Cost of swapping bikes

[Pirahna]

I can think of a few bikes I've made money on. Sold a 350LC for profit in 84, same on CBR600 in 88. The CBR was bought brand new at a massive discount and sold to a different dealership a year later for more money. Both Guzzi Lemons I've owned have made money too. Plenty of bikes I've lost money on but as most of my riding has been commuting it's been cheaper running bikes than paying for train and car park season tickets.

[Yorick]

It always cost me about £2k to swap GSXRs every 2 years

I'd say that's pretty good business by you, given the use you got out of them

I was thinking of swapping my 2019 z1000sx just before Xmas for a Tuono Factory and was offered only £7k for the Zed, for which I'd paid £9500 7 months earlier.......still got the Zed

Kev

A new GSXR1000 was about £11,000, but that was in summer.
I waited until January/February when the dealers sold nothing and had to get rid of old stuff for the new models in spring.
So I set my budget and perused online. Never paid more than £8,500

I put race tyres on straight away and put the new road tyres on the old GSXR which was sold in April/May when the market picked up.

Easy peasy if you had the readies

[Horse]

It always cost me about £2k to swap GSXRs every 2 years

"One careful owner"

[Mussels]

Lots of people don't look at the overall cost, they're only interested in the monthly payments.

If you're paying £250 a month for the old bike and you can pay £260 a month for a new one it's easier to justify.

Not me. I like stuff to be bought and paid for.

Sometimes I think that mindset is a huge success for marketing. My car payments finish this month and I could swap it for a newer one for pretty much the same monthly money so yes it sounds great, but I'm going to keep it and pay nothing. It would take a very big repair bill to make a new car better value even just in the next year, so if I wanted to spend a couple of grand on an improvement it still makes plenty of financial sense to keep it.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Don't forget brand new bikes attract VAT whereas used ones don't (sort of....dealers pay VAT on the profit from a used bike, private obviously pays nothing). So straight away a brand new bike has a loaded price.

Interesting. I've seen a few dealers listing 2nd hand bikes ex. VAT
I assume they're going to charge the buyer VAT on the whole purchase not just the profit.
That seems questionable

I haven't looked in much detail or really thought about it, but imagine there are some tricks they can play.

If they pre register for example are the bikes then used? But if so, what profit are they making etc?

[KungFooBob]

If they pre register for example are the bikes then used? But if so, what profit are they making etc?

Rebates.

Yamaha, Honda, et al will set a sales figure, hit it you'll get a rebate.

If you're 5 bikes short of hitting your rebate figure, you pre-reg five bikes and get your rebate which is worth more than the loss you'll make selling the pre-reg bikes cheap.

[G.P]

The example in the OP isn't very typical. 50k miles is nothing on a GS, but people still like to buy 2nd hand ones with sub 10k miles...and its a dealer.

I bought a Triumph Tiger for £5.5k in 2015 with 18k miles on it. Its now got 53k miles on it but would still fetch over £3.5k. £5.5k would buy me a sub 20k mile 5 year old version so £2k cost to get back to where I was. Not bad seeing as I've done over 30,000 miles on it.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

People like to buy very low mileage bikes and get there knickers in a twist about higher mileages, modern Japanese (and probably other manufacturers) bikes are like cars, they'll happily do 100,000 miles with no major problems so long as they're serviced properly, this has been the case for a long time, I know of several FZ750s (a bike first released in 1985) that have done well over 100,000 miles, I also know of VFR750s, CBR600s and various FZRs that have done similar mileage.

Not that I mind the above, means there are plenty of high mileage bargains to be had.

[Skub]

I need to own the bike,mostly because I change it to the way I want,I get a kick from that. If it was just 'leased' there'd be little point.

I do tend to keep my bikes long term now. I found with the ZX10R the prices bottomed out midway through my 14 year ownership,then come selling time,prices were on the rise.

If you buy used,you'll lose a hell of a lot less than on a spanker. New buyers always take the big hit.

[The Spin Doctor]

Don't forget brand new bikes attract VAT whereas used ones don't (sort of....dealers pay VAT on the profit from a used bike, private obviously pays nothing). So straight away a brand new bike has a loaded price.

Interesting. I've seen a few dealers listing 2nd hand bikes ex. VAT
I assume they're going to charge the buyer VAT on the whole purchase not just the profit.
That seems questionable

Obviously they have to be VAT registered and a small trader may not be up the threshold.

The other possibility is that they are not really selling the bike at all - they are merely holding the bike and acting as an agent for the seller. That's fraught with risk for the seller incidentally, if they fold and the 'stock' is seized. You can have a hell of a time getting your bike or the cash back!

[MrLongbeard]

Not a problem, I keep my bikes until I kill them one way or another, I've only ever traded in one and sold one.

[Yorick]

Not a problem, I keep my bikes until I kill them one way or another, I've only ever traded in one and sold one.

I tried to kill my GSXRs, but they all emerged unscathed.
They had a harder life than race bikes.

[Mussels]

VAT eligibility is based on takings rather than profit, there can't be many dealers around that don't turn over 85k.
VAT is payable for the complete price if the vehicle was previously VAT exempt so often van ads will make a point of it if VAT has been paid before. I doubt there are many bikes around that haven't had VAT paid already so it's most likely a rubbish marketing stunt.

[The Spin Doctor]

VAT eligibility is based on takings rather than profit, there can't be many dealers around that don't turn over 85k.
VAT is payable for the complete price if the vehicle was previously VAT exempt so often van ads will make a point of it if VAT has been paid before. I doubt there are many bikes around that haven't had VAT paid already so it's most likely a rubbish marketing stunt.

If in doubt... Google!

There is a special VAT scheme for used vehicle sales, including motorcycles. Instead of having to charge VAT on the full selling price of the motorcycles you sell, the Margin Scheme allows you to charge VAT only on the difference between what you pay for the motorcycle and what you sell it for - your margin.

For example, if you purchase a used motorcycle for £3,500 and sell it for £4,000, your margin is £500 and this includes the VAT due, at the standard rate (figures included for illustrative purposes only). This is currently 20%. To work out how much VAT is due, you apply the current VAT fraction - divide the margin by 6. So £500 / 6 = £83.33 which is the VAT due. There is no input tax to reclaim under this scheme.

The scheme is not compulsory and you can use it alongside sales made under the normal VAT rules. However, there are certain record-keeping, invoicing and accounting requirements that you must meet if you want to use the scheme, otherwise you will have to account for VAT on the full selling price of the motorcycles. Full details are set out in VAT Notice 718/1 The VAT Margin Scheme on second-hand cars and other vehicles.

https://www.sectorsdonut.co.uk/sectors/ ... r%20margin.

That's news to me.

[Bigjawa]

People like to buy very low mileage bikes and get there knickers in a twist about higher mileages, modern Japanese (and probably other manufacturers) bikes are like cars, they'll happily do 100,000 miles with no major problems so long as they're serviced properly, this has been the case for a long time, I know of several FZ750s (a bike first released in 1985) that have done well over 100,000 miles, I also know of VFR750s, CBR600s and various FZRs that have done similar mileage.

Not that I mind the above, means there are plenty of high mileage bargains to be had.

My Bandit has 128k on it, even if it was cosmetically perfect, which it isn't, it would be worth bugger all.

OTOH, I'm about to go to work on a Pan with 92k on it that is running like a Swiss watch, I could flog it tomorrow for double what I paid for it because ironically, sub 100k Pans are looked upon as barely run in.

The biggest irony is that when I spoke to a dealer about trading in the K, which has a FSH and 35k on it back then, I was told that they weren't built for high mileages as they are too complicated. Needless to say I laughed in the salesman's face and walked.