Top 10 Tips for Selling a Used Dirt Bike

or visit

Want to be able to see your dirt bike successfully? Here is a list of ideas compiled from my experience in selling over 20 dirt bikes in the past few years along with some help from my facebook and instagram followers.

1 - Get it clean. Like show room clean. Take parts off the bike and wash them. Clean air filter. Clean oil.
2 - Take great pictures in good lighting. The More the better. Clean back ground too. Not a messy garage!
3 - Tell your network of friends that you are selling. Might find a buyer just like that whom you already know.
4 - List the bike in multiple places (KSL for Utah and Idaho, Facebook, Instagram, Craigslist, etc)
5 - Realize that no one cares about your aftermarket parts, sure it’s okay to list them, but realize they don’t make the bike worth more. They may help it to sell quicker, but 2K worth of parts on your bike makes it worth about $100 more than a bike without those parts.
6 - Be honest in the listing. Talk about your maintenance routine in the ad. What hour mark did you do “x” thing. Keep receipts on service done. If something is wrong or needs to be done, be up front about it. This will help your credibility with the buyer.
7 - Don’t negotiate too much over text. A little is fine. Personal presence is power. Encourage them to view the bike in person.
8 - Timing. Just before the season starts or in the beginning of the season will help get a quicker result and a better price.
9 - New Levers and grips. They are cheap and will go a long way.
10 - Look at the market and price your bike accordingly. Know that there is a difference between everyone’s “asking price” and their actually selling price. Know that you are going to lose money.
11 - Consider new plastic kit if yours is bad. Those run about $100 - $150 and can do wonders for how your bike looks. Be careful with this one though because it may cause the potential buyer to wonder what you are hiding from them.

Jim Bass, Garrett Wastlund, Matt, Chris Abel, David Adams, Blair Butler, Brian Falcon, Seth Green, Terence Seymore, Sean Williams, Ryan Woodley, Flo Motorsports, Nate Winget, Steven Brady, Travis Winston, Chad Cooper, Mitchell Forrest, Mark Fleischman, Dion Jaramillo, Ken Paulino, Paul Warner

[acescape]

Whatever wax ur using on ur head, i want for cleaning my bike

[SkinnySkinch]

Great video Kyle! Your most important "bonus" tip imo I ALWAYS pull the OEM plastics first thing and put an aftermarket set on, then when I sell the bike I put the OEM brand new plastics back on. Helps sell bikes infinitely easier. Stock bikes sell easier and faster than bikes loaded with custom graphics and parts etc.. Can't wait to see some riding of that 300 TPI. Praying for better than expected recovery of your knee injury.

Something I noticed with older 2 strokes at this point they are not depreciating much if any. Some mint condition 250s from the early 2000s are actually appreciating in value from where they were 5 years ago. Once a bike gets to a certain age it tends to stay somewhat stagnant in price, or the depreciation slows drastically. New bikes are the ones that get crushed quickly in value.

One more thing.. I don't like to think of it as losing money on my bike when it depreciates. A car, yes. But a dirt bike, I see it as I am paying for fun. It is strictly an object used for fun, unlike a vehicle which is designed to transport you. Of course you don't get all of the money back you spent on the bike, but, you get to keep all of the memories. People spend money on gym memberships every month, could buy a dirt bike and offset some of that money as a workout expense and have fun while doing it. So many positive ways to think of it instead of just being worried about losing money.

[garrettsmith]

The last 2 bikes I've sold I've done everything you mentioned and actually made a couple hundred bucks on one bike & $1300 on the last one. Way I look at it if you get a good deal, take care of everything with attention to detail & have a paper trail/pics to back it all up you're getting paid to ride the bikes you want! It doesn't get any better than that! Keep it up! Looking forward to my Blue Dirt Bike Channel T-shirt! Maybe even that 300TPI lol

[wheelsoffroad]

Another tip that can make things less of a loss is to put all the aftermarket parts you plan on installing on when you buy a new bike and save all the new stock parts. When you get ready to sell just put all the stock parts back on. That works really well if your staying with the same brand of bike. Unless there was some major redesign you can reuse your cache of aftermarket parts on the next bike. What doesn’t fit on the new bike can be sold on eBay to recoup some money.

[dirtbikesicehockey]

I didn't even notice the sun being reflected until you posted the disclaimer

[Magillasgarage]

Great video. going along with what you said. When i sell a bike i generally try and make sure it at least has a decent set of tires and that the sprockets are not warn and need replaced right away.

[geofox]

Tip #2 is often so overlooked, it’s amazing what a shop broom and taking the pics on a sunny day at noon can do to help your price

[markgunnison]

It does not work today, but back in the 1980s my dad would bring a handgun with him when buying or selling a bike. He would pickup the guns for under $100 and then during the negotiation he would say, "If I threw in this gun would you knock $500 off the price?" Worked great.

[racingfortheson]

We get a set of plastic and seat cover with every new bike we buy. Save the stock plastics and seat cover to resell the bike. It is also a good idea to sale around Christmas time.

[wvlife]

My issue with lots of aftermarket parts are 2 fold. 1) it means a person whom may not be mechanically savvy has worked on the bike. 2) it can be a pain tracking down the parts or more expensive replacing them. I despise aftermarket parts with no company or part number on them.

[mikelyons]

You're absolutely right. It kills me when I look at bikes for sale and somebody says it's got a new boyesen rad valve, new Wiseco piston, rental bars, new chain and sprocket. Whoopty Doo. All it means is things are worn out and they replaced it. Which happens. Good job on this video hopefully it will teach others to sell bikes correctly.

[davidxj]

Eagle One etching aluminum wheel cleaner will make aluminum frames look brand new again. Whether is gunk, rub marks from boots, anything. The frame will be spotless

[RacerRed]

#5 is something I am constantly telling people. Nobody cares about your aftermarket parts.

[noControl]

Do you think its worth putting the stock stuff back on and selling the aftermarket parts on ebay?

[dsmutz]

Solid advice. Can't wait to see some videos on that TPI 300.

[mfmonthefmf]

Thanks man! this is some really good info for me.

[akathecanadian]

Perfect timing I put mine for sale yesterday

[lewisthow]

Should I put a new 2 stroke pipe on my 200 exc as mine is pretty bashed up and I’m not going to blow it out

[jasonblankenagel]

I can't tell you how many times I have to tell people over text that I won't accept offers unless it's in person. It's a pet peeve of mine for sure!

[wrenchone]

Tax season is your best friend if your selling but usually the worst time to buy used anyways, good time to buy is around Xmas when people are not riding and can use the cash .