Do BMW & Honda Motorcycles Hold Their Value? (Or Not?)

BMW and Honda are both considered to be “high-end” brands in the world of motorcycles.

Honda in particular is known for its reliability and BMW for its prestige.

Both bikes are also among the higher price brackets and experience the same patterns of depreciation.

This article answers the question: “Do BMW Motorcycles & Honda Motorcycles hold their value?”…

Do BMW & Honda Motorcycles Hold Their Value?

Both BMW and Honda motorcycles struggle to hold their value over long periods of time.

For different reasons, each one tends to lose quite an amount of value compared to other brands out there.

BMW tends to lose value mostly because of their main customer demographic of wealthier buyers who always buy the latest model, which pushes down the value of used models.

Honda overproduces each motorcycle they bring out, which floods the market and drives down prices.

How Much Is The New Price of BMW & Honda Motorcycles?

Typical rates for new models vary depending on what style and engine size you purchase.

Below is the current BMW bike categories and the starting MSRP range:

BMW Motorcycle CategoryStarting MSRP Range ($-$)
Sport15,245-33,000
Tour12,295-26,645
Roadster5,295-14,345
Heritage11,995-21,870
Adventure5,695-19,145

Below are the Honda motorcycle categories and MSRP range:

Honda Motorcycle CategoryStarting MSRP Range ($-$)
Touring23,900-28,300
Adventure5,249-17,199
Cruiser4,599-10,599
Standard3,749-12,999
Supersport11,899-28,500
Sport3,399-12,999
Neo-Sports Café4,949-12,999
miniMOTO3,399-3,999
Dual Sport3,899-6,999

How Much Do They Depreciate In Value?

Starting with BMW bikes, they tend to depreciate in value by at least 20 percent in their first year.

A BMW S1000RR will go from being worth $13,800 brand-new to being worth $11,040 after the first year.

From the second year, however, depreciation slows down to about 4 percent per year.

Honda cycles depreciate even faster than BMW bikes in their first year, losing an average of 27 percent from their original value.

A Honda Fury, for example, will go from being $12,499 brand-new to just $9,489.30 after its first year.

After the first year, Honda motorcycles will continue to depreciate by about 6-7 percent annually calculated from each year’s net depreciated value (not calculated from the original MSRP).

What’s The Resale Value?

After 4 years, a BMW will be worth about 70 percent of its original MSRP value.

For a BMW S1000 RR, for example, that means starting at $13,800 and dropping to $9,921 after four years.

After 9 years, it is worth about 61 percent of its MSRP.

After 4 years, a Honda will be worth about 60 percent of its original MSRP value.

For a Honda Fury, that means starting at $12,999 and then being worth $7,881 at the end of four years.

After 9 years, it is worth about 45 percent of its MSRP.

These prices for both BMW and Honda bikes depend of course on the condition of the bikes as well as other factors such as modification, service history, and how the owner has used the bike.

There are also cases of isolated models depreciating faster than average.

The BMW F800 ST, for instance, loses about 57 percent of its value to be worth just 43 percent of the MSRP after 9 years.

That’s a far cry from the S1000 RR.

What’s The Best Year To Buy A Used One?

For a BMW, the optimum year to buy a used one would be when it’s almost 4 years old, or between 4-5 years old.

At this point, the bike isn’t likely to have excessive mileage, but also the worst parts of the depreciation have passed and it will depreciate much slower.

If you bought a BMW at the end of its fourth year, you’d pay 70 percent of the original MSRP.

After another 5 years, it would still be worth 61 percent of the MSRP.

It does depend on the model of course.

For a Honda, it’s a similar rule.

Even though it depreciates more than some BMW models, it will still retain its value better after 4 years of good maintenance.

You purchase it for 60 percent of its MSRP value, and you could sell it after another 5 years of good riding for about 45 percent of the MSRP value.

Do BMW & Honda Motorcycles Hold Their Value Better Than Their Competitors?

Overall, BMW motorcycles tend to hold their value better than Honda, but both of them tend to retain value better than some competing brands like Triumph and Victory.

Both of these lose more than 60 percent of their value after 9 years.

A Victory Cross Country, for example, goes from an MSRP of $16,849 down to a value of just $5,285 in the 9th year.

That’s a faster rate of depreciation overall when compared to the fastest-depreciating BMW and Honda models.

What Are The Main Depreciation Factors With BMW & Honda Motorcycles?

With BMW, the main depreciation factor is the customer, rather than the bike itself.

The core customer demographic for BMW is wealthy individuals who tend to like buying the very latest models.

With new models coming out every year, and a section of the demographic switching out their old bikes for new ones, the used market becomes somewhat overrun with models, which pushes the used price down.

Honda faces a similar final result but from a slightly different source.

Whereas BMWs depreciate mostly because of the customer base and their buying habits, Honda’s is down to the OEM.

The fact is that Honda overproduces its bikes, aiming to sell in volume around the world.

They compete with other volume suppliers like Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha, which means they have to produce more.

The final result of a flooded market is similar to BMW, which naturally drives down prices among used models.

What Factors About The Brands Could Increase The Value?

Brand image is a big factor in increasing their value over other brands.

With BMW, you get the luxury factor that’s helped along mostly by their range of cars.

The brand isn’t “unreliable,” but it’s not as well known for overall reliability as Honda, for example.

The prestige image of BMW greatly inflates the value of the motorcycles.

With Honda, brand image is important in increasing value, too, but it’s mostly driven by quality and reliability.

Honda doesn’t have the same luxury prestige as BMW, but everyone knows that Hondas are reliable and they go on for years and years.

This naturally drives up the price because you’ll only need one over a longer time period.

For both brands, certain modifications might increase the value, too.

If an owner has upgraded with higher-level OEM parts or at least aftermarket parts of a respected brand, then it can add value – or, better retain value – on the bike.

Finally, a bike’s value can be increased by racing and sports results.

If the brand becomes associated with victories in certain motorcycle sports, then the brand gets a huge boost and the value goes up.

People are willing to pay more for what they perceive as “winners.”

What Extra Costs Can You Expect:

Buying – Cost To Purchase A Motorcycle

BMW has bikes ranging from around $6,000 to $33,000, and as high as $70,000-80,000 for the Supersport bikes that are track-only.

Honda ranges from about $3,400 to $28,500, making them somewhat more affordable than their BMW counterparts.

For both brands, however, the cost of purchasing a reasonable street-legal bike for adults is arguably a bit higher than some of the competition, but by no means the most expensive out there.

What About Taxes & Insurance?

In the US, the main taxes to pay come in the form of sales tax and registration costs.

Rates differ from state to state, from as little as $8 to as much as $225 plus some potential additional fees.

Some states use a weight-based system, for which motorcycles have an obvious advantage over other vehicles.

BMW insurance will cost more than Honda insurance on average.

It ranges from about $127 per month for a Tour bike up to $612 per month for an Adventure category bike.

For Honda, you can expect $76 per month on the miniMOTO range, $132 on the Standard range, and up to $502 per month for the Supersport range.

What’s The General Maintenance Cost per Year Of BMW & Honda Motorcycles?

A BMW motorcycle will typically cost $1,858.98 annually in maintenance, making it an expensive bike to own.

In comparison, the Honda’s annual maintenance typically comes to $1,000-1,200 a year depending on the exact model and how it’s ridden.

This makes owning a Honda much more affordable.

The main difference is the cost of parts. OEM BMW parts cost a lot more than their Honda equivalents.

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