MV Agusta Forum banner

What is it about Aprilia...compared to Ducati and MV...hell other brands too!

5K views 43 replies 21 participants last post by  MorganChane 
#1 ·
Why is it value holds better on Ducs and MVs, but not on Aprilias? All are italian, but it seems like the Aprilias don't hold value well...almost like a jap bike, but not as quite as bad. Still bad by comparison though.

Why is that?

Also, there are more elusive brands, well maybe illusive isn't the quite the right word, but bikes you don't see every day like Bimota or Benelli, but thier value doesn't hold quite as well either, and well, they're also not as sought after as the Duc or MV either....

Why is that? Bored afternoon before having to head into work...
 
#3 ·
since things are only worth what people are willing to pay, i'd say marketing. aprilia is only seen over here in motogp 250. never seen racing (other than that), and rarely seen on the street. they have no image, thus no demand. demand is what controls value.
 
#4 · (Edited)
Mika said:
I guess b/c Aprilias look Japanese :shitfan:
...If you meant the '04 Mille central air intake, then maybe.

A while back, Aprilia went through some serious financial trouble and their parts supply dried up. There was event talk of bankcrupcy. Piaggio has now assumed control of Aprilia and things are looking up. The current line up needs an update, especially their premier model like the Mille line. Personally, I love my Mille Factory's performance now :naughty: but has always a fan of its styling (Believe it or not, I turned down a killer deal on a 999S for my Mille Factory due to its styling.) :naughty: The bike hasn't change much other than the paint scheme since '04, it's still only in its 3rd production year.

As far as Italian bikes concern, a Mille Factory is the best bang for your bucks riight now, bullet proof engine and Ohlins suspension.

(Side note, Andy, if you love how my Mille Factory wheelied while spinning its rear tire before wait until you try it now. :king: )
 
#5 ·
Yeah, it's wierd...the bike comes with Ohlins and other nice goodies, but they're still cheap...well relatively speaking. A guy I just met at the local bike night recently bought a Mille Factory with COMPLETELY CARBON bodywork, fenders, panels, everything. Custom carbon airbox...$7800. Lets see even a 916 or hell a 748 go that cheap. There was so much carbon on that bike, my bike sitting next to it didn't even exist to onlookers (not that anybody knew wtf it was anyways...)....
 
#9 ·
Some Guy said:
Exactly, my buddy turned over 3 Duc's in the last 5 years, he lost his ass on all of them.

hmmmmm
i've very simliar issues with my BMWs over the years...
anyone looking to "hold money" on 2-wheeled investments....
except for H-D.... 10 YEARS AGO..... is playing a losing game of Russian Roulette, as far as i am concerned



 
#10 ·
1fastf4 said:
I would buy an Aprilia before a 999 Duc anyday. But thats just me.
Depending on if I blow up my 996 again, I might have the same opinion...

My answer to the original question:

Brand recognition. 100%. It can't really be performance. I do admit that Ducatis have a certain feel to them that nobody can match, and the MV has something slightly similar. The Aprilia even feels slightly japanese, but obviously isn't. I don't think that's really a huge part of it though.

Nobody knows what an Aprilia is. People know what a Ducati is. And people who know bikes know what an MV is, and it's even more prestigious than a Ducati for those who know. Why this is, I don't really know... I guess because it's purty.
 
#11 ·
ARCHILLE said:
As far as Italian bikes concern, a Mille Factory is the best bang for your bucks riight now, bullet proof engine and Ohlins suspension.

(Side note, Andy, if you love how my Mille Factory wheelied while spinning its rear tire before wait until you try it now. :king: )
ok...
whet my appetite
please tell me more.... MUCH MORE about your Mille Factory
i'd LOVE to
1. hear some specs
2. see some pictures
if you have the time and inclination



 
#12 · (Edited)
I don't think Prilers depreciate any faster than other Italian makes. It's just that they're considerably cheaper in the first place (for the most part) so it appears that they're dropping in value quicker when you see the lower asking prices in the used market.

You can find 748's, 916's and even some 996's for $7800 all day long. I owned one and recently just sold it to swap over to the MV side.

As a percent of value, I guess the Italian makes might not depreciate as much as their Japanese counterparts, but when it comes to total dollar depreciation the Italian bikes are terrible.

Like I said, I recently switched bikes so I have some degree of pulse on the current market. I was considering the '02 998's, '03-'04 999's, '03-up Mille Factory R's and '02-up F4 750's. Like-new, clean examples of each were easily found in the sub-$12K range. These bikes were all in the $17K-$19K range when new.

Losing $6K-$8K in value in 4 years is terrible. That's like buying a brand-new Japanese 600 today, and in 3 or 4 years the bike being worth absolutely nothing.

Oh well, not trying to ruffle any feathers. It's just that this debate is the reason why I buy most everything used. I feel that buying used european sportbikes offers the least amount of straight dollar depreciation over time.

EDIT: BTW any other dirtbike guys seen the new Aprilia v-twin dirtbikes. :eek: Slobber!
 
#13 ·
'Oh well, not trying to ruffle any feathers. It's just that this debate is the reason why I buy most everything used. I feel that buying used european sportbikes offers the least amount of straight dollar depreciation over time.

EDIT: BTW any other dirtbike guys seen the new Aprilia v-twin dirtbikes. Slobber!"

Yes, I have sampled this bike. A friend just picked up the Supermoto version (SXV-550) and the bike is absolutely amazing to look at and more importantly, to ride. The only drawback is the near-$10k price. The dealers are charging serious set-up and "de-restriction" fees which put the bike right at $10k with tax. Again, the bike is amazing and definitely NOT a hopped up dirt bike! 285 pounds, 70 hp fuel injected twin, superb chassis and suspension!!! A total blast to ride. Nothing can touch this thing in the tight twisties, trust me on this. I will buy either this bike or the Ducati Hypermotard, depending on the specs and numbers on the Duck.
 
#14 ·
exduc said:
Yes, I have sampled this bike. A friend just picked up the Supermoto version (SXV-550) and the bike is absolutely amazing to look at and more importantly, to ride. The only drawback is the near-$10k price.
I don't mind working on bikes but to me the main drawback of the _XVs is the maint schedule! It's fine as a friend's bike or a race bike but not long term ownership with that regime requirement! Ride a Husky IMO...

I also think MV's seem to slide 50% ish over 4yrs and stay there. MY2000 haven't really come down in price in the last couple of years and I suspect they'll hover in the 10k range with well used in +8k for a while longer? Maybe once there is a serious facelift but if they didn't fall hard after the 1000cc release I don't think they have much lower to go, when looking at fine/near fine examples.

Who cares really. Don't sell and don't worry seems to work fine :cool:
 
#15 ·
hmmmm
that Aprilia SXV sounds amazing
but the 996mm seat height = 39"
man... i know that supermotards are tall... but, you'd have to be 6'4" to ride that thing..... no?



 
#17 ·
In all honestly, I don't think 90% of the sport bikes are holding their value whether it's a Ducati, Aprilia, MV, or Yamaha. The exceptions would be really limited editions like a Xerox, Tamburini or Oro.

Once a dealer starts discounting a bike, resale values will start to tank. I got my 999 for $16.5K and got my MV for $20K. So, that means private party resale is going to be much lower than that.

I may be wrong with this but I think it depends when you get your bike and when you sell it - and since Jap bike change every two or three years, you can flip them pretty quickly and not take too much of a hit on a private sale. For example, if you were one of the first ones who got a 2004 R1 and paid $10.5 for it, you could have sold it a year later for around $8.5 (going on memory here) because they raised the price and the supply didn't catch up with the demand. I'm sure the same would probably go true for European bikes - but the don't up date them as fast as Jap bike (at least they didn't use to).

Now, if we talk about trade-in, you loose on 99% of any bike. :)

So, I guess the morale of the story is that if you want good resale value, get the latest and greatest very early. Ride it sparingly then and then sell it while it still hot. Or, screw resale value and enjoy the bike. :)

Also, any notice the price creep of the Jap bike recently? $11.5K for a Honda, Kawasaki or Yamaha! That's like $3-4k away from a Mille or $7k away from a 999. It use to be like a $10K difference.
 
#18 ·
Yeah...I was just looking at it, and he was saying on the aprilia forums, some people were saying he paid too much... I thought to myself "a completely carbon Mille Factory, for Sub $8K, was too much????

That's why it kinda struck me as well, now that I do think about it, Aprilias are cheap by comparison....and like stated, they almost feel japanese. Maybe it's because they have that sharp angular styling, and not the flowy-ness of the other italian models....
 
#19 ·
oicdn said:
Yeah...I was just looking at it, and he was saying on the aprilia forums, some people were saying he paid too much... I thought to myself "a completely carbon Mille Factory, for Sub $8K, was too much????

That's why it kinda struck me as well, now that I do think about it, Aprilias are cheap by comparison....and like stated, they almost feel japanese. Maybe it's because they have that sharp angular styling, and not the flowy-ness of the other italian models....
...Be wary at asking a man, how much he made, how much he has, how much he paid, and how fast he goes...:rolleyes:
 
#20 ·
I think Aprillia's are great bikes, :) but for those shorter riders like myself, they are difficult to ride and I always felt like I was 'on top of' rather than 'part of' the bike. :bawling: The motors are fantastic with loads of grunt right through the rev range. :lickout: If I can make a comparison with German cars. the Aprillia is a VW compared to the Porshe and Mercedes of MV and Ducati. That might sound harsh, but in terms of after sales value, I believe that to be the case. :cross:
 
#22 ·
But the Mille Factory is a kickass bike. There's a reason why it won the Masterbike shootout.

I rode Archille's with Arrow pipes and rearsets, and some other stuff I don't remember, and I haven't had that much fun on a bike in a while. Still haven't.

I'm still kind of kicking myself for buying the 996 (and promptly blowing it up) instead of buying another racer's older Mille, but we'll see. The Mille may still happen...

I think there just isn't enough room in the Italian bike market. The MV and Ducati sort of reign supreme, and the rest will be 2nd fiddle. That is, unless Aprilia really does release this new V-4 and it is the best thing there ever was. Would be nice if it didn't have an Austrian engine too (not that I care, but an italian motor might increase the pedigree factor) but not if it's going to be unreliable.

And while we're on it, what about this new Benelli 1130? From what I read, it's a total monster. Maybe someone needs to do a test with it against the other bikes. I'm sure it won't set the world on fire performance wise, but "real world" performance should be good if they ironed out the bugs.
 
#23 ·
The Austrian motor is its heart. You will be VERY hard pressed to find any faults with the Rotax. Other stuff maybe... but not the Engine. It is bombproof.

How can you say this looks too Japanese?!







 
#24 ·
Note that I said "feels", not "looks". Although that intake is starting to look familiar on other bikes now.

I think there really is somethign to the aluminum vs. steel frame. Not sure if it's good or bad. It's good for feel for sure. Lap times? Don't know. Feel can equal lap times, but not always.
 
#25 ·
A quick reply - the rsvr factory is an amazing and beautiful bike but somehow the graphics screem japanese, imho.
Ducati; I bought my 998 at the end of the run and picked it up new for 14K I will now wait for it to appreciate in about 15 years like my white MGuzzi 850Lemans that I sold for 4K with 88,000 miles. Which was a divorce mistake still kicking myself.
and the Aprillia svx supermoto gets 46 miles to a 2 gallon tankfull of fuel.
I always found Aprilia's last generation bikes to big for me - the newer ones not so and I almost bought a new Tuono over My Brutale, well I considered it for about a nanosecond....
 
#26 ·
Aprilia said:
How can you say this looks too Japanese?!
The two most heavily looked at areas...look like a japanese bike....








Don't get me wrong, it's still a sexy ass bike, but damned if it wasn't an RC51 front end rip-off with heavy GSXR rear end influences....
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top