What's with the bikes on autotrader with under 1000 miles?

[bigbadcredit]

Looking to get a new bike. I was looking a moto guzzi v9 and the new price which is about 9k. But then there's a heap of mint condition bikes of the same model for sale in the used section. These bike are all 6-7k and have between 500 and 1.5k miles on them.

Most are listed as having 1 previous owner. Are these people buying and then returning them after a few weekends?

Obviously sometimes buying high mileage can be a bit risky but is there anything in particular to look out for when buying a really low mileage bike?

[Polarbear]

I suspect Guzzis will be bought by old farts like me. Ridden a bit then the missus tells them to get over their middle age crisis and buy a sportscar instead.
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[arry]

[UncleFester]

I am sure a lot of it comes down to not making time to ride / not being able to allocate time to ride. Always meaning to take it out one sunny weekend but it never gets past all the stuff burying it in the garage.

And as stated above - it's the reason 2nd hand leathers are such a bargain as once the bike goes, the colour matched suit has to go as well.

I'm 2000 miles up so far in about 2.5 months and loving every mile of it but doing that has meant completely ignoring both cars.

The way i view low mileage stuff ( particularly if it's out of warranty) is that you've a bunch of potentially undiscovered faults that haven't been road tested out under warranty. For the actual discount you really get, i'd rather buy new.
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Module 1 and 2 passed - October 2014. Happy owner of a 2017 Z1000SX, ex owner of a YBR125 / CB500 / VFR800.

[Teflon-Mike]

A former member of the Moto-Guzzi Owners club.... I DID attend one club meet.... The pub was packed.... the car-park was packed... Snowie's was the only Moto-Guzzi in it!

Its a curious marque. with a lot of fans who just don't sell on old bikes very often. A lot of bikes will come up for sale early in life sold on by folk with an urge for one, who then find its not for them, and they cant live with thier idiosyncrasies... sorry... Latin Character... Most tend to hang on to Guzzis, refusing to ride anything else, and often have two or three in the garage.... usually none of them working..... Older ones especially so... most seemed to be on-going projects, being cafe'd than anything, or they were stashed for long months, between major transcontinental tours, where they would rack up a few 1000 miles in a couple of weeks... then put them back in the garage for another year or two!

I would hazard a guess though, that the number of low miles bikes you have spotted is because of dealer pre-reg.

The Guzzi works has been under threat for the last three or five years, and I dont know how many times they have suspended manufacture, or been bought out... They were bought by I think Piaggio/Vespa at one point and a lot of argy-bargy went on as to whether they would migrate models to india, or make low cost models there, and what they would do with the Mondello factory and large bike line up.... The owners club mag had more scoops and speculation than Motor-Cycle-News in the good old days!

Other issue is the back-bone of the range has for a couple of decades been the old ai-rcooled Tonti V50 design bored out, given fuel injection, I think a version of the old Lariuo 4v head with attempts to stop it cracking, and variously updated suits of cloths.... but it is STILL basically the 1975 V50 desighn of air-cooled push-rod twin. The big-block guzzis, the air-cooled 850's, 100's and 1100's are even older in heretage, dating back I believe to a 1950's pump and plant engine!! Similarly given new low cost updates along the way.

I would suspect, that they have had trouble making ANY of them compliant to latest Euro emission borrox, so with a lack of direction at the plant, and likely over-production, they have given dealers incentive to take extra 'demonstrator' models, get run in miles on them as demo or curtecy bikes, and get them road-reg'd whilst they can, rather than have them sit on the floors unsaleable 'cos they cant be registered.

Would also explain why the ones you have spotted are low miles one owner examples.... that owner was probably the dealer, or thier mechanic, or salesman or mate round the corner, to get them Hertzwise onto the market!
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My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[Rogerborg]

Private or trade?

Dealer demo bikes?
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[suburban myth]

I'd be looking for evidence of accident damage/repair too. We probably all know someone who's a born-again, buys bike, throws down road, (his wife) thinks fuck that for a game of soldiers".

[LustyLew]

PCP chop ins?

Had it for a couple of years, paranoid of going over the 2,000 a years they speced to keep costs down.
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Like a Yorkie - I'm not for the girls

[Ste]

"Are these people buying and then returning them after a few weekends? "

How old are the bikes?

Links to the ad(s) on biketrader?