In the last few months I have been on both sides of the selling and buying. I hate selling bikes and cars. Seems to bring out the the ass wipe types. I have never sold to one of these ass wipes nor have I ever bought from an ass wipe.
Back in Nov. I had my YZ450 on the market at a high book price, the bike had low hrs, new tires, new Renthal chain and sprockets. A few critical mods but in my world mods mean nothing when selling or buying a bike as far as price goes. All the ass wipe lo ballers came out in droves responding to the add but no real buyers. Want-a-Be's would respond with, Ya I can get this pro's bike with all the Gucci shit on it for X dollars. My response with that is always, OK good luck with that purchase. So in Feb. (prime riding time) I re-listed the bike but the price had fallen as time marched forward. Same add but with price adjusted and a fair just below the bike's top dollar. The bike sold to the first buyer, a young guy with a long drive, had cash so we were both happy campers.
On the other end of this I had been looking at GSXR 750's, RC51's and XB12 Firebolts.
Most sellers have ridiculous expectations of THEIR bikes worth in my opinion. Every Suzuki I found for sale was way over priced even the salvage title bikes. Some times by 3k. As with an automobile this cuts the price in half on the market. The RC51's were closer in the price range but I found the sellers stubborn to work a deal out.
Just being patient pays off when looking at used bikes. There is usually more sellers than buyers in this economic atmosphere.
Firm pricing wont stop me from trying to work out a deal. The ass wipe is always passed over unless he pays more. Back in "82" I had this happen when selling my 78 Super Glide. The buyer made the mistake of bringing along his "Harley Expert" friend. The buyer really liked the work I had done and the bike had a fresh engine. The expert started lo balling and I started raising the price. The guy says, hey you cant do that, I respond with the yes I can its my bike. So I tell the buyer to ditch the expert and come back another day. So he shows up 2 days later and buys the bike for asking price ( I was $500 high). So after getting the pink the buyer whistles and the expert drives around the corner. I smiled, gave the guy the keys and the he handed them over to the "Expert". This part is great. So the guy keeps stalling out the bike trying to take off, I said too much throttle and you'll kill it every time. The bike had the heads ported and a big cam with an S&S Super. These come without an accelerator pump. I said roll it on a little slower. The expert couldn't do it (OSB). So they wanted the stock carb. I said 300 bucks. So the guys wants to use my tools, I said no but I would change it. So they leave and I still had the S&S under my arm as a labor charge.
I know when they left I was Happy.
Here is a pick of that Harley
If the "Harley Expert" is watching BARF, your an Ass Wipe!