Bike trade meltdown

Just popped into my local dealer. He was all on his tod, in a showroom
devoid of customers. Workshop was busy, though.

"We haven't had a single phone call about a bike all week," was what he
said. "Not one. That's never happened before. It's gone dead."

As always, lovely stuff on the floor - all he really does is utterly
mint used, plus the odd classic (there's a superb original Z1B on the
floor atm).

"We've had loads and loads of people offering us bikes. We're just
turning them away. We're full, and we can't sell 'em."

FWIW, his view - sports 600s are dead in the water. You can't sell them
and they're worth sod all. Gixxer 750s - about the only Jap bike that is
really in the want. Big kawasakis? (Rs will always sell: they're cheap
anyway, and they always find faces. Early R1s: the original naughty one.
Bandits 600 and 1200 - again, cheap, and there's always someone wants
one.

Ducatis? No chance. He's got a gorgeous 996 in. "That's beautiful and
the new models aren't."

Harleys? Yes: different customer base, different thing. Same goes for
Triumphs. BMWs? BMW dealers are smiling. They got their ordering right,
they got the bikes right, and the new model GS sells for nearly as much
used as it does new. The old 1150GS is still in massive demand.

He blames the Japs for devaluing the industry with floods of new models,
and MCN for being twonks and talking up the market. Thinks it's 1985 all
over again. I'm not arguing.

He'll survive: the workshop and the MoT station will always be busy.
Lots and lots won't.

 

TOG talks down the market, coupled with a bit of nervousness about
housing, this is perpetuated by lazy MCN and other trade journalists
allowing TOG to clean up on the shopfloor?

Ready to reap the rewards when it's discovered to be nothing but a
deliberate ploy.

Hmm, the cunning of the man...

 

The Older Gentleman wrote

All the cruisers seem to fit into this category. This is my market and
I am currently in it, prices are not coming down, yet

 

You cnut. ISTR the Daily Mirror got into trouble for something similar.

You'll lose me my job, you bastard.....

 

Best time will probably be late November/early December. Dealers will be
desperate to hit their sales targets in order to qualify for their
all-important end-of-year suppliers' bonuses.

These are big six-figure sums, so if a dealer has to take a 1000 quid
loss on half a dozen, even several dozen, bikes in order to hit it, he
will. Many will be depending on them for survival.

Best value? Just about anything. Sports 600s especially.

 

I wonder how much discount I could get on a Husky 510 Centennial. Much
as I'd love one, £12k+ is a bit steep for an enduro bike, even if it is
dripping with carbon fibre & titanium.

 

The Older Gentleman says...

If things work out as planned on the job front that's just when I'll be
shopping for a replacement for the Fatblade. A nice late 90s GSXR750 or
Fireblade me thinks. I wonder what the fatblade will be worth in part-ex
though...

 

It's worth **** all now. Maybe 1500 quid in p/ex.

 

The Older Gentleman wrote

Relatively few and they tend to be bought with long term possession in
mind rather than as a toy to be discarded when the fun is over.
Bastards.

 

The Older Gentleman says...

I'm surprised it's worth that much TBH. I may just keep it, it costs
**** all to insure and run and I've really got quite attached to it.

Times must be hard as last week I popped into DKs in Stoke and some of
their prices seem almost reasonable, so they must be desperate to shift
some tin.

 

Depends how clean it is - for a dealer, if it's clean and tidy, then
they can punt it out at ukp1999. Lots of people are in the market for
bikes costing 2k and under.

That's the sensible option, yes.

(The trouble is, repeating this exercise time and time again is Not
Sensible, which is why I've got so many bikes).

 

Yes, you're right. And as there are relatively few out there, supply is
kept tight.

 

Now of course I could be biased, but this doesnt' make all that much sense
to me.

From an insurance, learning and just general POV 600's make a lot more sense
don't they?

Also, are you _really_ telling me someone would choose a Bandit 600 over a
sports 600 if they had the choice?

It's odd as the other mags and things usually say 600's are the quickest
sellers from a used POV.

Still, not all that bothered either way at the moment.

 

Well, I would, any day of the week.
--
| ___ Salad Dodger
|/ \
_/_____\_ GL1500SEV/CBR1100XXX/KH500A8/TS250C
|_\_____/_| ..73063../..16589.../..3180./.19406
(>|_|_|<) TPPFATUICG#7 DIAABTCOD#9 YTC#4 PM#5
|__|_|__| BOTAFOT #70 BOTAFOF #09 two#11 WG*
\ |^| / IbW#0 & KotIbW# BotTOS#6 GP#4
\|^|/ ANORAK#17 IbB#4
'^'

 

Preston Kemp was seen penning the following ode to ... whatever:

Probably not very much - too specialised a bike.

 

Well, Champ's answer sums it up. Contracting market, people trying to
flog their sports 600s in droves, loads of sports 600s on used market =
falling prices.

As for the Bandit question - loads of people have bought Bandits.
They're cheap. Someone who buys one may not be able to afford (say) a
GSXR600. Or just doesn't want one.

They used to say that. Dim ones like MCN may still say it.

It used to be true. It isn't any more.

 

Wasn't that the Zephyr? I remember all the old codgers at work getting misty
eyed the first time a Zephyr wheezed into the carpark.

 

Does anyone else get the feeling that TOG will be really disappointed if the
bike trade *doesn't* go into meltdown?

 

Retro is probably the wrong description; "budget unfaired bikes that were
good VFM and suprisingly handy hooligan tools" is probably a better, if
more verbose, description

 

"Cheap hooli bikes"