7th July 2019

If you’ve finally decided to sell your motorbike, you’re in the right place. All you need to do to get a free valuation and get started is enter your bike’s registration number above.

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Selling your motorbike can be a stressful process, but it doesn’t have to be! Here at We Want Your Motorbike, we aim to make selling a motorbike online as easy as possible and ensure that you get a fair price for the bike.

Here, we’ve pulled together all of our tips and information regarding selling a bike into one ultimate guide, covering everything from the valuation to the selling process, to why we believe we’re the best place to sell your motorbike online.

So whether you’re upgrading to a newer model, or your riding days are over, read on for our step to step ultimate guide to everything you’ll need to know when selling your motorbike.

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How Much Is My Motorbike Worth?

What Affects Bike Values?

The how much your motorbike is worth is determined by a number of factors, and while the most important are probably the rarity and condition of the bike, they all play a part.

Mileage

One of the first things that we’ll look at when valuing a motorbike is the vehicle’s mileage.

The more miles that you clock up on your bike, the more its value will drop, so it’s a good idea to try and keep an eye on it as you’re using it and if you know that you’re going to want to sell it in the near future, you might want to try and set yourself some limits.

Condition

Obviously, the better condition that your bike is in, the better price we can offer you for it. While some wear and tear can’t be helped, it’s a good idea to make sure that you regularly clean the bike and fix any smaller issues that crop up with the bike before coming to us.

If possible, make sure you store the bike in a covered garage too, as it will be much better protected from the elements, which will, of course, maximise the value of the bike.

Age

Age is another very important thing that we look at when it comes to valuing a second-hand motorbike.

Obviously, your bike is going to be worth a lot less than it was when it was bought new, as this is always the case with both cars and bikes, but after a few years, the depreciation in price does start to level off.

Service History

It’s important you provide us with a full service history for the motorbike and the more detailed this is, the better valuation we’ll be able to offer.

This is important as it lets us know what sort of shape the bike is in and how much of a risk it is, so always be sure to keep hold of as much paperwork as you can and have it ready when it comes to selling the bike.

Modifications

Lots of people come to us with bikes which have had plenty of modifications added to them, whether they’re purely cosmetic or are to do with the actual performance of the bike.

Whether you’ve modified the bike yourself or perhaps it was already modified when you purchased it, this could affect the value of the bike.

While modifications will usually bring the value of the bike down, it’s important to note that this isn’t always the case.

Either way, if your bike has had modifications, be sure to note them down and take pictures if possible and send them to info@wewantyourmotorbike.com to let us know.

Previous Owners

Usually, the more previous owners that your bike has had, the less it’ll be worth, and you can find this out by consulting your V5C registration or logbook.

Information Needed for a Valuation

We take most of the information that we need for the valuation when you provide us with your registration number, such as the make, model, engine size and year of manufacture.

However, we do require some other bits and pieces before we can offer you your free valuation.

After this, we still require some other bits of information like the mileage, the number of previous owners the bike has had and the service history.

You’ll also need to let us know whether the vehicle has been subject to any insurance claims and there are a couple of more specific questions for specific types of bike (for example if it’s a tourer, we need to know if it will come with panniers, and if it’s a sports bike we’ll need to know whether or not it is a race replica).

This is all you’ll need to get your free valuation, but if you choose to accept it, bear in mind that you’ll need all of the vehicle’s paperwork such as the VC5 logbook/registration certificate and all service history and MOT certificates with the keys.

And if you’ve paid for the bike using finance, you’ll also need a finance settlement letter too.

How Do You Value a Bike?

Every bike is different, so the process of valuing each and every one is different and unique to the bike. After you’ve entered your registration number and our expert team have the details of the bike, they’ll get to work on a valuation for you.

A range of different factors are taken into account when we’re valuing your bike and some are much easier than others (although we always aim to get back to you within 24 hours) 

We’ll look at things such as the age, condition and mileage of the bike and obviously, the ones which have been best looked after will return the most money.

However, we also have an extensive knowledge of the market too, and how ‘in-demand’ is also a very big factor that we take into account when valuing your bike.

Finally, we’ll send the valuation over to you, although you’re under no obligation to accept our offer if you don’t want to!

How to Get a Free Valuation

To begin, all you need to do is enter your registration number on the site which will give us the majority of the details that we need for the bike such as make, model and engine size.

However, there are a couple of other details that we require before we can move forward with a valuation, such as the mileage, number of owners that the bike has had, service history and a couple of more specific questions if it’s a tourer or sports bike.

You should also make sure that you’ve got all of the relevant documentation to hand, such as the V5 logbook/registration certificate, service history and MOT certificates and any finance settlement letters if you bought the bike on finance.

When we’ve received all of the above, our team will get to work on calculating your free motorbike valuation.

Why We’re The UK’s Leading Motorbike Buyers

Why Sell With We Want Your Motorbike

There are plenty of online motorbike buying services, so what makes us here at We Want Your Motorbike the best? Well, we believe that we’re one of the most trustworthy and fair services on the web and here are just some of the reasons why.

Firstly, our whole process is extremely quick, from entering your reg number to getting your valuation and getting the money in your account.

We usually come back to you with your valuation in as little as a couple of hours and if you choose to accept our offer, we can send somebody to your address to collect the bike within 24 hours and the money will be in your account before we take the bike away.

We also try to make the process as simple as possible by stripping out all of the timewasting, negotiating and haggling that you would usually experience when trying to sell your bike privately. Once we send you a valuation, that’s the price that you’ll receive, with no quibbles.

Finally, we also know that the safety and security of your motorbike are hugely important when making a sale and can often be compromised with a private sale.

That’s why we always transfer your money into your account before taking your bike away and never pay with cash, always through a secure bank transfer.

However, don’t just take our word for it. Our customers have also rated us as one of the most trustworthy bike selling services on the internet, with an average rating of 9.5 on Trustpilot.

We’ve sold thousands of bikes since we set up business in 2010 and between our team, we have years of experience in the motorbike trade, so you can be sure that we will offer you a fair and reasonable price.

Where to Sell Your Motorbike Online

Options for Selling Your Motorbike

There are generally three main options that come to mind when it’s time to sell your bike, which are to sell privately, through an online bike-buying service such as ourselves, or part-exchanging. Here’s a quick look at the pros and cons of each.

Private Selling

Selling privately is the first avenue that comes to most people’s minds, whether they do so in their local area or online through a site such as Autotrader, Gumtree or eBay.

There’s good reason why you might want to do this, as you have complete control over the whole selling process and most importantly, over the price that you receive.

This being said, there are also a lot of downsides to selling your bike privately. Firstly, it takes up a lot of your precious time, as you’ll have to spend time meeting up with potential buyers to show them the bike, many of which will turn out to be a complete waste of your time.

Once you finally do have somebody who is interested, you have the whole problem of having to haggle with them to get the best possible price for your bike, which is rarely the price that you set out to get in the first place.

And while it may only be a small risk, there’s always the chance that you could wind up getting scammed or even having your bike stolen by the potential ‘buyer’ too.

All of this being said, we can’t deny that if you’re happy to put up with the extra hassle, selling your bike privately will probably get the best price (do remember that sites such as eBay and Autotrader do charge you to list the bike though!).

Online

Due to the various issues that we’ve outlined with private selling, online motorbike buying services such as We Want Your Motorbike are quickly growing in popularity.

That’s because they offer you a quick, straightforward way to sell your bike with minimum hassle and have the money in your account as soon as possible.

It’s a very easy process, as all you need to do is enter your registration number to get a free valuation and if you want to accept it, you can have the bike collected and the money in your account in just 24 hours.

You probably won’t receive as much as you would when selling privately, but the ease and simplicity of the process are what our customers love the most about selling their bikes online.

Part-Exchange

Dealerships often offer part-exchange deals, which are also a very easy and simple way to sell your bike, while giving you the chance to upgrade to a new one.

However, the prices that part-exchange deals offer you for your bike aren’t always the best and if you are looking to upgrade to a newer bike, our advice would be to sell the bike to us and take the extra cash to a dealer to negotiate yourself a better deal on your new bike.

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So, if you’re ready to sell your motorbike the fast and easy way, get started by entering your registration number below and we’ll get to work on calculating your free motorbike valuation.