2007 Yamaha 1300 V-Star Tourer

I had my bike priced at $6. 00 in Cycle Trader which all but eliminated the inquiries I was getting six months earlier when the weather was decent for riding and I had priced my bike way too low at $3. 00.   So I have reduced the price to $4. 00 or best offer and will develop some flyers. put them up at work. tell my friends on FB. Twitter. etc.  

I tried to price this motorcycle which is in excellent mechanical condition according to the m/c equivalent of Kelly's Blue Book.   It's been a while since I saw the specific numbers for my motorcycle. Six months ago I got crushed with inquiries.   Buyers were asking me to reduce my price but they had not yet seen my bike. Since I was in no hurry to sell I tended to ignore those inquiries. I thought I had made a simple but curable error of pricing it too low.  

I looked more closely at the online price estimate charts again and realized the value varies wildly according to the various accessories that Yamaha offered in 2007 for this motorcycle. I honestly don't know whether I have custom wheels or a special exhaust pipes but obviously all these features add value. I tried to just keep it simple and and stick to the obvious: full windshield. hard saddlebags. etc.

As far as the bike itself. its a 1300 V-star Tourer.   I bought it at a great price from a good friend/co-worker who re-thought the idea of commuting to work via motorcycle from West Virginia.   He sold me this 2007 bike in Oct 2009 with less than 500 miles on it for $9. 00.   (He bought a Prius Hybrid and now feels he'll fare much better in a collision with a deer. )

I rode the bike in three Rolling Thunder events 2010-2013 and put approx 5. 00 miles on the bike.   I have had no mishaps while operating the motorcycle.   It has two locking saddlebags and a full-sized windshield/fairing.

The last scheduled maintenance was due to a factory recall to inspect the fuel system. which required removing the fuel tank.   I took this opportunity to ask the technician to run a 12 volt charger cable from the battery under the fuel tank to the handlebars.   My power cord termiates into a female cigarette-lighter style plug which accepts a standard mobile charger (with iphone connector or whatever you would use in your car to charge your cell phone).   My iPhone slips into a special cradle (for iPhone) that I mounted to the handlebar.   This allows me to get from point A to point B safely because I run my GPS app (AT&T Navigator) without having to pull my phone from my pocket. fumble with gloves. etc.

I have the maintenance records for the motorcycle somewhere in my tax records in my house. The bike needs no repairs. Less than a week ago I installed a brand new battery from Batteries Plus. I got the premium battery which is the same one you would get if you walked into a Harley-Davidson bike store. The only difference is their label would say Harley-Davidson and you'd pay more. The two batteries would be identical.  

My expired ad in Motorcycle World (with a $6. 00 Asking price) hardly brought in any calls. I talked to a friend and bike owner and is someone who rides a lot. and I explained to her everything I had done thus far. She said my bike is worth about $4. 00.

What I haven't done but I'm planning to: put notices on three bulletin boards where I work with 300 people and in break room of the govt facility next door where another 300 govt employees work and possibly at Collins-Rockwell a few hundred feet away.   

If you can Spare me from having to go through a Herculean effort to bring a fair price I am willing to pass along a great deal.   One of the rules you learn in Real Estate Investing. particularly when it comes to wholesaling houses. is to leave some profit in the deal for the next guy.

I got the bike primarily to participate in Rolling Thunder which I've now done three years in a row. I bought the motorcycle from a good friend and FAA co-worker in 2009 who was fairly confident I was going to ride safely (not get myself killed). My next bike is going to be a Harley but it won't be until after I'm debt-free.

My reason for selling:  I need to sell to finance my real estate investing business. pay for a training course on foreclosures. order some advertising. run classified ads. etc.   I have tapped just about all of my available resources but still need about funds to get vital training in Florida. Which means I'm no longer trying to get the maximum price for my bike as it is extremely time-consuming. but I do want a fair price.  Honestly I've priced it to sell quickly and have done only the bare minimum to get it into the market.

Also published at eBay.com