I took the Gt Pro to Triumph Birmingham East for the 18,000 mile service. The odo reads 19,500 due to our trip to Italy last year and I did an early oil change to save running over distance, so our servicing is always 1500-2000 miles “late”. The service department were very complimentary about the condition of the bike and actually discounted the invoice as I am on top of the maintenance, chain and sprockets, rubbing strip, brake pads etc. BUT I do like my book stamped by the dealer, so in it goes.
While it was on the ramp, I drank some of their coffee and wifey and I took a long slow look at all the nice, new shiney bikes on the showroom floor. I asked the salesman to appraise my bike and give me a valuation on trade in. Bear in mind, that although the mileage is at nearly 20,000, it’s only 18 months old. When I changed my 21 plate 900 for the same model on 2nd May 2023, at two years old and similar mileage, I had to find £5,000 difference. The 21 plater was valued at £8.500. Painful at £2,500 per year loss, on top of the usual running costs.
My 23 plate 900 has a value of £7,000, at 18 months old, £6,600 to swap, a loss of £4,400 per year! WOWZER!
We decided that as there is absolutely no problem with the bike and have no need to have the very latest thing, we are going to keep it at least another year. I have purchased the 2 year extended warranty, which can be transferred to a subsequent owner.
Looking forward to another year of road trips and Landmark Challenge 2025.
As a comparison, when I part-ex’d my 22 plate 900 Rally Pro in the summer against the 400X Scrambler I received £9250 but mine only had 2500 miles on it, so I think the mileage is more important than the age.
I did test ride a new 2024 900 GT Pro at the time and even though it has more power (106hp vs 94hp) the torque remains exactly the same and I couldn’t detect any real difference between them.
If you’re still happy with your current bike, then hanging onto it a while longer sounds sensible, particularly given that it’s now done the vast bulk of its depreciating.
As an aside, some years ago I read that when comparing bike mileages to cars you need to apply a multiplier of three, so selling a 23 plate bike with 20,000 miles would be like selling a 23 plate car with 60,000 miles. I’ve no idea whether that holds true or not
Some of this won’t be anything to do with your bike’s condition and milage (though the latter will obviously adversly effect it’s value as it’s considerably above the norm) Generally the bike trade isn’t in a good place locally, with Skellerns in Worcester, The Mart in Kiddeeminster and Streetbike in Halesowen all gone plus the Ducati dealership’s parent company in Worcester in administeation. Couple this with the time of year when things are naturally slowing down means it’s probably not a good time to trade in, especially if they have similar bikes to yours with fewer miles on yours may well stay in their showroom until next year so they’d have the capital/loan costs to factor in. Bike prices have gone up quite a bit too so that effects the cost to change if like us you actually buy your bike rather than rent it on a PCP so it’s all a bit sh1t at the moment! My previous 1250 GS was 3 and 3/4 years old when I swapped it last December and I lost only £3,255 on it so under 1k a year as I paid £16,225 for it but a new GS is now well over 20k so fcuk that for a game of soldiers as the cost to change to my RS was under £3k . I just think you’ve got to look at all the pleaserable miles and great times and holidays you’ve had on it
Wow, if I’d lost £4400 per year on my GT Pro when I traded it in, I would have had to have handed the bike over to the dealer plus an extra £100 their way!
Put the key in your new bike and it’s lost a fifth of it’s cost. Remember the VAT that you don’t get as a private seller. Take 20% off of your initial payment (the Gov. needs a bit of money to get by, bless them) and work from there.
You should, I suppose, take 20% off of what they give you as a trade in too as that flies off to pay for the country as well.
Still, 20% of a little is less than 20% of a lot.
It’s a bit sad really, all the above. I don’t get a new bike, nobody gets to buy my old bike, the dealer loses 2 sales and the government loses the VAT and tax on profits. So, everyone’s a loser. Except me, I get to keep a great bike and save a shit load of cash.
