Where to list a bike - Marketplace, Craigslist, Cycle Trader, eBay...??

[Baatfam]

I realize you're kidding, but given the flood of crap that came with my recent FB listing being retired would be a big help. Add CL to the mix and dealing with it all could be close to a full time job.

Ouch....Not looking forward to that...
I really liked selling cars and bikes on eBay years ago. You didn't have that nonsense at all. Just bid or don't bid....

[RichDesmond]

Ouch....Not looking forward to that...
I really liked selling cars and bikes on eBay years ago. You didn't have that nonsense at all. Just bid or don't bid....

Yeah, it was quite the pain.
If I was in your shoes I'd post it here, the Triumph site and on ADVRider for a week or so, and if that didn't generate any nibbles then go the FB/CL route.

Those first gen Hinckley Triumphs are really nice bikes. Rode a Trident (which was their "standard" bike) back in '97 and almost bought it.

[LAB3]

I'd consider putting it on CycleTrader merely for the fact that someone looking for a specific bike is going to be able to find it easier and more likely to shell out a few more bucks to get it.

[Baatfam]

Thought I would follow up on this, as I sold the Trophy this week.

Early April I put it on CL, paid my $5. Got four or five contacts in the first few days. A low ball offer, some questions, etc.
One local guy did come by. Rode up on a Valkerie, asked questions, looked it over, went off to look at some other bikes.
He ended up with GS850 is now on this forum...LOL....

Dropped the price on CL, and put it on FB Marketplace a week or so later. Nothin' really. Just one guy wanting me to donate it to an animal shelter.

About two weeks ago, I listed again on CL.
After a week of quiet, I dropped the price again, got a message from a guy two hours away.
Showed up the next day, looked it over, ran it, and let his wife see if she felt comfortable as a passenger.
This was important, because she did not like riding on the back of his Africa Twin.
I could tell he wanted to buy it bad, and once his wife OKed it, he handed me my full price in cash.
Once the paper work was done, he put on his gear and rode the two hours home.
Called me later, still happy.

Anyway, even though I hate the process of selling things, this time went fairly well.

[trent]

For years now only thing I've used when selling something has been craigslist,

Some thiings I sell I use a couple different local radio stations that have half hour or longer program for people to call in selling or looking to buy.

It's been a while, and process was easy enough.

When I sold a 1981 Honda cb 650 it was beginning of September ,I didn't get a single call . So after a month i pulled the add.

Next spring, put it back on Craigslist and first day got about a dozen calls.( time of year helped)
i did get a few crazy calls.
People wanting me to deliver it hundreds of miles with promise of giving me cash plus fifty bucks for gas.LOL
After trying to sell it ,most call coming from hundreds of miles south and West.

A older gentleman bought it that lives forty miles away from me.

He didn't ask any questions other than does it run?iwhile he was on the phone and he could hear, I started it up , gave the throttle a little twist and he said he was on his way.

According to him he like to tinker with bikes and this one was perfect for him.

I feel bad because, i didnt keep his number and few weeks after the sale, I came across Haynes repair manual for it, I meant to let him have it.

[trent]

When I sold my 750 on Craigslist, I kinda got a scammer , at least that's what I call it.

I kept getting a call from same guy, unfortunately I never could answer when he called, I had house phone also back then and he would leave messages on there, but never answered my calls??

however he continued to call and we never connected,
I thought it was strange.

So I reverse search number a name , and found this guys add on Craigslist, he was in California or some place far away.

He had about thirty motorcycles for sale on his Craigslist add.

One of them was my 750....LOL.

So when I read Craigslist adds and the seller says "no scammers, I don't need help selling my______"
lol.
I pulled the add, sold it to my old landlords son....landlord and his son are the ones who helped me get it in the first place.

[cloudbreakmd]

I sold three bikes and a car this month. Facebook marketplace is hot garbage. I felt like I got bombarded with messages from people who didn’t read the ad. Craigslist still works just fine.

[Nessism]

My kid recently bought a Yamaha MT-07 off Marketplace. It was 90 miles away, and the seller had a flight out of town at the crack of dawn the next day. My son didn't have his license yet, so he had to take a gamble and pay for the bike, and come back the next day to pick it up at the seller's friends house. Red flag city! The guy was in the military, and had all the appropriate paperwork and ID's, so a calculated risk was taken...and everything worked out perfectly.

[rphillips]

I don't sell much stuff, but what I've advertised for sale, newspaper, craigslist, marketplace, LSN, I've always had waaaaaay more callers and question askers than buyers... Kind'f aggravating, I guess just put up with it.

[Baatfam]

Another follow up on this story....

I received a text for the buyer last week telling me once again, how happy he is.

Said he has put over 3K miles on the bike since the end of June.
Plus, he sold his Africa Twin. I guess the Trophy works well for him.
Makes me happy....

[Big Block]

I think it can be different for different regions. Here FB is the deal. I myself look at MC for sale on FB a couple times a day. Of course that can be costly. Where we live is a bit of a drive out of town too and I find that helps weed out the unserious when I have to sell one. Another nice feature on FB is you can "leave a conversation" when someone isn't serious, it cuts down the wasted time.

[bwringer]

Thought I would follow up on this, as I sold the Trophy this week.

Early April I put it on CL, paid my $5. Got four or five contacts in the first few days. A low ball offer, some questions, etc.
One local guy did come by. Rode up on a Valkerie, asked questions, looked it over, went off to look at some other bikes.
He ended up with GS850 is now on this forum...LOL....

Dropped the price on CL, and put it on FB Marketplace a week or so later. Nothin' really. Just one guy wanting me to donate it to an animal shelter.

About two weeks ago, I listed again on CL.
After a week of quiet, I dropped the price again, got a message from a guy two hours away.
Showed up the next day, looked it over, ran it, and let his wife see if she felt comfortable as a passenger.
This was important, because she did not like riding on the back of his Africa Twin.
I could tell he wanted to buy it bad, and once his wife OKed it, he handed me my full price in cash.
Once the paper work was done, he put on his gear and rode the two hours home.
Called me later, still happy.

Anyway, even though I hate the process of selling things, this time went fairly well.

Nice to know it went well, Bob. Motorcycle people are usually pretty good people.


FWIW, I've bought two bikes and sold one on ADVrider.com -- I do visit and post in that forum quite often, and have for years, so I have enough history to be trusted. It did take a couple of months and a few bumps in each case. It's a huge, worldwide audience, so you have to be patient to get that right combination of feasible geography and a buyer who wants what you're selling. Damn near every ad has a comment to the effect of "Man, wish you weren't 3,000 miles away..."


My KLRs were purchased through CrackList, before the fee. It's a wasteland now, sadly.


Gtem is one of the most prolific motorcycle buyer/sellers I've ever met, and he's been solidly in the Facebook Marketplace camp for a while. I suppose if I had to buy or sell, I'd hold my nose and plunge in...

I've also found and purchased bikes through Cycletrader. It seems to be almost 100% dealers nowadays, which could be good or bad depending on what you're looking for. When I used it, the sellers were private parties.

As noted earlier, brand-specific forums are a great place to get the word out.

Oh, and I've had my GS850G so long (26 years) that I actually bought it from a classified ad in the newspaper. It was on consignment at a small independent shop.


With all of these online ads, LOTS of GOOD photos showing every detail, warts and all, and a well-written and even humorous ad, will get you a lot more legit buyers.

When I sold my V-Strom, I was careful to mention that I hated washing motorcycles, and made kind of a big deal out of the "Authentic Adventure Dirt" coating every crevice... several months later, the buyer sent me photos of the bike all cleaned up at last.

[RichDesmond]

Another data point:
Just sold the Multistrada, through CycleTrader. Listed it on FB first, got very little response. That surprised me, very different from when I listed the 848 there. I think the price point drives that, the 848 i had at $6k, the Multi was $15k

[steve murdoch]

Rich, with the Multistrada gone have you got your eye on something else or are you just thinning the herd?

[storm 64]

Rich, with the Multistrada gone have you got your eye on something else or are you just thinning the herd?

I'd say he's got his eye on something else. He may say he's thinning the herd, but that's only till something else comes along! haha