hangers cut the wires re-solder, put in a new alternator and regulator, plugs, tires, coil, new S&S carb, auto-advance, etc etc...Once I got everything done it leaked some oil but worked quite well except it is a heavy bike and with that EV motor it does not have the power it should. It was a '91 Heritage Classic. It did look the part.

[Tiki Joe]

I love my Harley.  It's very comfortable and I enjoy running down the road listening to my favorite play list.  The thing I probably don't like the most is the people...I'm a motorcyclist and have been riding for 30 years and have owned 6 times more non Harleys than actual Harleys.  The people you meet when on a HD are great but if you're not on a HD they act like you're a communist.  It's like they put their costume on and jump on a bike and they're in this secret fraternity.  I like all bikes and appreciate each for what they are.  Kind of like hotrods.  There's some Chevy, Fords and Mopars I like...(just more Chevy's than anything else).  I boat a lot also and it cracks me up how people get so attached to the brand they own.  I don't get it we're all out boating, driving or riding...why does the brand matter??
I like this pic...It makes my Guzzi look like a mini bike!

[ozarquebus]

Cliffrod nailed it.

[Perazzimx14]

There is a used bike dealer about 100 miles away that bombards our local CL with overpriced used bikes.  I think they constantly delete and repost the ads to keep them on the first page, which makes it frustrating when checking to see if anything new has been posted.  True bargains go quickly. 

I find 98 percent of Cycletrader ads are new bikes at dealerships.  The prices vary by 25%, but when you get to the OTD prices they all end up about the same.  The games dealers play 

I don't do Facebook, but it sounds like the place to be these days when selling.

You can use mutiple filters on cycle trader to weed out what you are not interested in seeing.

[DaveJT]

Right now, the sweet spot for Harley prices (full dressers I'm talking about) is when the price matches the year. ie: 2017 for $17,000, 2018 for $18,000 etc.  More than that and you're overpaying.  Of course all the dealers are asking more than that, but private sales can be found around that sweet spot.  But if the bike is clean and low miles, it's gone fast.  The hard part is finding one that hasn't been all fu*ked up with ape hangers and other aftermarket garbage.  As an engineer friend once told me, "stock is trick."

Stock and unmolested would be nice. But as long as it’s clean and low mileage, what difference does it make? You can always undo what has been done. There’s plenty of parts. And it gives you a reason to go through the whole bike. I’d prefer a sporty FI and mid pegs. But it’s not necessarily a show stopper if I can’t find that.

[Perazzimx14]

What a dealership sells (and buys to sell) has more to do with what they can finance.  HDs are still popular and  money is still cheap.  If they only sold for 100% cash like most private sales, it would be a very different world.

On the Internet sites like craigslist and fb marketplace, fair value bikes & similar items sell fast- like within a day.  Legit Deals sell in minutes and many expect you to be onsite to pick up & pay just as fast.  If you're not online looking all the time and ready to leave immediately with cash in pocket, you'll miss many if not all of them.  Between regular people checking whenever they can and serious flippers who live online, it's a fast scene.   

if you see a very good price with <20 min on the ad and don't buy instantly, you're usually too late.  Unless its a super obscure item or badly listed- like that V7 Sport & 850T in Arkansas the other day apprently was- if the ad is more than 1-2 days old, it's probably already been appraised by the serious buyers as priced at or beyond its value.

I bought 7 bikes in 2020. Having cash in hand an ready to spend it works wonder in getting deals on used bikes.

Heck the last bike I bough back in mid December I made the seller an offer in early November. He declined and said sorry the bike was already sold. 6 weeks later out of the blue I get a PM from the seller asking if I was still interested. I PM'ed him back and said yes I was interested and my original offer ($800 lower than he was asking) was valid. To be honest his asking price very fair. He said how about $200 off what he was asking I said nope my offer original stands. I told him I'm a no BS buyer and if he accepted my offer I'd send him a $100 non-refundable deposit via PayPal to show I'm serious and I'd pick the bike up the next day. He said he was tired of people with no money trying to buy his bike wasting his time and to come and get the bike.

Sometimes you need to let the deal dwell for a while but when it comes around you need to be able to react quickly.

[Moparnut72]

I check out used Guzzis on line from time to time, mainly on Cycle Trader, eBay and Craigs list. Prices I see listed for bikes older than my new one are often more than I paid for mine. Granted the dealer I used adds liberal extra fees etc. But probably a wash in the end, so a used bike is the same as a new one. I wonder what used Guzzis actually sell for.
kk

[Tom]

I bought 7 bikes in 2020. Having cash in hand an ready to spend it works wonder in getting deals on used bikes.

Heck the last bike I bough back in mid December I made the seller an offer in early November. He declined and said sorry the bike was already sold. 6 weeks later out of the blue I get a PM from the seller asking if I was still interested. I PM'ed him back and said yes I was interested and my original offer ($800 lower than he was asking) was valid. To be honest his asking price very fair. He said how about $200 off what he was asking I said nope my offer original stands. I told him I'm a no BS buyer and if he accepted my offer I'd send him a $100 non-refundable deposit via PayPal to show I'm serious and I'd pick the bike up the next day. He said he was tired of people with no money trying to buy his bike wasting his time and to come and get the bike.

Sometimes you need to let the deal dwell for a while but when it comes around you need to be able to react quickly.

👍  Same thing on the '86 Chev.  El Camino that I bought.  I was trying to sell it for my ex-neighbor.  He moved back to SW KS after 22 years as my neighbor.  I got tired of the run arounds & games.  I'm restoring it and it will be a long term keeper.