Anyways, Im 43, love being outside and doing outside activities. I rode dirtbikes as a young kid, rode quads for a few years in my late 20’s, and then got back into dirtbikes in my late 30’s, and being racing dirtbikes ( enduros and harescrambles ) since 2009. Ive made it up to the " A " class in racing and do pretty good. Love riding.
Problem is, a little over a month ago I had a good spill while up in WV trailriding with some friends and I tore my knee up pretty bad. Tore the ACL, the MCL and messed up the Mencius. I had surgery a week ago to fix everything and I am on the mend, but Doctor tells me I will be off the bike for 9 months, maybe even a year. He did say its a chance by spring I may be ready but not sure. Eitherway I will go bezerk if I have to spend the next 6-9 months or more off the trails.
I had told myself a while back, after breaking my leg riding in 2011, that one more bad injury and I would sell out of the dirtbike hobby and buy a razor as they seem to be fun and relatively safe. Im not ready to do that, I just love riding too much, and I believe it keeps me healthy and fit ( when I am not crashing and breaking bones and tearing ligaments )
So I am not ready to quit the bikes, but since I will be off the bike for a while I would like to seriously consider getting a SXS to play with for a while till I am better. I am NOT looking to make this into a long term major hobby or lifestyle but more as something fun to hold me over till I can get back into the groove on the bike. Of course who knows, maybe I will be hooked, but until then I want to treat it as a temporary thing.
And so because I want to do it only for a few months, I want to do it as cheaply as possible.
Money is not a issue, I can afford to buy new or used, anything from a 20 grand new unit to a 6500$ used one and anything in between. But what is a issue for me is wanting to be able to resell whatever I buy for minimal money loss when I am ready to cash out once I get cleared to ride again. This is one of the areas I would like your help….. Please educate me on what model and year I should be looking at, that will be very capable and not leave me wishing I had bought something else, and that if taken care of, I can resell for minimal loss 6 months from now.
In the dirtbike world I ride KTM. I get a " new " bike every year. But none are ever brand new. I usually buy a 2 year or 3 year old bike that has only a handful of hours on it, and buy them for WAY less than new. My current bike is a 2013 KTM 450xcf. This is a 9500-10 grand bike new, I bought it with 10 hours on it in flawless shape for 5500$. I know its solid, I know its not been ragged out, and I can keep it for a year and put another 75-100 hours on it and resell it for 5000$ and only have lost a few hundred bucks. Id lose my butt if I were buying them new from the dealer. Also with KTM, once the bikes get to be several years old, they kind of get to a low point in value and stay there. Even a older 2008 model will bring around 3000-3500$ So if you were looking at buying a KTM, if you found a good clean solid 2008-2010 model in the 3000-3500$ price range, your pretty well guaranteed to be able to resell it for what you paid for it when your done with it, your only cost would be maintenance and repairs as needed.
I don’t know enough about razors to know if they are somewhat the same as the KTM’s…. brand new ones depreciate several grand almost immediately? Is it smart to purchase a 2 year old one for way less than new and resell it months or a year later for just a little less than I paid for it, or just look for a early model thats in the 6-9 grand price range because they just don’t lose any value below that point?
And lastly, obviously this forum is dedicated to the polaris models, but what about other brands?
Sorry if this comes off as a long post, thanks for any input in advance.
