To buy a commuter/second bike or not....?

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I have owned my Zed just over a year now (had it from new) and it has 7,500 miles on it. Three months of that year it was SORN'd in my garage. I have been trying to think of ways to keep the mileage down as I can see its value disappearing into the ether so I considered buying a commuter/second bike. Then I thought about how I had accrued those miles, commuting to work barely makes a dent when you enjoy 150-200 mile weekend blasts at every opportunity!

So what do I do? I have a year old bike that has nearly 3 years of "average" mileage on it already and its not looking likely to change as I enjoy riding it. Should I cut my losses now and move onto another bike - which I dont really want to do just yet as I am still really enjoying the Zed - or keep riding it and end up with a relatively worthless/unsaleable 25,000 mile three year old bike in a couple of years time?! Buying a second bike seems a bit pointless when its the Zed I enjoy riding so riding a "lesser" machine wont give me a grin like the Zed does...

I have been thrashing this out in my mind for weeks now and I really dont know what to do! I guess I dont want to end up wanting a new bike in the future when money could be tight and have wasted the value of the Zed by piling too many miles on it....

Any thoughts/views opinions?

[rictus01]

been there done that, had the second bike thing, but ended up using the "best to ride" one all the time, in the end I just had a bike stored for spare if I had a breakdown (that was the CB), if you only want to own a new bike then keep it in the garage and polish/look at it, but if you're going to ride it then it'll loose it's value fairly quickly, you have to ask yourself did you buy it for an investment or to enjoy ?

Given the general "hobby" nature of most bikers they are looking at below 3 years old & less than 10,000 mile, after that they just aren't that interested so dealers will offer you silly money for part-ex.

I never think of re-sale value on my bikes, just how much I can get out of them, my SV had 153,000 miles on it in 2 1/4 years, never been threw an MOT, and worth next to nothing, but it didn't worry me as I consider it paid for itself full.

can't have it both ways.

Cheers Mark.

If you enjoy it then you may as well keep it. As long as it is well maintained then the miles will hurt any resale value....but it should still hold a decent value.

Of course you could chop it in for a new zed....but you have to offset the cost of replacing with new and the current models resale.

IMHO you like the bike so keep it....if you put miles on it thats only an issue come selling time, which could be a while down the line. Also if any replacement bike will presumably do similar miles...then it will depreciate as well.

Just enjoy the bike...forget everything else(how practical)

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Originally Posted by rictus01

been there done that, had the second bike thing, but ended up using the "best to ride" one all the time, in the end I just had a bike stored for spare if I had a breakdown (that was the CB), if you only want to own a new bike then keep it in the garage and polish/look at it, but if you're going to ride it then it'll loose it's value fairly quickly, you have to ask yourself did you buy it for an investment or to enjoy ?

I never think of re-sale value on my bikes, just how much I can get out of them, my SV had 153,000 miles on it in 2 1/4 years, never been threw an MOT, and worth next to nothing, but it didn't worry me as I consider it paid for itself full.

can't have it both ways.

Cheers Mark.

Yup you have summed up all my thoughts there Mark - I do want it both ways!

I guess I have already decided that I am just going to have to enjoy the Zed and face the financial consequences in the future - lifes a b!tch eh!

[fizzwheel]

I've got two bikes, I kept the SV as I got offered naff all part ex against the GSXR on it.

The plan was to garage the GSXR over the winter and use the SV as a hack, trouble is as soon as it was a nice crisp winters day out came the GSXR again.

Its not that the SV is a bad bike, its just that I prefer riding the GSXR, the SV is sorn'd at the mo, and its a 2nd bike on my GSXR policy, but it still extra expense running two bikes.

You could always buy something for a hack over the winter months to commute on to keep the salt of the zed and then flog it again come spring time. If you bought the right bike for a hack you wouldnt I imagine loose much money on it...

Buy another Zed, in a different colour, then split the mileage between the two. Easy!!

Unplug the speedo

[dizzyblonde]

you know i've got 2 bikes...and you know i love suzy to bits and never considered another, until faced with a dilema of her not getting to France, never mind back again. Now i wouldn't be without 2.
So to quote a t-shirt that im indoors wears

a bike on the road is worth 2 in the shed!!

And he has one (sort of) on the road and 5 in the shed (or the living room)

So IMO get another, it won't harm you and you may be quite surprised like I was with the insurance

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Originally Posted by fizzwheel

You could always buy something for a hack over the winter months to commute on to keep the salt of the zed and then flog it again come spring time. If you bought the right bike for a hack you wouldnt I imagine loose much money on it...

I think this is what I am leaning towards - fair enough the Zed will have plenty of miles on it but as long as its in good condition still then I wont be as upset!

Originally Posted by dizzyblonde

a bike on the road is worth 2 in the shed!!

I like that - also I have had the green light from 'er indoors (translated=I wont get any frosty treatment if I do buy one!)

I think I will just keep looking - I have my sights set nice and high - an ER5...

I worried about the resale value on my SV, I knew that I would only be owning it for a year or so and I wanted to keep it minty and low mileage, but now I have my GSXR I'm just using it and not worrying about the mileage. (2000 in 6 weeks and rising fast!) I know I will keep this for several years and I'm not expecting it to get any money back if / when I do sell it. I guess it depends on how long you think you will keep the zed for - if you will want another bike in the near future probably best to keep the mileage down but if you're keeping it long-term I wouldn't worry about it.

Cheers,
Matt