Because of Harley-Davidson's increased production over the past few years, the majority of U.S. dealers are selling new bikes at MSRP or occasionally below (see Buying New). The result of that, changing rider demographics and the slow but steady introduction of newer technologies causing owners to sell and upgrade to new (i.e. CD Players on the Electra Glide series, rubber mounted engines on Sportsters), used Harleys can be found for reasonable prices wherein a few years ago they were often priced higher than new. Unfortunately, there are still plenty of 'feculators' (see Glossary) who view their H-D purchase as a growth investment and feel the accessories (sometimes crap) they put on the bike hold most or all of their original value. These days, sellers like that will be sorely disappointed at the competitive nature of the used bike market. In fact, the growth of online auction sites like eBay allows a prospective buyer to quickly and accurately assess used bike values. This alone should keep used bike prices within a reasonably tight trading range as most feculators will not get bids to their goal (i.e. reserve) price and are forced to reduce their asking price.

If you are lucky enough to find a used Harley at a fair price, have a competent mechanic give it a once-over. The price for this is usually a six pack of the mechanics favorite brew.