Advice needed on generations of bikes.

Hi all,

First post here (after introduction) and I've not been riding long, so please forgive the question if it seems naive.

I'm in the market for my first 'big bike', and after a lot of looking I'm pretty sure it'll be the Yamaha XSR700. I started looking for prices, deals, equipment etc and I've been a bit baffled by the market. Several dealers are selling unregistered, brand-spanking new 2020 XSR700s for £6200, whilst many on Autotrader from 2016-17 sort of time with thousands of miles on still go for around £5700-£5800.

I'm wondering if there's a difference in the generation of XSR700s that made the old ones better, or the new ones with cheaper parts, or something similar, but I've got no idea where to find this information.

Finding info on bike generations in general seems tough. I saw a review of Street Triples for example, with a guy with a 2012 one saying "This is with the aggressive gears, before Triumph..." blah blah. Where on earth do you find this out?

I'm asking for help because I want my first big bike purchase to be something I love, not something I regret.

Cheers for reading, and thanks in advance to those that can help.

-Ben

Ideally you would test ride as many as you could, it is only when you ride them you know if it feels right, also don't get too involved with variations in the models, yes some have had improvements from previous models but some would argue that they ruined a bike with them, until you begin to gain experience you will not know what is and what isn't good or bad about any particular bike, go around a few dealers sit on few make a shortlist take them out for a test ride, make notes on each bike on what you like how it felt etc, or just buy something you like and just enjoy the learning curve and take the rough with the smooth

Its a very new model.. only 5 years old. So, its not just a very new model.. its also very modern. Effectively a rewrapped MT-07

Changes over a 5 year period, especially in these recent times, tend to be minor and incremental. I wouldn't worry too much about whether one year is better than another. What I would suggest is that if this is the bike you want then look seriously at what upgrades are popular, what upgrades are something you might want. And then see if you can find a bike that ticks those boxes.

However...

The bike market for new and recent bikes is somewhat distorted (to your favour) by the ongoing crisis. Owners are being forced due to circumstances to sell bikes.. Im seeing that all the time now on the Africa Twin FB groups. "Selling my bike because Ive lost my job." - "Not ridden it, can no longer justify owning it." tales of woe. Its already July so the season is more than half way through and so prices will be forced down further. I would think the odd pricings you are seeing are largely due to this years very peculiar circumstances. with varying attitudes towards this major drop-off in value that some sellers accept and others cannot. These are not normal times in either the second hand or 'new' market.

On top of all that.. Yamaha and its dealer network will be looking at an entire years inventory. Bikes that are sitting in showrooms and warehouses unsold - and have done so for almost half a year. There are also bound to be left-over bikes unsold from 2019.

Time is running out. 2021 is almost upon us - from their perspective. we are only a month or two away from the start of 2021 production in Japan.

I have a lot of sympathy for anyone who bought a bike "new" at the start of this year, before the Virus hit.

Like said above, it's strange times.

Another thing that might be bringing the new bike market down is Euro 5. It came in at the start of the year. You are only allowed to sell none conforming bikes for a limited time.

Dealers will be under considerable pressure to sell these Euro 4 models. Or as a last resort, pre register them.

If the dealer isn’t shifting the said model he may well put a good discount on the bike.