Opinon question: Should I sell old and buy a new motorcycle or keep the old one?

Well, as of last week, I haven't been doing so good.

I allowed my 80 y/o neighbor who's ridden motorcycles for 40 years to ride my 700cc Magna to keep the fluids going. He rides a 1984 500cc Magna. Anyways, he dumped the bike entering my driveway in Maryland, and now the bike probably needs a new gas tank and needs to be checked for damage. There's a big dent on the left hand side, and the paint has scraped off.

I'm a bit discouraged right now with the life of this bike, and I was wondering if you think I should sell it?

I fixed the clutch July 06' ($500), I did a heavy duty tuneup July 07' ($500), and now my bike needs to be repaired because it was dropped (shop estimate $200).

I was thinking I should least sell the bike for $3,000...due to the fact that I've repaired it 3 times (including the dropped time), and I have documented service intervals.

I think I'd much rather pay for new, and have the bike work for 10,000 miles instead of constantly repairing my old one.

To add a few more details...

I've repaired this motorcycle for 3 years now, and I still might have to repair the leaking fork seals.

I bought a motorcycle to get from point A to point B cheaply and efficiently. However, I think I've spent more money and time trying to achieve that goal than its worth.

I'm not giving up on motorcycle riding, I just "think" I want a newer bike so I won't have to deal with so many problems.

Overall, I'm impressed with the 700cc Magna. The ride is great and it gets good gas mileage. However, whenever I take this motorcycle to the shop, it always needs new repairs done.

It may be true that its always like this for everyone; however, I think if I can sell the bike for at least $2500 or something, and put that on a down payment for a new bike...I "think" i'd be better off.

What do you think?

you didn't state what year your 700 Magna was??? I did a quick look at Kelley Blue Book, retail value and found a 1986 VF700 Magna to be $2230 but that is for my zip code in Texas. it might vary for your location a little bit...

http://www.kbb.com/kbb/OtherVehicles/Pri...

the repairs you listed are expected as part of normal maintenance of a bike, not something that you add on to increase the price over the retail value!!!

if the bike was needing those things, that would be deducted off the selling price for lack of maintaing the bike ... some people just don't understand that concept...

but to answer your real question ... personally, I would get your bike fixed and keep riding it since you have poured money into it recently to keep it running good... you never know what the next one you buy, if used, will be like....

or get your bike fixed to a point where you could sell it, sell it outright (not trade it in, dealers rape you on trade in, especially on older bikes), then find another bike that you are interested in... then you will likely have to put more money into that one to keep it maintained... that's part of having a bike, maintaining it...

sell the old one and buy a new one, help the economy

if you feel boring about your old motocycle you can sold it and buy onther one. cause if you want to have this old one you will keep fixed and reparied all the time,and your money w'll gone,so buy onther one it will still with you much more the other......... good luck

Pretty much nobody pays extra for maintenance and repair, whereas if it's damaged or known to be unmaintained everybody wants to pay less. Same is true for aftermarket parts so if you have an upgraded saddle you won't recoup that. My advice is to keep the Magna since any other motorcycle will be about the same for maintenance (more for full-fairing or exotic).

If you really like the bike, keep it. Find a cheaper shop...heavy duty tune up for $500 seems excessive unless they had to replace some big parts. I've found that large dealer service rates are very high. Some of the local repair shops do very good work for a fraction of the cost.

Frankly, fork seals are a pretty simple job on that bike. Shouldn't take more than 1 1/2 hours to get it done.

On the repairs...you don't have to fix the crash damage. It runs and rides ok but has a couple of scratches. Leave it and enjoy riding it. If it eventually bothers you, then fix it.

I like to ride older bikes when I know I'll have to park them around town...I worry about them less and a dent or two on it makes it much less attractive to thieves.

Good luck,
Dean

It might be a good idea to sell it.
It's over 20 years old.
Parts will soon be impossible to find anymore.
Unless you want to keep if for nostalgia's sake, or as a collectors item, it's time to sell.