How much have new bike prices been inflating?

[guile]

Say over the past 15 years, how much have prices for new bikes been going up?

Personally interested in the middleweights, sub-litre bikes.

Astonishes me how little the likes of the Street Triple depreciate in nominal terms.

[ZX-7R]

New bike prices for the superbike/Adventure bike seem to have got out of the reach of many people unless they go PCP and will never own a bike.

Used bike prices seem quite high when you compare them to cars of a similar year and how much they depreciate.
____________________
Current Bike - 2000 ZX-7R

[andys675]

last time I bought a new sport 600 in 2006 you couldn't get a deal on the new R6, they were £7400 so I went to the local kawasaki dealer and bought a ZX6R c6 pre-registered and 0% for about £5600 iirc

nowadays? I don't know that well as it's not my thing anymore but I'm sure the big discount deals on 600's bring them to the £7500 region

street triple's were £5000 and something in 2007, now close to £8k, and as far as holding their value I don't think so, I've been offered £5000 for my 3 yr old
____________________
Some people feel the rain, others just get wet.

[ScaredyCat]

[Polarbear]

Prices of bikers getting frightening.

A new Goldwing costs £24000. A new BMW K1600 is FROM £22000.

Almost £5000 for a Thai built Honda 500.

Sports bikes are well into the £10000+ bracket.

Silly money for a toy
____________________
Victory Cross Country American tractor.

[stevo as b4]

Its only rich fools who spend 10k plus on a new bike outright, or those die hard sports bikes fans, that say have had a new litre bike every 3-5years for the last 25years or more.

Most folk as said aren't spending serious money on toys now, it's the same with cars in the age of pcp everything and people wanting to keep up with new tech and status premium crap.

I think used bike prices have also been affected hugely by the eastern Europeans shipping away all our cheap used stock, and the Japanese exchange rates against the pound making Japanese stuff more expensive than the good days.

Best time to buy new bikes was 95-2005, you had a decade of outstanding value new bikes due to parallel imports, and manufacturer's trying to compete with official imported bikes, along with a boom in leisure biking, born agains, and people with money to spend. If you weren't there then, it's tough shit as you missed out on the best choice of cheap bikes the world ever saw. Those times will never come back around either.

Finally it was a great time to buy second hand bikes, due to people wanting to upgrade to newer versions alot, and a huge number of tasty grey bikes flooding the market and being cheap. Today those very bikes cost a fortune and are hard to get and overvalued by collectors and investment owners, that won't use them.

[Ben90]

Inflation plays a big part as well, £5000 in 2001's money is now £7500

I did read somewhere that car buyers are better off than they've ever been; effectively paying the same or less than 15 years ago (factoring in inflation) to have more modern, quieter cars with extra tech etc.

I imagine the same isn't true for bikes.
____________________
Yamaha FZ6 S2

[M.C]

[stevo as b4]

Getting up hills, practical loadspace, and comfort along with good visibility, maximum use of space etc, plays little against having lots of hi tech infotainment, device connectivity, and complex electronic everything, and stupid safety blankets because people can't drive properly or feel reassured that they can't get into trouble because the car will sort everything out for them.

Heavy cars, that could be so much better on fuel, and have terrible emissions doctored throttle response and the need for silly amounts of bhp to get reasonable performance are in.

You can't have a choice of interesting Nasp petrol engines either that make the right noises, because they can't meet co2 limits. Instead they think synthesised fake engine sounds piped into the cabin. With manufactured artificial pops and bangs is the future.

New cars? Nah sorry I'm out.

Bikes are going the same way and will get heavier and duller, and people will think electronics that ride better than we can and can manage silly bhp effectively are a good thing.

Less crap and 20kgs lighter with less expensive electronic kit are dated ideas, but light bikes that are involving and demanding to ride will always sounds better to me.

[hmmmnz]

i cant beleive people spend that sort of money on bikes, i think ill always be a sub 2k biker, in 22 years of riding, only my ktm has got close to that price.

i certainly wouldn't pay more than 5k, and i definitely wouldn't put a bike on tick
____________________
the humans are dead
I kick arse for the lord
Wiring Diagrams BIDNIP it bitches

[Polarbear]

[iooi]

[Alex A]

A new Yamaha R1 in 1998 was £9,400. With inflation, that's £15,400 in 2016 money. A 2016 R1 is £15,000. Not bad going considering the technological and performance advances.

A new Yamaha Fazer 600 in 2002 was £5,100. With inflation, that's £7,600 in 2016 money. A Yamaha MT-09 (probably the nearest equivalent) is £6,995. Again, not bad considering that it's a much more capable bike.

What's different between now and the mid-noughties is that there was a period where new prices were suppressed and discounted, because of imports, high production numbers, quick model turnover, a strong Pound, and a booming industry. Over the past few years, a very substantial volume of second hand stock has been exported to mainland Europe (weak Pound). So what's left is worth more (supply/demand), and discounts on new are less common.

There seems to be a denial by many riders that inflation exists, and a belief that bike prices shouldn't go up in absolute terms, ever. £10k now isn't what £10k was 10 years ago, and it certainly isn't what £10k was 20 years ago. Some models have managed to cheat inflation by keeping costs to a minimum, either because they aren't developed for many years (Suzuki), or because they're built to an ever poorer quality standard (Honda). But that is increasingly rare thanks to EURO 3 / 4 (and equivalent) regulations requiring 'proper' engine re-development.

So, we had it good for a while in the UK. Now not so much. But as far as I can see, the long term price trend is consistent with inflation, and prices generally haven't increased in real terms.

[.Chris.]

As above, if you look at list prices and scale up for inflation things don't seem so bad. E.g. the list price of an SV650S in 2001 was £5149, which in today's money is about £7800, whereas the current list price is £5k. Admittedly it's now a run-out model and more or less the same machine as it was 15 years ago, but even the 'new' SV650 is only £5.5k.

The problem is that due to the intervening recession a lot of people's incomes haven't kept pace with inflation over that time period. Also I'd hazard a guess that new car prices have declined in real terms over the same period, which makes bikes seem relatively more expensive. That said the availability of finance packages seems to be having the desired effect on new bike sales, which can only be a good thing IMO.
____________________
Chris
1985 Kawasaki Z550F

[iooi]

[Copycat73]

[stevo as b4]

Well no not really buddy, it's just I'm maybe one of those not factoring in inflation as others have made very good points about. I just remember having the pick of all the superbikes for under 10k back in the import era, and I've struggled with the concept that you need to spend over 10k to get a new equivalent bike, or any bike really as 10k for me is not justified on a std mass produced bike.

[Wonko The Sane]

[Jmoan]

[Polarbear]

I bought the wifes Twingo in 2011 for £6500 new.
____________________
Victory Cross Country American tractor.

[mailee]

Does anyone remember when bikes were the cheaper form of transport?

[M.C]

How's a $hit car anyway comparable? You can buy a $hit bike for £500-£1000 new, when an Astra diesel sets you back 20k bikes are a bargain

[guile]

Cars are a different breed so stop hijacking with car stuff.

[0l0dom0l0]

There's a lot that costs more on them too - squeezing the manufactures for profit.

Think about the complex electronics, ride by wire, lighter wheels, catalysts, quickshfiters, fancy this fancy that etc etc....
____________________
CBT Passed: 30/08/2009, Theory Passed: 31/08/2010, Mod 1 Passed: 6/9/2010, Mod 2 Passed: 13/09/2010. Restriction ended 13/09/2012.

Bikes: 2007 Derbi GPR 50, 1998 Yamaha Fazer 600 (written off), 2002 Yamaha Fazer 600, 1994 CBR 600F, 2003 Triumph Daytona 600, Kawasaki ZX6R J1.....Current: 2006 Yamaha FZ6, 1998 Suzuki TL1000R and a Honda VFR 400 NC30.

[stevo as b4]

I wonder if it's bike or car engines that cost the most to produce though?

On one hand car engines are more developed in terms of having to meet more regulations and criteria than bike motors, as well as far stricter emissions and mpg matters far more too. There's more electronics and more technology in car engines that has to be paid for.

But they churn car engines out in massive numbers on fully automated production lines on on a massive scale compared to bikes.

So while bike engines in a way are simpler, and are easier to develop and validate programming for I would think, and have less fussy emissions and fuel efficiency targets, they are made in much smaller numbers. Add to that high revving engines are expensive in componentry, and many use expensive titanium bits inside where as few car motors have exotic or expensive internals?