£4000-£6000
Lower mileage, good condition dealer examples are common at this price
AT THIS PRICE point you need to be looking for a full service history, preferably from a main dealer, good, matching tyres and little, if any, sign of corrosion or crash damage. Bikes will be newer, have lower mileage and should be in better condition.
You will find many bikes in this price range at larger main dealers, too, which should give extra peace of mind. Their reputation and franchise depend on the quality of their bikes so if they’re selling an older bike, rather than getting rid of it at auction, it should be pretty clean (unless they paid too much for it as a part-exchange and are trying to recoup their losses… so always ask why the bike is there).
Newer bikes usually come with lower finance rates – but at this price point there’s also the chance of losing more money if you pick poorly, so you still need to do your research as you can still buy a pup. Be wary of bikes that look too good to be true; they mostly are. The best buys in this price range will be the models that have just been replaced, as they suddenly fall out of favour. It’s essential to see the HPI check, making sure there is no finance still outstanding, especially with more modern bikes that are likely to have been bought previously on finance.
So at this price point you’re likely to be looking at models that were current just a few years ago. We found a cracking air/oil cooled BMW R1200GS Adventure for £5990, with above-average miles and full service history. These have fallen in price since the water-cooled version was launched in 2013. Our other favourite was a low-mile Ducati 749 Biposto, which looked like a great buy at £4990, if there’s proof the cambelts have been done on time.
There are a lot of bikes being sold at any one time, so be patient: even if you don’t see what you want at first, the perfect one might come up next week. Shop wisely and there really is a great bike for every budget.
“Be wary of any bikes that look too good to be true”