Helping a Friend Sell a Tri-Glide - Could Use Some Help with the Value

[tpb857]

Hello All,

A good friend of mine passed away suddenly a month or so ago. His wife has asked me if I would help her sell his trike. I'm not sure what to tell her to ask for it. Here is some info.

It is a 2023 Tri Glide, black w/pinstripe. He purchased it new in February 2023. It has an extended warranty. It has around 1,000 miles on it. Before it left the dealership, he had them install 15,000 worth of extras. I have the invoice and it is two pages long. All of this would be covered by warranty. Just in general, he had all of the chrome stuff that a CVO comes with put on (front end, grips, etc). Different wheels and tires. Lighting. Zombie slip ons. Highway pegs. Floorboard inserts. Saddlebags. RF stage II amp and speakers. Rear bumper. There's a whole lot more that I can list. I have attached some pics.

I know that it is a bad time of year to sell a bike or a trike and that you lose a lot on the extras when you sell. I would like to see her get a fair price for it.

Any ideas on a good price for it? Thanks.

 

[Papa Zook]

Tom,
I'd suggest you talk to your local area Harley dealers, with the higher volume dealers being my first contact. Most are paying good money for clean, low mile Harleys and have financing in place to make the sale a very quick and easy process for anyone with good to even not so good credit. The original selling dealer might be a good start.

 

[tpb857]

Tom,
I'd suggest you talk to your local area Harley dealers, with the higher volume dealers being my first contact. Most are paying good money for clean, low mile Harleys and have financing in place to make the sale a very quick and easy process for anyone with good to even not so good credit. The original selling dealer might be a good start.

Hello Papa Zook,

She talked to the dealer that they bought it from. It is one of the largest around here. They offered her a very low number. There is a dealer that I bought my trike from. I know them well as I bought a good number of bikes from them. I will call them tomorrow. Thanks.

 

[cycle7447]

What price did they offer her?

 

[Papa Zook]

Hello Papa Zook,

She talked to the dealer that they bought it from. It is one of the largest around here. They offered her a very low number. There is a dealer that I bought my trike from. I know them well as I bought a good number of bikes from them. I will call them tomorrow. Thanks.

Yeah, unfortunately there are always some that see an opportunity to take advantage of someone in her position, but that trike will bring a good price to the right dealer or individual. Cycle trader is another option that gets good results as well as Facebook Marketplace or Facebook TriGlide groups, just have to be careful of scammers.

 

[tpb857]

Yes, I was going to tell her to do Cycle Trader. I just don’t want to give her a stupid number.

 

[New Orleans Kevin]

What I’ve found is dealers offer auction prices plus nothing to 10% for add ons.
I would check Cycle Trader. The add ons will never equal dollar to dollar. I would get a base price for Trike then add 75% of add ons as Starting asking price

 

[Old Road Dog]

Talk to the dealer about putting it on consignment. I've sold bikes this way.

 

[Notgrownup]

I would call Neal Ketner Motors in WinstonSalem NC , they are a small shop and they may be interested in buying it. The problem is the 15000 bucks worth of add ons is probably gonna be buyer specific.

 

[ROAD DOG]

I got an email from Ronnies Cycle in Pittsfield Mass the other day saying that they are looking to buy 100 Harley, Honda, And Spyder Trikes ? The problem is the addons? Another one to call is International Power Sports? He must of had close to $ 60,000 in that trike out the door, I would think this time of the year selling to a dealer you would be hard pressed to get $35,000 for IT?

 

[tpb857]

Thanks all for your thoughts and observations. I'm in agreement with many of them. I suggested to her that she wait until spring and she agreed. We'll give it a try at that time. Thanks again.

 

[Notgrownup]

Specially up north.

 

[Papa Zook]

I got an email from Ronnies Cycle in Pittsfield Mass the other day saying that they are looking to buy 100 Harley, Honda, And Spyder Trikes ? The problem is the addons? Another one to call is International Power Sports? He must of had close to $ 60,000 in that trike out the door, I would think this time of the year selling to a dealer you would be hard pressed to get $35,000 for IT?

Tom,
Dan's email from Ronnie's Cycle is a good lead and they are relatively close to you. They are a mega dealer and obviously sell a LOT of trikes if they are looking to buy 100 of them. I would recommend calling them to connect with their buyer and send him some pictures of your friend's Tri Glide and see what their best offer would be, maybe get in on their early purchases. It's true that sales will pick up in the spring, but it will also be considered a model year older, so it's worth checking into IMHO.

 

[Dan SC]

Motor vehicle dealers sending out letters saying they are looking for such and such a vehicle is a common tactic, they know what type vehicle you own, they want you to think they need your vehicle.

They aren`t looking to buy your vehicle, they are looking to get you to the dealership so they can sell you something.

 

[2K1200LTS]

Ronnies is out for Ronnie. I know of two people that sold them their bikes I won't put down what they receive. I think Ronnies was Happer then there were.

 

[Papa Zook]

Both of you are stating the obvious, big surprise: Dealerships are in business to make money. If they didn't, they would all be out of business and no one is forcing anyone to buy from them or sell your bike to them. And yes, they do buy nice used bikes and trikes every day. I don't see dealers as an enemy, I see them as what they are, business owners and I do a lot of business with many franchise dealers.

 

[ROAD DOG]

I have bought a lot of parts there, allways get a discount, never felt bent over.

 

[Dan SC]

Both of you are stating the obvious, big surprise:

Not everything is obvious to everyone.

I did not say the dealer was dishonest, I said it was a common tactic used by dealers.

 

[Oldster]

Most dealers want all they can get; a reasonable profit has nothing to do with it! All those extras will absolutely increase value, not dollar for dollar but I would think 5 grand anyway. That trike is 35,xxx anyway, no less and perhaps 37 or 8. The dealership I deal with can't keep trikes in stock, when they get one in it's gone in 2 or 3 days. In our Hog chapter we have 80 trikes and more folks switching to a trike every day.

 

[ISP-FL]

Tom, when you say the dealership installed $15,000 worth of options on the Trike does that mean he paid the dealership (labor/parts) that much, or did he put $15,000 worth of parts on and probably paid the dealership another $5,000 or so in labor?

Either way, it has been my experience over the past 50 years of owning motorcycles that dealers just won't give hardly anything for add-ons. That history bleeds over some to private sellers/buyers also.

If she doesn't owe anything on that bike it should be listed for $32,000 in my opinion. You could put it on local listings or cycletrader, or whatever. Someone looks at it and offers $29,000 she should take it and help them out of the driveway. It will sell and she will be done with it, no more paying insurance, no more worrying about it. Will it possibly bring more money later? Maybe....maybe not.

 

[Papa Zook]

Someone looks at it and offers $29,000 she should take it and help them out of the driveway. It will sell and she will be done with it, no more paying insurance, no more worrying about it. Will it possibly bring more money later? Maybe....maybe not.

Ronnie's Harley will pay that for it wholesale.

 

[cycle7447]

Ronnie's Harley will pay that for it wholesale.

I asked earlier what price the originating dealer offered - did not get a response.

 

[Papa Zook]

I don't know either, but I talked to the GM at Ronnie's and sent pics about a week ago. They are a buyer, but I think the trike will easily bring more than that on Cycle Trader or Facebook Marketplace or one of many of the Facebook Tri-Glide owners pages.

Actually, after I got their offer, only then did I tell him the circumstances of the trike's owner and why she was selling it (I didn't want to give them the impression she was desperate to sell it).

He suggested ways for her to get more money for the trike, first was to go to the dealer they bought it from and cash in the extended warranty. He suggested that she would likely get more back by cashing in the extended warranty than what it would add to a private sale.

 

[tpb857]

Tom, when you say the dealership installed $15,000 worth of options on the Trike does that mean he paid the dealership (labor/parts) that much, or did he put $15,000 worth of parts on and probably paid the dealership another $5,000 or so in labor?

Either way, it has been my experience over the past 50 years of owning motorcycles that dealers just won't give hardly anything for add-ons. That history bleeds over some to private sellers/buyers also.

If she doesn't owe anything on that bike it should be listed for $32,000 in my opinion. You could put it on local listings or cycletrader, or whatever. Someone looks at it and offers $29,000 she should take it and help them out of the driveway. It will sell and she will be done with it, no more paying insurance, no more worrying about it. Will it possibly bring more money later? Maybe....maybe not.

The 15k was just the price of the parts. With labor and tax it came out to just under 20k. She'll have a few months to think about what she wants to do with it.

 

[tpb857]

I asked earlier what price the originating dealer offered - did not get a response.

Sorry, I didn't see your post. She was offered 26 for it by the dealer.

 

[tpb857]

I don't know either, but I talked to the GM at Ronnie's and sent pics about a week ago. They are a buyer, but I think the trike will easily bring more than that on Cycle Trader or Facebook Marketplace or one of many of the Facebook Tri-Glide owners pages.

Actually, after I got their offer, only then did I tell him the circumstances of the trike's owner and why she was selling it. He suggested ways for her to get more money for the trike, first was to go to the dealer they bought it from and cash in the extended warranty. He suggested that she would likely get more back by cashing in the extended warranty than what it would add to a private sale.

I suggested to her that she cash in the warranty. I don't know if she looked into it or not yet.

 

[cycle7447]

In my opinion, waiting until spring may not be a good idea. The trike is a 2023, so 1 year old. By spring, it will be two years old. You have now lost one more year of warranty.

My bet is the ESP cost about $3500 - cancelling now might get her a $2500 refund. One more year, she may only bet $1500.

Bike still has to be insured - maybe not with collision, unless it is financed - but has to at least have comp. That too cost.

We have a friend here - lost her husband; he had two bikes. A 2009 and a 2019. She wanted to sell the 2009 and use the extra money to trike the 2019. She got an offer and one of the guys here told her it was too low. Told her she could get about $9K for the bike. So, she passed up the offer of $6500. Now, that was about 2 years ago.

I suggested the guy buy the bike - he rides it to keep things flowing. He is not interested in buying. So, for now, it sits and depreciates plus, eats up cost for insurance, space, etc.

 

[ROAD DOG]

LIST IT ON HERE ?

 

[ISP-FL]

Here is the reality I think you have to tenderly explain to her. She has no use for the bike. Every month it sits it is worth less and less money. In some northern areas bike sales do spike in the spring and fall off in the winter. In some places, like Florida, it can be the opposite. But in reality Harley Trikes are generally purchased by seniors. We will buy one in January or we will buy one in August, it doesn't really matter.

I have never failed to privately sell anything I have put out there. If you price an item correctly it will sell. It doesn't matter if you maybe paid MSRP for it 12 months ago, or you spent over $20,000 adding stuff to it, if you want to get rid of it you price it where it will sell and put it out there. The only other alternative is to unrealistically price it so you don't lose much money and let it sit on the market for months and months. After a year or two you will end up lowering the price to a point lower that if you would have priced it fairly in the first place.

 

[Oldster]

A new tri-glide 2 tone is $40,xxx give or take depending on the dealer, add in the 15 grand in extras and you're at $55,000 not including labor. If I hadn't just purchased a new tri-glide a month ago I'd jump on this one and gladly pay 35 grand for it!!!!!