Bikes, do they change hands quite a bit?

[YoKaiser]

I'm still looking for a new bike, recently I've spoke with a few folks regarding their bikes for sale. Two I looked at both 2016 models, one had 5 owners and the other 6. I've just pinged a message away to another seller and the 2020 bike has had 3 owners.

Am I wrong in thinking that this is a bit of a red flag? The 2020 bike had a known fault that the seller had the manufacturer replace and he says has been fine the year he's owned it. His reason for moving the bike on is personal rather than bike related.

[KungFooBob]

Depends.

Dealers need to hit a certain number of sales to get a large rebate from the importer, so when it gets close to the end of the sales year if they need to shift 10 more bikes to get a lump sum, they will register them with the dealer as the first owner, these are often called 'pre-reg' bikes. So if you buy one of these brand new with zero miles on the clock, you'll still be the 2nd owner on the V5.

Then you've got PCP, people will be registered keeper for two years then hand the bike back, or trade it in before the PCP period is up.

So I wouldn't be concerned by 2-3 keepers on a newer bike.

[YoKaiser]

Thanks Bob, yeah that does make sense

[weeksy]

I must admit, I don't even ask. 1 owner can be @Taipan , 3 owners could be me, @Couchy and @Tricky .

I know which one I'd prefer to buy

Sorry mr taipan

[Dodgy69]

Bikes are toys to many folk and they just fancy a change every couple of years. If it's a ktm, it's coz the warranty has run out.

[YoKaiser]

Funnily enough seeing how many bikes pass through some folks hands had me wondering if I was wrong

[MrLongbeard]

Not unusual, but I'd sooner go for a bike that's been in a stable home for a few year than one that's been passed from pillar to post.
Of course, yes exception to every rule and all that with this lot on here, but hell I'd probs still be on my 06 striple if I hadn't bounced it off a car..

[Whysub]

My mate recently purchased a low mileage, 2005 Triumph twin. It has had 15 owners. He went over it with a fine tooth comb, no faults. Seems that it was a bike people wanted to own, but not ride.

[Taipan]

I use a bike to commute on and cover around 10k miles a year. Trying to sell a bike with high miles in in the UK isn't easy, so i tend to change them fairly often. Plus I have the attention span of a goldfish and get bored of things easily!

[Wossname]

Bikes are toys to many folk and they just fancy a change every couple of years. If it's not Japanese it's coz the warranty has run out.

Fixed.

[Cousin Jack]

Lots of ultra-low mileage bikes about. I can never understand folks with a 3, 4, 5 year old bike and less than 2k miles. I only ride for fun, but tend to rack up 30+k miles on a bike in 5 years.

[Supermofo]

Mine is pre reg'd so 2 owners on the log book but only me as an actual owner.

I think as long as the bike is good it should be fine, although as a preference I'd prefer a low owner count.

[Dodgy69]

Lots of ultra-low mileage bikes about. I can never understand folks with a 3, 4, 5 year old bike and less than 2k miles. I only ride for fun, but tend to rack up 30+k miles on a bike in 5 years.

Multiple bikes.

[Scotsrich]

I’d have been as wary as you, commonly keeping my bikes for many years.

That’s until I had 4 bikes in the last 3 years

It’s unlikely there will be anything wrong with a high owner bike but it’s best to give them a good look over (as you should anyway)

I bought a high owner GSXR 750Y and found it had a lump out the crankcase filled with plastic metal. I’m assuming any previous owners discovered this then fired it on. I at least had the good grace to get it welded up and repaired properly before I sold it, because I wasn’t using it rather than the damage.

[Whysub]

I use a bike to commute on and cover around 10k miles a year. Trying to sell a bike with high miles in in the UK isn't easy, so i tend to change them fairly often. Plus I have the attention span of a goldfish and get bored of things easily!

I did around 20,000 miles a year on my commute for 20 odd years, the first 8 on a GSX-R750 before it was written off.
Replaced with a Fireblade that had 75,000 miles on the clock. Must have got it up to about 110,000, never really knew as the odometer only recorded when it wanted too.

After that I had shitters never costing me more than £600. Some lasted just weeks, others a few years, but all had over 50,000 on the clock.

Always found that bikes ridden daily for a decent distance last the longest. Getting the oil hot enough on each ride to boil off condensation helps massively. My GSX-R750 still had the original exhaust system on it after 18 years