Selling K1600GT for a friend who has passed on. Advice please?

[james-tx]

Hi all,
Sorry to be joining your forum for a bit of a sad reason, our friend has recently passed away suddenly and his Widow has asked me to help sell his pride and joy, so I thought who better to ask than the people that know about K1600's!

It is a 2012 K1600GT (Private Registration Plate: K16 GTG) with just shy of 51k miles on the clock and a Full Service History (upto and including 2022) plus some extras he had fitted/done. He purchased it in 2018 from someone local who took good care of it also. Bike is located near Surrey/West Greater London.



See the photo album here: https://imgur.com/a/M6ncqyy
I will get the paperwork and upload a copy of all the service receipts, but it is as per service book, last service undertaken 09/22.


Extras Added:
Engine Guard/Crash Bars
Mudguard Fender Extender
Oxford Motorcycle Waterproof Bike Cover
Rear Footrest pegs
Daylight Running Lights
Camera Kit

Work Undertaken:
Serviced @ 07/14, 09/15, 10/16, 10/17, 10/18, 05/19, 09/20, 09/22

New Rear Brake Pads @ 05/2019

New Front Tyre @ 11/2019

New Rear tyre @ 09/2022
New Radiator @ 09/2022


I am looking for an idea on price range, and realistic figure we can try to achieve for her. The mileage is slightly high in my opinion and do the extras attached offset that at all? Full service history is good surely, but again it's a bit of a niche/specialist bike from my understanding, I don't see a load of grand tourer bikes on the roads that I am aware. Only 1 real mark/damage to the bike, otherwise I think it's great condition for it's age.

I was advised by a local dealer that I called that no one is buying stock currently, and it's not a great time to sell bikes (Mar-Oct is more rider friendly).


If his widow is not struggling for money, would it be better to wait to Spring and list it then? Would that get a higher figure than a quick sale do you reckon?
I also imagine if we can get it MOT'ed (no issues whatsoever), then it will be easier to sell, unfortunately Steven passed before he could get his pride and joy MOT'ed/Serviced again this Autumn.


There may be a load of jackets, trousers and helmets for sale. Would that be something you guys are interested in? Should I start a new topic for that?


Thank you in advance for your advice/help.


Best wishes,
James
james.duckett@ttx.co.uk

[flatfour]

I don't know whether this will help or not?

Village Motorcycles in Suffolk, who supplied my 1972 Triumph Trident recently, also bought for stock at a later date my daughter's Honda NC700X and I know that Lloyd, the owner, was at that time travelling all over the country to buy (and sell bikes).

My  daughter was very happy with Lloyd's offer, which she accepted without feeling any need to negotiate, as it was handsomely ahead of other (national) bike buyers that she had spoken to. Although he was well aware that she needed a quick straight sale as she is moving overseas shortly, there was no attempt at all to take advantage of this situation.

The dealership has all manner of machines for sale, from the 1950's through to 2022 or so, including when I was last there, a number of late model BMW's.

Their telephone number is 01473 890916 and they are based just off the A14 at Stowmarket, Suffolk.

[richtea]

Welcome James,
That is a sad tale - but I hope he managed to make some good use of the bike.

The two main things that drive the price are age and, as you say, mileage.
50k for a motorbike is considered very high mileage, but then again there are plenty of Ks that go that distance.

Next it's condition and service history, so it's worth pointing out that nearly all the services were BMW ones.
And the condition - bar the little scuff - looks good, no rust on the front wheel bolts for example.
How is the paint on the rear shaft and 'forks' - bubbly or smooth?

In terms of extras balancing the age and mileage - they won't dent it much unfortunately.
I think the one big plus is the new radiator which will have cost him something like £600, so that's worth highlighting. It's a known weakness with Ks and he fixed that.

Getting an MOT is definitely worth it, just to get the 'hygeine' things out of the way, otherwise prospective buyers will knock you down on price, or worse still, think there's something wrong with it and look elsewhere.

There are 152 of them for sale right now, so not quite as niche as you think:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/bike-search?postcode=ox162aa&make=BMW&model=K1600GT&advertising-location=at_bikes&page=1

However, there's only one with such high mileage, which makes me think you might just get close to £6k in the spring, but more realistically in the £5-5.5k region.

[james-tx]

Thanks both, appreciate the replies. He did definitely get to enjoy some miles on it and was very fond of it, hence the good condition it's in.
I will let them know the feedback, and recommend getting an MOT (whether it's pre-xmas or in the new year will be upto them).


Suffolk may be a bit far, but I will definitely give them a call to discuss pricing and their thoughts, thank you again.


Best, J

[chriscanning]

Looking at eBay prices bikes with 30k on are going for around 5k and a bit,most of my bikes bought in the last 15 years I still have and been bought privately,it’s a true art form that is for sure,sellers try to tuff it out and buyers can be even worse.

Trying to sell a bike at this time is on par to trying to cross the Artic in your underpants,so it’s certainly a spring job at earliest,60,000 miles and had a new rad which tells me at some time it’s been a commuter bike and not cleaned properly and what I always call a bucket and sponge bike which can be the worse of all when buying cuz a buyer really needs to get their shit together and when I’ve thought that taken a torch with me,currently working on a SpeedTriple I bought earlier in the year,looked great on the outside!!!!!

Private buyers are a hard core bunch so MOT or not is niether here nor there,and the back tyre is kaput anyway,on a good day with the sun out I’d say high 3’s for the right person maybe 4k very best of look.

Tough time of year for those that have lost a partner…..that is for sure so best regards to her.

[Matt]

Hey James.

Did you ask Bahnstormer Maidenhead? As it's been there several times there may be a relationship already. They used to be a decent bunch there.

Additionally - and bearing in mind I've just finished an hour and a half call about a spreadaheet so my brain is borked - check how much the plate is worth. Probably negligible but you never know.

Anyway, even if Bahnstormer don't want to retail it (they won't) you may get their help contacting a trader. Of course this may be fine if you're not trying to get the most for it and just getting it gone. Otherwise I align with young Richard.

[alaskier]

Hello James, I agree with Matt, Richtea and Flatfour. Speak to Bahnstormer and Village Motorcycles and explain your problem. You might be surprised at how helpful they are. Ask for their views on getting the bike MOTed and taxed so that prospective buyers can ride it. Beware of scammers and ensure they leave either their drivers licence, passport or something worth more than £5,000 when they ride off. Alternatively Google suitable motorcycle traders to see whether one of them might be interested. I have just sold my 2011 K1300GT that way and it was in far worse condition than your bike and had 125,000 miles on the clock.

As you might have guessed it’s like the Wild West out there so if you just want to sell the bike for a fair price I would suggest the motor trader route but bear in mind that they will be the ones getting the bargain, not you. But at least it keeps the baddies from your door who later reappear demanding a refund for some spurious reason.

Good luck and commiserations for your loss.

[james-tx]

Hi all,
Thanks for your advice, very useful stuff.

I did speak to Alistair (MD at Bahnstormer) and while they aren't looking to buy any stock currently I did ask if he knew any traders or wished to make an offer, so we shall see what he comes back with.

He mentioned looking at Autotrader it's probably 5-6k (I assume this is the top end I can achieve as a sale to a member of public).

I think we will attempt to get it an MOT, and then list for around £5k and hopefully get it gone soon-ish so she can put the money to good use.


Many thanks again, J

[chriscanning]

Needs must and I’d contact the guy in Tamworth who is selling the same on Ebay but only done 30,000 miles says it’s been deleted and because I looked at it had a mail excepting offers below 5450.

[james-tx]

Thanks Chris, a dealer has offered us £3.5k so we have a starting point!

And one would imagine from the fact eBay man with 30k miles is taking offers under £5.4k, I imagine we're looking at a very maximum of £5k for our bike here it would seem.

[chriscanning]

James

The one that has been taken off eBay is one of two things,he may have sold it but he also tried to beat the system by putting a mobile number and eBay take a dim view and could well have pulled the plug.

You have an advantage down in the south east cuz it’s a totally different market to up here,plus it’ll be a different market again when the sun comes out in March,I still have quite a bit to do with the bike trade I’m no punter so I’m suprised you have even had an offer at this time of year I assume he has a customer lined up.

Chris

[Phmode]

If the eBay ad was an auction then yes, they don't like you giving out non-eBay contact details.

However, if it is a plain old classified advert then you have to give your contact details because otherwise no one can find you and eBay don't give a stuff because the seller pays a flat fee and deals directly with the potential buyer.

[chriscanning]

See the other one that was forsale with similar age and miles,was listed on eBay and got pulled at £4600 and was relisted as an add with offers at £5700 ish so that narrows down things a tad for a bike with 30,000 miles.