| Author | Message | ||
     Eightvalve |
All right, the long and the short. My 03 Firebolt: it was dropped and totaled in 03 as a dealer demo with 985 miles, bought by the PO, did a frame swap, couldn't get a title for the new frame, and its been sitting since 04 with 985 miles in a heated garage. I got it in Oct., did a frame swap with another 03 that shows 9k on the title, stripped the god awful flame job'd blue bodywork and sprayed white, and now its basically a brand new 03 with 1007 miles. Ok, now the story. I went thru 4 bikes last summer. Call it ADD or whatever. As soon as somebody mentions buying my bike, I have to get rid of it for a different bike. Well it happened. I had a buddy look at it, didn't want it and now I'm looking. I e-mailed a guy with a Moto Guzzi V11 sport to trade. The auction is at $4500 and no bids. Buy it now at $5500. Has 17k on it. He responded that the Buell is a $2500-3000 bike and the Guzzi was worth more than hes asking. I know its seller B.S. but it kind of pissed me off. Am I wrong in my belief that the Buell is worth 5K or around there. I have all the docs on the miles and such. Clear title bike. Look at it and you tell me. http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2585275/3 Stock exhaust, original tires, brakes, and just got a new battery to replace the original. BTW: the mirrors and new LED signals are on and so is the solid black screen. Am I out of line on my thinking? | ||
| Boney95 |
Well your bike is an 03 "demo" with a salvaged title. I don't figure he's to far off. I know personally I wouldnt pay 4 or 5 K for it. | ||
| Srwitt |
Boney, I think he retitled it to the new frame, so the title will show 9k, the motor only has 1k though. Should be a clear title. | ||
| Eightvalve |
It was a dealer demo bike at Century Harley. Bought at an insurance auction in June of 03. It has a clear title due to the frame swap. Everything, I mean everything, except the frame has 1K miles on it. Anyone who looked at the bike and didn't know the above history wouldn't be able to tell. I'm the second owner of the bike and the second owner of the frame. If I put it on ebay or craigslist with no history it should get $4500 pretty easily. But I like being upfront with people. It saves the bullshit and phone calls afterward. I love the bike (all 20 miles I've put on it in the snow) and will probably keep it. I just don't like someone telling me something completely goofy. You'd be hard pressed to find a low mile XB for under $4000 let alone one in damn near new condition. Oh well.... Wow, 3 edits. I suck. (Message edited by eightvalve on February 19, 2009) | ||
| 4cammer |
That is a lot of history for a bike that has 1K miles. I would stay away from it if you were selling and I was looking for an early XB. Not to say that you are misrepresenting it or not being factual. Just too much history for a semi-common bike. | ||
| Xbmacon |
Before I bought my 03 9R, I scoured ebay and craigslist for a while and ran across a few that had history similar to yours. I thought about one and actually talked to a guy and was 99.9% sure he was truthful and a good guy. I ended up not buying it and going with one that was more straight forward. While I believed him, and thought his was worth the extra $, would someone else believe me when I went to sell it? It is bad that I had to think that way, and I probably missed a great bike, but that was how I felt at the time. Just thought I'd share my experience... | ||
| Skinstains |
If the guy pisses you off just sell it on Ebay and go buy a different Guzzi. | ||
| Iamarchangel |
Gotta agree with 4cammer. It sounds more complicated than it probably is but my money has to be simple once it goes over $25. I lost track of which bike you're talking about. All I hear is salvage and where I am, it doesn't matter if it has been accepted/titled there. Once it has been written off anywhere, it has to be re-certified here. | ||
| Eightvalve |
How did you loose track. 1 bike with one swapped frame. I've you run the VIN its a never wrecked 03. Clean clear and legal. No repairs on a busted frame or covers. Just a frame swap onto a perfect engine, forks, subframe, wheels, etc. I hate to say it, but its not much of a history. Wrecked, stored, then repaired. TA DA! I knew the guy I bought it from pretty well before this and I was provided the history from day one and all the paperwork. If I would have said "dent in the frame" instead of "dropped and totaled" would it have been different? No. I've "totaled" 2 bikes by having a busted fairing and a ding in the frame. This one was no different. Hell, it had 2" of dust on it in the back of his shop. I guess being up front is a detriment. If I sell it outright, it goes historyless. Thats a bad way to go, but I've owned ALOT of bikes and this one is as nice as a showroom bike. (Message edited by eightvalve on February 19, 2009) | ||
| Iamarchangel |
So why spend any time talking about the totaled one? You've got a bike that had a blown engine and you replaced it with a wrecker. How complicated is that? Go the other way and talk about a totaled unit and you've got my radar up. I'm not listening to anything else and I'm not paying anywhere near book price. Two Gs would be about right. You're not doing anything dishonest telling me the end of the story first. That's all I need to know: a good frame, a good engine, and good papers. Now, you can approach the market price. | ||
| Brumbear |
What you have is a bike with X on the odometer and y on the engine say no more about it than that and sell the bike. I appreciate the truth about the machine but I am not buying it and you are not lying if you say that. The story itself unfortunatley is what is hurting I'd say a grand off the bike. as far as the motoguzzi I do not like them at all as a friend of mine waited 4 months for a clutch part. I understand now however that the company was bought out or something tp that effect.Good luck | ||
| Marko138 |
Your problem was being honest. By telling someone the motor was swapped into a new frame you have immediately raised red flags. I'd be honest about it too...but I also wouldn't expect to get $5k for it. The bike is what it is...I wouldn't expect to get nearly 5 grand for it. | ||
| Eightvalve |
I wasn't expecting 5K. Even a beat one with 15k goes for 3800-4000. I think $4500 is in line. Doesn't really matter though. I've ridden it 20 miles total, I haven't even gotten the chance to love it or hate it. I'm sure once this god forsaken snow goes away and I actually get on it I'll love it. (Message edited by eightvalve on February 20, 2009) | ||
| Mr2shim |
I paid $3,600 for my 03 XB9R with 9k miles, clean title. I wouldn't dare pay anything more for a bike with that kind of history. (Message edited by mr2shim on February 20, 2009) | ||
| Spike |
I'm with the others here. $5k is about as much as I'd pay for a clean used '03 XB9. You can find decent ones (some mileage/wear) for ~$3500 if you shop around. Part of the problem is that they're fairly hardy bikes and most of the cosmetic bits (even the bodywork) is cheap, so I wouldn't even shy away from one with some road rash or mileage. However, as soon as you start talking about some history with the title or a frame replacement I get leery. Even though yours is effectively a clean low mileage bike, the history makes me not want to give top dollar for it. If you advertise it right (lots of big pics, detailed description, etc.) you might get close to $4500, but I wouldn't hold my breath. I think your best bet is to hang on to it until the weather breaks and get to know the bike a bit better. The XB is an oddball, but it's a really fun bike. Unless you just can't stand the pushrod motor, I think you'll have a hard time finding a more enjoyable bike for under $5k. | ||
| Tf1175 |
i would say $5k is a bit high to pay for a 2003. i shopped around and you see some high prices and some low ones but 5k might be a bit high even if it had no history...but the fact that it was a salvaged bike at one point that always brings the price down no matter what condition it is now. not doubting your craftsmanship in any way though as I am sure the bike looks like new right now but just that word salvage brings bad things! good luck with your sale! | ||
| Eightvalve |
MrShim Congrats on the purchase. I'm sure its top notch. But don't jump to conclusions that mine is this wreck riddled bike that was totaled and redone to sell. In Ohio, as with some other states, if you ding the frame good enough, even a driveway drop off the side stand, its a loss. Never know, yours might have been tweaked and fixed by the PO. Like mine, you'd never know if you weren't told. If there was a carfax for bikes (might be but I don't care enough to look) my VIN (the frame) comes back as an 03 with a clean 2 owner with no history. No wrecks, no repairs. Only obvious clue is the odometer reads just over 1k compared to 9k on the title. Like I said, probably going to keep it. Swapping the frame and reassembly is a bitch to never really ride it. | ||
| Olinxb12r |
Nobody is trying to beat you down man, but you're price expectation is higher than it should be. You're talking about a 6 year old bike that already has low resale value, and it has a questionable history on top of that. I sold my clean titled 04 12R that had never touched the ground at all and was customized about a year ago for $5,500, and that is a much more desirable bike in the market. I would say you're talking about $1K less for it being an 03 and a 9R, and then at least another $1K less for the history. I think you would be pretty lucky to get $3K for the bike. You can't expect to get equal money for a bike that has a history unless you find someone that is willing to take the risk or doesn't know any better.   | ||
| Doz |
I bought a salvaged 03 9sl for $3300.00, it had only 3k miles, now it's my unofficial track bike until I get it inspected for street use. And it only needed another $400.00 to get it road worthy! | ||
| Old_man |
Keep it. It sounds like a good bike. Ride and enjoy. |
