The cost of buying new - Bikes et al.

After the pandemic set in, a lot of companies started cutting down on spends by reducing bonus payouts, and in some cases cutting manpower in direct or indirect ways. This meant that employees were left with lesser money to use for their regular expenses and other discretionary spends such as a vacation, a new car / bike etc.

In a similar position, I was in an industry which was seeing some turmoil and consequently some uncertainty around what would become of variable pay which is what I typically use for some big tech purchase or holiday. As expected, there was a challenge that year and I had wanted to really get myself a more powerful and refined motorcycle. I had a Duke 390 but that was showing its age of close to 10 years. That's when I started considering what some of my friends do - Buy a use superbike instead of a brand new "normal" bike. This turned out to be a great decision. Let me elaborate.

Since I got a Duke 390 back in 2013, I had lost touch with motorcycles other than using it as an occasional commute vehicle. My biker friends were also all in a similar position with some variant of a Duke 390 or Rc 390. They are amazing bikes no doubt, and are still among the top 5 best bikes to ride around inside the city for their unmatched performance to weight ratio in their segments. However, we all wanted something more - ideally a jump to the next tier of performance, a 650 cc motorcycle, which is considered an entry level superbike. I would leave an interceptor out of this definition though since its not even as powerful as a Duke 390.

I had one very important criterion though - I would only upgrade to a naked bike. For the longest time, I had formed this impression that a faired bike would be 'tough' to ride and manouver. Also the way the headlights don't move with the handle made it even more weird to me. That's how I ended up hunting for a Kawazaki Z650 - which is a powerful naked - instead of a faired bike such as a Ninja 650, which is the faired variant of the Z650. This means that both bikes have the exact same engine but are built differently especially for the purpose of streamlining airflow on highway rides. The faired bike is a lot more aerodynamic and allows for air to flow over and around the rider to a larger extent than a naked. This means the rider can ride with less fatigue and wind blast pushing him/her back while moving at high speeds.

Along with my more knowledgeable friends, we hunted for used bike deals on OLX and Facebook Marketplace, and found a couple of good candidates. The one we saw first was in Domlur, which was nearby to all of us. The bike looked relatively unused but had also been exposed to the elements. It was clear the owner had gotten bored of it and just wanted to get rid of it. However his expected price was too high. We decided to keep it as a backup option.

We then headed out a little further towards Electronic city to check out another bike as a used bike store called Yasmo superbikes. This bike was in much better condition and despite heavy rains, my friends rode the bike and confirmed it was a good bike. Like with any kind of deal, there is an element of trust which comes into play before you shake hands. We look a leap of faith and went ahead with the deal. Retrospectively, I would have done two things differently:

1. Taken a mechanic along who could inspect the bike closely for problems - Since I didn't do this, I was effectively 'scammed' into taking tyres which had more puncture fixes than my age. I got it replaced, but I did feel cheated.
2. Taken the stock bike and skipped any aftermarket exhausts completely - While the exhaust has its benefits, it comes with some challenges especially when you want to sell it to someone new. Almost everyone who's buying a used bike or car values stock vehicles more.

After getting the bike of course, there is a learning curve and the thrill of owning a new bike. There are some challenges with heavier bikes but also a lot of advantages which outweigh the challenges with time. In my case, the heavier bike with lesser turning radius meant the way I rode had to evolve significantly. I had to lean more than turn the handle. Over the nearly one year period with my Z650 I am happy to report that my riding skills improved significantly. I can now ride my Duke 390 more confidently as well and get more value out of it. Its like how you find driving anywhere else easy after you've learnt how to drive in Bangalore traffic. Overcoming a bigger challenge sets up to handle anything easier with no sweat.

Anyway, the point to my story about my first superbike was to highlight that there maybe some things which may seem out of your reach but can actually be within your reach if you are okay with something pre-owned. In the case of my bike, a new one in 2022 would have cost be more than 7L on road in Bangalore - this includes exorbitant road tax, accessories which are a must such as frame sliders, handle protectors and radiator guard. With a used bike from 2017, which had run less than 20,000 km, I was able to get a fully loaded bike in terms of accessories for around 4.5L. This included the above accessories as well as an after market exhaust, an ECU (which controls the power curve of the engine) etc. While it had some small issues, and needed a tyre set change, brake pad change and servicing, it was still worth it at around 5L.

You could always say that a new bike / car has a lot of emotion associated with it. I completely understand and I feel the same way about my Duke 390. That feeling of being the only person who 'owns' it and has 'owned' it is amazing, but it does come with the cost of owning something "new". Especially with vehicles, this can be significant if you are smart about hunting for deals. 30-40% drop in value in a matter of 2-4 years isn't something to scoff at. In the case of super expensive super bikes this can sometimes go up to 50-60% drop in value! There are hidden costs to everything however, and especially in the case of Ducatis, its a well known secret, that its a time bomb when it comes to service costs close to the 20k km mark. Japanese bikes on the other hand aren't that bad. Similar parallels can be drawn for cars, but of course compared to superbikes, cars depreciate faster and you can find better deals overall because of more supply. This is why used car stores, showrooms and brands have proliferated all over India.

Surprisingly enough, almost everything you can think of can be bought at a lower value if its been used for a while. A lot of times, there are people who bought something on a whim and want to sell it unused. I got an iPad Air with a pencil for a great discount. You can get refurbished laptops for really cheap, which are practically the same as a new laptop with warranty. This brings me to what's a great place to hunt for used deals. OLX seems to be quite active when it comes to bikes but for almost anything else, Facebook marketplace has become an unsung hero of sorts. Its association with the largest social network in the world makes it the best place to sell anything you don't need or don't use, by discovering its market value and finding suitable buyers near you. Heck, my friend bought a used superbike exhaust from another city for nearly a lakh!

To conclude, I wanted to highlight how you can get better value in a few ways:

1. Spend more and get a better, more expensive product
2. Find deals to spend lesser on the same product
3. Get the product used from someone who doesn't need it anymore

The last method is largely underrated because obviously 'new' is considered better. I would like you to reconsider this notion the next time you are out to buy a car or a bike or even an apartment.

P.S: A great resource to evaluate used vehicle deals is a site called 'Orange book value', which a friend introduced me to.