Ok..done deal!

[Red Mist_imp]

Couple of points.. I know I do not have to justify my purchases to anyone, but lest someone thinks I'm rich, which I'm not, I'd like to explain how I justify ( in my own mind) this bit of seemingly extravagance...

I generally do not buy new bikes. I buy used. I buy them right and sell them right. The ST is the only new bike (besides the CBs ) that I have bought new in a bunch of years, and I bought it as a left over saving $6000 off list price in the process.

I sold 2 of my bikes to buy the 2013 CB. A Yamaha FZ-1 that I had paid $3000 for, rode for 4 1/2 years and sold for $2850 ($150 for 4 1/2 years isnt bad eh?) and my 750 Nighthawk that I paid $3000 for, kept for 5 years and sold for $2100. (not as good as the FZ but $900 for 5 years is less than $200 a year). That gave me nearly $5000 towards my 2013 CB.

I also bought my 2013 CB 1100 right. Not as right as some of the prices I have read, but I was really pleased with the deal. I walked in with a pre-written check for the amount I was willing to pay for the CB, and they accepted it. Yes, there will be depreciation, but not as bad as one would think.

I really like the look of the new Deluxe and had I known it was coming would not have bought a 13 and therefore would not have lost a penny in depreciation (although I loved my 13 and put more mileage on it last year than all the other bikes in my garage combined).

I had a Majesty scooter sitting around I wasn't riding much. I bought it used for $3000 to ride with my wife on her Majesty scooter. She didn't ride hers at all last year due to a hip replacement and barely rode it the year before..and not much the year before that either. I asked myself, would I rather have the scooter sitting there barely being used, or use the value in it to get what I really wanted which was the Deluxe? In the end it cost me $500 to own the scooter for 3 years.

Running the numbers is too complicated to figure out what I've really got invested in this new 2014. Whole lot of wrangling and dealing on 5 different motorcycles to get where I am today. There will also be some additional savings by not having to insure and maintain so many motorcycles. There will also be more room in the garage by dropping from 4 motorcycles in the stable to 2 for me and 1 for my wife which may get sold as well if she isn't going to ride it, although it's hers and I will let her make that decision.

Regardless, there are those on this forum who have spent way more modifying their 2013 motorcycles to suit them, either cosmetically, or with motor and/or suspension upgrades, than I figure I'll have in a motorcycle I won't modify at all. Pick your poison, to each his own. If you like what you've got, I'm thrilled for you, that's what it's all about, and that's all that matters.

Don't expect that I will buy another new motorcycle in my lifetime. I turn 64 in May, and hope to be able to ride until I'm 70. Any more will be icing on the cake. Family history says I won't make it many more years after that. At this point hoping my mind and body give me that much at least. My ST and the CB should outlast me I would think. If so I am set for life on motorcycles now.

The CB 1100 whether 2013 or 2014 std or 2014 Deluxe is a special motorcycle, one which caused me to abandon my usual practice of buying used, and as my wife said " opened my wallet and let some of the moths escape". (we are actually rather frugal in our family.. the family joke is "copper wire was invented by my dad and my brother fighting over a penny") .

End of story, thanks for listening! I'll be here all week, be sure and tip your waitress.

No justification needed of course, but starting a thread starts a discussion. There's an entire thread devoted just to deciding if it would be worth it to trade in the old for the new. Ferret "pulled the trigger". I'd guess he started this thread to let us know why, for those who might be on the fence.

As far as money, the CB1100 is not a rich man's toy, it's a yeoman's bike through and through. If I wasn't able to afford much bike, like back in the day, I'd be very happy with the CB1100 as an only bike until I got a little more discretionary income. I think there are quite a few younger riders with the CB as their 2nd or 3rd bike who'll be quite content with it for years. It is to those riders I say, "Don't trade in your '13. Save your money, work hard, play your cards right, and one day you'll have a garage full of bikes and a nice house attached to it."

Another forum I'm on had a thread wherein the member had his bike repossessed, because he couldn't make the payment and pay for college. I told him to stay in school, he can get a bike later!

Ferret,

Thanks for sharing the financial details of your trade(s). Not many people are willing to do that. Most of us want to be the people who go to Vegas and always make money, not the poor sap that loses it (that would be me if I were a gambler!) I don't know how Vegas stays alive with everyone making money and only a few losing (sarcasm). Same with a dealership. If the forumula was such that everyone made money buying/selling with a dealer, the dealers would all be broke!

FYI, I was trying to work a deal on the new Royal Enfield Continental GT. Dealer was willing to give me $6,000 for the CB1100 and MSRP on the Enfield. KBB trade in on the CB is $5,750. I didn't do the deal, but just wanted to let people know what I was offered on a trade in.

Tripod

I paid 12K OTD for mine; don't snicker. That's what they sell for in my town. I paid cash, that is, AHFC gave me 0% terms on the loan. I had rather use Honda's money to buy one of its own motorcycles from them and leave my money where it's making 10-20% a year.

Be that as it may, losing $6,000 on a trade is just bad business, not a good way to handle money. I wouldn't do it on principle. That $6000 is going to make me about $700-800 in a year's time where I've got it now.

Now, if there was a safety or rideability issue with the bike, I wouldn't hesitate to get rid of it. But certainly not because the new one is a different color and has a gear position indicator and will help me with math.

After buying and trading in a lot of bikes over the decades, I think I've figured out the the best deal is when I get a bike I really like, at a fair price, using someone else's money at little to no usury, and THEN really learning to like it and hang on to it like an investment long after the smell of cosmoline has worn off. Nearly everything I'd want to change about my CB, for example, can be done for, say, $2000. That would be good shocks, fork springs, and a Corbin seat.

It's so easy to succumb to New Bike Fever. That can be an expensive proposition, and to be frank, if the CB1100 changes again in 2016, would it be worth it to trade again? And again?

Most of us, I'd wager, really can't afford to lose that kind of money on buying and trading motorcycles and it really starts to be a struggle; the bike addiction can put a strain on one's marriage, finances, and personal life at times. That's the flip side of all this, affording it.