‘If I knew that, I’d be on the beach’
I’m often asked what bikes, modern or recent, are worth ‘investing in’. In other words, machines that won’t depreciate (much) and/or actually be worth more than their purchase price in the future. If I knew that, I’d be on a beach in the sun.
As I’ve noted before, almost all of the manufacturers offer limited editions of this, that and the other. Sometimes these are just paint and a plaque on the top yoke. Sometimes they’re versions that cash in on a successful race series. Most rarely of all, they’re genuine homologation specials. Trouble is, this last version is always expensive. What we want to do is pick fun bikes that are built for the everyman and that are affordable. Ford do this very well with cars: look at the prices fetched now by XR4is and Cosworth Sierras.
Bikes that pulled off this trick in the past include the Yamaha LC series, Suzuki’s GSX-R750, Honda’s 400 Four and Fireblade and Kawasaki’s ZXR750.
Today’s contenders and those of the last few years? Yamaha’s MT series, especially the MT-07, KTM’s current 390 and 690 Dukes, the Kawasaki ZRX1100/1200, the final gear cam versions of Honda’s VFR750, BMW R1100S, Triumph’s Mark One Street Triple, almost any air-cooled Ducati Monster but especially the 750, Moto Guzzi V7, Suzuki Hayabusa and as a wild card, I think the Honda CRF250: it’s a gut feeling. As are the rest, really.