‘Brexit will see prices rise next year so buy now’

A dealer near me has north of £300,000 worth of used bikes and ex-demo or pre-reg bikes advertised on eBay. Plus he’ll have his new stock on the floor too. That’s a lot of money tied up in metal over the winter, especially with all the extra overheads for heat and light during the dark, cold months. But interest rates are, historically speaking, very low and the market is actually rising. For the year up to the end of October, new bike sales were 1.7% up, with increases in most categories. Supersports and three-wheel mopeds are exceptions. Adventure bike sales were down, too. What’s likely to affect used values? Brexit. The pound took a 15% dive the moment the referendum result came through and is likely to take another dive in March, or just before the bike season opens.

New bike prices will rise. Not to start with, because importers hedge their currencies and buy (or sell) forwards if they think there’s going to be a big change in interest rates, but rise they will. You can be sure that if there is a big fall in sterling, dealers will put up their used prices because a good lowmiler will still look a bargain against a new equivalent. Prices will also be driven up by scarcity as the continentals come over here to snap up good used bikes, as they did a few years ago when the pound was weak.

So buy this winter (always a good time to buy anyway) and buy a naked.