How to Determine the Value of Your Motorcycle

There’s a number of situations where it’s useful to determine the market value of your motorcycle. The main ones include:

• Selling your motorcycle.
• Buying a new motorcycle.
• Buying a used motorcycle from a private party.
• Registering a motorcycle.
• Getting insurance for your motorcycle.

When you’re selling your motorcycle, you’ll want to figure out the price range you can expect to get for it.

If you’re shopping around for a new or used motorcycle, you’ll want to figure out how much it’s worth so you can get the best deal.

When you register a used bike you’ve bought, you’ll sometimes need to determine the fair market value when you figure out how much sales tax you owe.

And finally, when you insure you bike, you’ll want to make sure you’re not overpaying or underpaying for coverage when you opt for comprehensive or collision coverage.

The main factors that determine the price you can buy or sell a motorcycle include:

• Year, make, and model.
• Condition and history of the bike.
• Local supply and demand.

Bike Valuer & Price Guides

The first place to determine the value of your motorcycle is official price guides. Popular ones include:

• Kelley Blue Book
• Nada Guides

Widely recognized guides like these have price data for new and old bikes, and they allow you to get more accurate estimates by selecting where you live, the condition of the bike, and any upgrades or extras it may feature.

If you’re registering and titling your bike in Vermont, the DMV will ask that you include a NADA print out that shows the fair market value for the bike you’re registering. You’ll use this value to help determine the sales tax.

Other Ways to Determine How Much Your Motorcycle is Worth

While insurance companies and state DMV are typically going to rely on the official price guides, there are some other ways you can determine how much a bike is really worth.

This extra research can come in handy when negotiating a private sale or even negotiated the price of a new bike.

Sometimes, you’ll want to do a little extra research on top of the price guides in order to negotiate the best price when you’re buying or selling a bike.

Some ways to do that include:

• Factoring in any upgraded parts that have been added to the bike.
• Checking out the local supply and demand by looking on Craigslist and at local dealerships.
• Considering work and maintenance that has been completed.