I sell them

Howard Wilcock, Wigan Yamaha,

“They’re really good. Do you want me to say any more? All right then... The initial appeal is the price, but they’re a right laugh to ride — enough power but very easy to get on with and very forgiving — you can be a bit clumsy and get away with it. We sell loads of them, new and used. It’s mostly new riders who buy them but they don’t like the 35kw versions — they prefer a full power version with a separate restrictor kit. Quite often owners will keep them a while, then there’s a natural progression and they want to trade up, so we’ll buy them back in. It’s just the usual things we look for — condition, mileage, service history. And accessories. Younger buyers want the loud exhausts, especially the Akrapovic systems. If we’re buying one in with an Akra we’ll value it higher — we know that if we’ve got one like that, the phone won’t stop ringing. Otherwise a tail tidy and a screen is always good, but if it’s got cheap Chinese levers we’ll usually put the originals back on. They hold their price pretty well — funnily enough, it doesn’t seem to make much difference what colour they are, they’re all popular. But for the new model, the Night Fluo is the clear favourite.”