I am trying to help a friend sell his Harley motorcycle, he has decided he is too old to ride (great choice) and is not tech savvy so I have done photos and listed it on Craigslist as well as CycleTrader and ChopperExchange. I have not had a peep, no interest at all since May/June. I have dropped the price a bit, but I find it difficult to understand why assorted versions of the same basic bike have such a huge variation in pricing so am not sure if I am pricing it right.
I am not a Harley person and don’t know much about them so am wondering, does anyone have any knowledge, ideas, or suggestions?
It all depends on knowing the specifics of the bike, it is nice you want to sell it for him, but you need to know the details. Harleys come in various trim levels, and it is pretty confusing. The things that will affect the price are how many miles it has, how old it is, any customization on it, engine displacement and power, other kinds of trim (Windshield, sound system, exhaust system, wheels, and so forth).
One possible suggestion, if there is a harley dealer or repair place anywhere near there, give them a call and ask them to look at the bike and give you an idea of the condition and a running list of what the specs on it are, and they also might be able to give you a rough idea of what it is worth on the open market. It might cost you (him) some money to do that, probably an hour of their service rate, but might make it easier since you and he don’t know what is on the bike.
One other thing you may be able to do is take the vin number off the bike and look up what those numbers mean on the internet, they can tell you what the original engine was, the model, and some other information. You also could try taking pictures of the bike and posting them on a Harley forum and ask the people there if they can tell what kind of bike it is, and also if you give them the mileage and the year and the condition, they probably can tell you what it is roughly worth.