Low resale value

[cookiemech]

Trade-in is usually the worst way to go if you want anything close to your price. Dealers low-ball even year old low mileage trade-ins as they buy low and sell high making more profit on used bikes than they do on new ones. Selling outright can be a long drawn-out waiting game unless the right buyer comes along early on. You say you paid $9500 and owe $4000 so would your bottom dollar be around $7500? If so ask $8500 and be able to come down to $7500. Depends upon how much of a margin above $4000 you need and how long you are willing to wait for the right buyer to show up.

I'm having a bit of trouble with this math . . . OP stated that he would have a "hard time letting it go for less than $6500"; so that tells me his "bottom dollar" would be $6500. If he paid $9500 and owes $4000, then his apparent or perceived equity in the bike is $5500, which (based on a number of ads "for sale" that I've seen) might just be more than the bike can fetch.

I don't know. It's the beginning of the riding season, but the CB1100 is not exactly on many riders' or potential riders' hot lists. I'd say he's lucky to see $5K, given that some west coast dealers are advertising new ones (which have warranties) for around $6K (plus fees, of course).