Selling my 15 1299 base. What should i ask?

shocksoket said:

Hey guys, just wanted to let you know I decided to sell. I posted it today in classified section. Thanks

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I saw your post, and I am just curious why are you selling it?

Question in general, why are people selling these 1299(s) so new? I mean, miles vary like 400 to 2000, barley few months old. I am in the market to pick one up in the near future, but seeing how people getting rid of them makes me wonder about reliability and satisfaction. Also, wonder how cheap these are, wonder if people are really losing money on them just to get rid of them, or they got a good deal from dealerships to begin with. Any inputs anyone?

Nev3rL8 said:

I saw your post, and I am just curious why are you selling it?

Question in general, why are people selling these 1299(s) so new? I mean, miles vary like 400 to 2000, barley few months old. I am in the market to pick one up in the near future, but seeing how people getting rid of them makes me wonder about reliability and satisfaction. Also, wonder how cheap these are, wonder if people are really losing money on them just to get rid of them, or they got a good deal from dealerships to begin with. Any inputs anyone?

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I just picked up a used '15 for $15,750 with 2,000 miles or so. I think a couple thousand miles on a 1 year old motorcycle is about right, especially for a Ducati. It doesn't seem people ride them or motorcycles in general very much.

I am IN LOVE with the bike. I only use it for joy rides in full leathers it is the perfect bike for me. The heat or any other small issues don't bug me in the least. If I didn't have a car and rode it everyday I'd probably have gotten the BMW.

Unfortunately, the motorcycle market is relatively small and sportbikes are a small part of that and Ducatis are, in turn, a small part of that. Supply and demand cares little about was spent on the goods to begin with. Buying sportbikes is about passion, no logic whatsoever and that goes double for Ducatis.

The sad part is that WE determine the value we place on used bikes and aftermarket parts. By not putting any value in aftermarket parts, we are hurting ourselves...because we have also all put aftermarket parts on our bikes.

By wanting or expecting to only pay $18k for a bike that cost $25k just a few months ago, we are hurting ourselves. Everybody wants nice ...., nice bikes, cool parts etc...but then when it comes to buying used bikes, everyone gets snobby and turns their nose in the air like "I cant BELIEVE what that guy is asking for that bike!". Knowing they probably have $5-10k invested in their bike that they will never see. What goes around comes around.

If somebody wanted to duplicate my R6 from scratch, it would cost them around $45-50,000. And I will be lucky to get $14k for it...even though it will be completely refreshed, top to bottom, when I sell it.

And we have done it to ourselves.

Bike sold. Thanks

Sold!

That didn't take long. So, the market isn't so bad for these after all

I guess if the price is right, they won't last long. I saw a dealer asking 17,9 for a 16 1299s with 1k miles on the clock. Last time I checked, it was still available. If the op was asking 14, is it safe to assume that his offer was in 13's... Either way, fantastic bikes. I think that many are still under impression that these bikes are not reliable as other brands and associate high cost to maintainance.

great bike, i've had them all, just never had time to ride this one. I put a price up that i knew would sell fast and have had mutliple calls since my post. sold in 24 hours. they are great bikes! BUT if you buy one new, be prepared to keep it and enjoy it as you should OR know you will take a big hit trying to sell it in the first year.

Chaotic said:

By wanting or expecting to only pay $18k for a bike that cost $25k just a few months ago, we are hurting ourselves. Everybody wants nice ...., nice bikes, cool parts etc...but then when it comes to buying used bikes, everyone gets snobby and turns their nose in the air like "I cant BELIEVE what that guy is asking for that bike!". Knowing they probably have $5-10k invested in their bike that they will never see. What goes around comes around.

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Yep - performance bikes (and cars) all depreciate scary fast (at least initially). The impression is they are beat, even though most owners take very good care of them. I listed my Base on here for $16k and got a lot of crap from some typical ....... members, but it's a very fair price.

If somebody wanted to duplicate my R6 from scratch, it would cost them around $45-50,000. And I will be lucky to get $14k for it...

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What year? Yeah $14k will be on the high end, mods don't bring value to uneducated customers and in general - they reduce value - again the impression is the bike is ragged

And we have done it to ourselves.

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Nothing has changed really, it's been that way for a long time

ultra300x said:

What year? Yeah $14k will be on the high end, mods don't bring value to uneducated customers and in general - they reduce value - again the impression is the bike is ragged

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It is several years old now, according to the OEM build date. But almost every year it gets stripped completely down to the frame. The motor and transmission is rebuilt and it gets a new Clutch. Then all the chassis bearings are changed. Suspension and braking systems are totally stripped and rebuilt. New wheel bearings, chain and sprockets, brake pads, all new fluids, so on and so forth.

If you look at the year of the bike and leave it at that, $14k does seem on the high end.

But, if somebody took a bone stock motor in there and wanted to duplicate the build, it would cost them approximately $13,500. That is just for the motor build plus undercut and cryo coated transmission, with ceramic bearings everywhere.

So if somebody wanted to dublicate the build, first they would have to buy the bike. Then that same $14k would go into just getting the same motor build.

Then there is the...

Marchesini Genesi Forged wheels (with a spare/matching Marchesini rear wheel).
Cut rear rotor.
Galfer Superbike front rotors.
Ballistic Lightweight battery.
Race spec Ti bolts everywhere.
Aftermarket lightweight Subframe and Fairing stay.
Yoyodyne Slipper clutch.
Kit ECU and Harness.
Power Commander and dyno tunes for U4.4 and MR12 (map switch on the bars).
Quickshifter.
Ignition Module.
520 chain/sprockets.
Ohlins 30mm kit in forks.
Ohlins TTX rear shock.
Full Titanium Graves exhaust.
SBS brake pads.
SS brake lines.
Brembo 19x18 Master cylinder.
Lightech Levers with remote Brake adjuster.
Carbon Fiber fenders.
Woodcraft clip-ons with Brake lever guard.
Pitbull Damper.
Lightech Chain Adjusters.
Driven rearsets.
Graves Kit Velocity Stacks.
BMC Race filter.
Driven keyless gap cap.
GB protective covers.
Sharkskinz bodywork painted by Andrew Swenson.
Captive spacers for quick wheel changes.

But the beauty of the bike is in the labor and build. Give somebody all of those same parts, and they still wouldn't end up with the same bike. That bike was hand built from scratch to be not only fast and reliable, but also crash worthy and easy to work on. Things have been relocated, wires routed differently, access points incorporated into the bodywork and other things for quick access, so on and so forth.

So yeah, anyone can simply look at the model and year of the bike and if i was to ask $14-15k, they would be like "whoa, what the hell are you thinking???" And that is EXACTLY why I haven't sold it. I will only sell it to someone who appreciates the finer details and work that went into it, which means it will only get sold to someone who would want to duplicate the build.

That price might seem high, but I would be willing to bet you will not find a faster or lighter R6 in the nation, and that is saying a lot because there are a lot of them out there.

As far as the motor, I know that build price seems high, but as is always said, you can only choose 2....fast, reliable, cheap.

Fast+cheap = it wont be reliable.
Reliable+cheap = it wont be fast.
Fast+reliable = it won't be cheap.

You can build a Superbike/FX motor cheaper than that, but don't expect it to last. That motor revs to a true 16,000+ RPM (and is still building power at 16k, he set the rev limiter conservatively). But it isn't just how high it revs, it is how fast it gets there. The ceramic, polished, Ti, coated, etc parts that were used makes it spin up so fast.

Of course it has Carrillo rods and things like that.

But again, like the bike, the motor isn't just the sum of its parts. Livengood has many trade secrets that he hasn't and will not share with anyone, not even guys in his shop (he builds EVERY race motor that leaves his shop with his own hands). He has been building the best R6 motors in the country for over a decade. There are other race teams and builders that have their own shops, but when it came time to go professional racing, they brought the motors to Livengood.

Most people wouldn't believe the HP numbers if I told them. But it makes that power without using a drop of oil and I have never had a single mechanical problem with that bike, ever. One span we went 2 full years between refreshes and before the refresh he put it on the dyno and it still made peak HP. Upon disassembly, it was still in new condition. He just refreshed it for the sake of doing it.

As is the case with everything, you get what you pay for.

No wonder you wouldn't or couldn't tell me what the refresh process was. The guy wants to keep living good!

That's a very custom bike and as you're pointing out, folks need to look at it that way instead of a hopped up factory bike. When I look at a modified bike or car, I consider what went into it and try to offer 50% on the mod(s) if I appreciate it and if the mod isn't that old. Yes, try to get something for nothing hurts us all in the end.

Seems like a very fair price to an educated buyer

SuperDuc29 said:

No wonder you wouldn't or couldn't tell me what the refresh process was. The guy wants to keep living good!

That's a very custom bike and as you're pointing out, folks need to look at it that way instead of a hopped up factory bike. When I look at a modified bike or car, I consider what went into it and try to offer 50% on the mod(s) if I appreciate it and if the mod isn't that old. Yes, try to get something for nothing hurts us all in the end.

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Thanks, yeah the beauty of the bike is in all of the finer details. It is so much more than the sum of the parts. That is what happens when a bike is stripped to the frame and built from scratch by a professional that not only was a top-10 AMA SBK rider in his day, but has also been building professional race bikes for over 10 years.

Livengood doesn't skimp on anything either. He is the kind of guy that actually turns down more work than he takes in, because he refuses to skimp on parts or labor. He won't throw together some hack job motor just because somebody doesn't want to spend a little extra. He will kindly refuse the job. His name is attached to every motor build, and he doesn't want it tarnished.

For example, he never reuses a single bolt in the motor. If a bolt has been torqued one time, it is done.

ultra300x said:

Seems like a very fair price to an educated buyer

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I agree. The problem is that those educated buyers are few and far between.

I wonder who picked that 2015 1299S, 1,058 miles, in MI for $16,9. Beat me to it.