A Stock Bike is Never Enough

[Alun]

You've bought the bike, now comes the expensive and essential part...farkling.

Buying an adventure or touring bike and then dressing it up like a Xmas Tree is mandatory, even if you only use it for shopping trips to the badlands of Tescos. On our trip to the Alps last year Spencer (Magnum on this site) couldn't contain himself when he visited the Touratec factory on his GS 800 and still has half a dozen jerry can holders in his garage to prove it. What a man.

So, what's your favourite farkle? Right now having bought a nearly new Tiger 955i I'm in full farkling mode and have bought;

Handlebar raisers – too old for tank hugging.
Mirror extenders – to see past my shoulders
Radiator and oil protector plates – essential for riding in Stratford upon Avon
Crash bars – makes the Tiger look well 'ard.
After market exhaust and engine remap - to make it roar and go.
After market screen – so that I can ride for more than 2 miles without my eyeballs dislodging with the buffeting.

This is only the start...

[Alun]

Oh, and the bike came with;

Heated grips...essential
Two panniers...not sure if I like panniers.
Centre stand...why a centre stand should be classed an extra I don't know, though Triumphs bank balance will probably supply the answer.

[Treadtrader]

A bit of advice.

Bolt-on extras make life more comfortable and enhance the looks of our bikes.

But keep all the parts and bolts that you take off.

Couple of pals have recently changed bikes and to some point failed to do this.

IMHO most people prefer to buy standard bikes then farkle themselves. Extras don't allways enhance values of used bikes, or help them sell.
So sell the bike as standard then flog the extras on fleebay or similar.

So, get the carton and write on it "955i bits".

[Alun]

Dave, the way I'm going with add-ons a carton ain't going to be much use, I'll need to rent a storage unit.

Good point though and something I'd considered. There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that whilst a fully farkled bike (with all the standard stuff supplied in a box) will help it sell easier and quicker than a standard bike there is no way will you get back the cash spent on said farkles.

So you are spot on with taking them off the bike and selling separately, unless you need a super quick sale to keep the wolves from the doors.

Over the past couple of months I've been logging prices of Tigers and basically a standard bike would be offered roughly at the same asking price (and get similar bids) to a bike with boxes, heated grips, centre stand and crash bars. The cost of all those extras would be around £1200 if bought new. Not sure why that happens, but that's the way it's been going.