Times (and prices) are a changing... General whinge

[AlpinePossum]

On the far side of time and on the other side of the planet we rode bikes 'cause they were far cheaper than cars. Cheaper to buy, cheaper to run and went anywhere. And young blokes didn't have money.

Now here in Christchurch in 2009 I want a bike again.... And SCHLOCK! Finding a decent quality / decent price 2nd hand street legal off road machine seems to be scarcer than hens teeth. (Oi! I want the _feeling_ of me own yoof again.. not literally the same ruddy bike as I drove way back then, but at twice the price it was new!)

Horror! Every wannabe boy racer is driving a 2nd hand import 4 wheel tin can that costs less than any bike! Bikes are not poor rebel boy transports here... they're rich old wrinklies playthings...

So in the general ranting and raving of an old man category.... since the bikes are 99% the same bike as I drove way back when.. why have they kept going UP in price relative to other goods? Surely they have recovered the R&D literally decades ago?

We import so many second hand cars from Japan that Chch has more used car yards than it's population could possibly support... so where are the imported used bikes?

Yip, so we whinge like mad about the quality of the Chinese motorbikes.... except I remember the old codgers of my day whinging endlessly about the quality of the Jap bikes.... but why don't the Chinese make any 400cc+ adventure tourer bikes? None to be had here, nor can I find them on the Chinese websites! Weird.


Of course... it could all be my memory going...

[Mystic13]

The KLX400 and DRZ400 road versions seem pretty cheap at $4-$6.5 and cover what you want. And that's for bikes that are with 2-4 years old.

That's probably about the same as they were 10 years ago and 15 years ago at a guess.

[Winston001]

Compared to the mid-70s the prices appear high but if you allow for inflation, much the same. The basic wage then was $100/wk, today its more like $600/wk.

What has happened is cars have dropped dramatically in price so young buyers can now afford a car whereas they used to buy a bike.

Bikes are imported from Japan, just not in the same quantities as cars. Also they tend to be higher value sought-after bikes which is good news if you want one.

Bikes today are far more relaible than 20 - 30 years ago. Lighter, more powerful, handle well. The downside is they are more complex and doing your own work is mainly for the committed.

You'll find plenty of good bikes to relive the days of yore.

[AlpinePossum]

The KLX400 and DRZ400 road versions seem pretty cheap at $4-$6.5 and cover what you want. And that's for bikes that are with 2-4 years old.

Sigh! The general rule of thumb posited in a hundred books and websites on use vehicle buying is a brand new vehicle practically halves in price the moment you drive it off the dealers floor. Especially something as hard living as a dirt bike. (Don't believe me? Just ask your insurance what they're actually going to pay you out. What I got for my old car from the insurance vs what the same model is being sold for on Moorehouse ave is just about that. Half.)

And then toss in a $500-$1000 pocket money to fix whatever caused the original owner to sell it...

Given a new DRZ450 is $8k something last I asked... You'd expect a 1-2year old DRZ (why do I always read DRZ as "Dizzy") expect to be at around $4k. Yet on the ads on this site you won't find a fresh one under $6k, and the one around $4k is a 2002 model.

And if you weed out the motarded ones and select for Canterbury... oh my... I'm so screwed.

[Winston001]

No argument with your rule of thumb but the depreciated price is what you'd get as a tradein. A dealer will sell somewhere in the middle and depending upon the vehicle, it won't even be 10% less than discounted retail for a newish model.

If you watch TM for a while you'll see plenty of optimistic sellers become realists......Plenty of bikes for sale.

If however you focus on a bike which is very popular then it's price is going to be higher than you might expect. HD and BMW don't depreciate much for example.

[avgas]

but why don't the Chinese make any 400cc+ adventure tourer bikes? None to be had here, nor can I find them on the Chinese websites! Weird.

Ah welcome to the fold.
Yeh well strangely enough its got more to do with what the chinese are building for their own rather than export.
an example was when i was in Shanghai - nothing allowed over 150cc.
CJ750's as old as they are were like armed badits in that place. You never picked a fight with someone who rode over 150cc - because clearly they didn't care much for the law anyway.

The other side to this story is the fact that the japanese have done such a bang up job at making 400cc trail bikes......so much so that they have to sell you a pitch that what they have now is better......25+cc better :S . The old 400's are holding their own against their younger 420-600cc siblings.....20 years after they were produced.
unfortunately due to lack of failures.....this means 20 year old 400's are still holding value........and are still going strong.

However do not fear - the chinese are looking at the market.
Every now and then i notice Oberdan Bezzi has been commisioned to design a chinese 400 or bigger bike.