What's a cheap bike in Canada?
 

Looking to do a trip in Canada next summer (2023) and finding shipping prices from the UK fairly well out of my budget. So I was wondering what cheap bikes are in Canada. Vancouver area.
What is classified as a cheap bike?
Could I get a klr650? Or a DR650?

Have a look at this website, it's probably the biggest online listing of motorcycles for sale in Canada:

AutoTrader.ca - Motorcycles Section

Most of these listings are dealer listings, but private sales are clearly identified with a "private sale" tag. Set the sort criteria to "price low to high", and disregard the "promoted listings" that will appear on the first couple of pages.

You can set criteria to only include specified brands (e.g. KLR, Honda, whatever). But, keep in mind that certain models that might be popular in the UK may never have been offered for sale in Canada... so be open to considering models that you may not be familiar with.

If you plan to travel across the country, you shouldn't consider getting anything smaller than 500 cc... it's a big country, with a lot of hills and a lot of highways.

If you are not a resident of Canada, or don't have a Canadian driver licence, you might want to investigate whether you will be able to insure a Canadian-plated motorcycle that is registered in your name. Liability insurance is obligatory in Canada, and the penalty for operating a vehicle without valid liability insurance is really, really stiff - fines start at $5,000 and go up from there.

Autotrader is not widely used in Canada anymore. But sometimes you can find a deal there, for that reason.

In Vancouver and British Columbia as a whole most people use Craigslist and to a lesser degree Kijiji.ca. Outside of Vancouver Kijiji.ca is the most widely used way to sell bikes, with facebook marketplace behind.

Nation wide: A plain jane DR650 could cost anywhere from 3000-5000+. A well set up and/or well used DR650 could be between 3000-7000.

I find older KLRs seem to be cheaper.

Everything is more expensive in Vancouver, so if you can find something in Calgary you will be paying less. Apparently, non-residents can register and insure bikes in Alberta, I am not sure about British Columbia. Requires vary by province.

I may have a fairly well set up DR650 for sale... you'll have to message me.

you other option is the vstrom. They can be had for similar prices to the KLR.

James:

Just a postscript to my suggestion of AutoTrader and cmattina's suggestions of Kijiji and Craigslist: Be very cautious when using any of these three services.

None of them are like eBay, in the sense that the website offers any kind of buyer protection. There are a lot of listings (of everything, not just vehicles) on both Craigslist and Kijiji, and neither one of these sites carries out any kind of due diligence or monitoring of who advertises what. It's a Wild West, and the only rule is caveat emptor.

In other words, don't let any money leave your hand until your other hand is firmly affixed to the motorcycle you want to purchase, and run (don't walk, RUN) away from anyone who wants a deposit up front to "hold" what they are selling.

Some provinces, such as Ontario, have legislation in place that requires private sellers to provide a government-issued disclosure document to buyers, this document discloses any bank liens or unusual history (salvage title, etc.) associated with the vehicle. But not all provinces provide such buyer protection, so make sure there is no lien on the vehicle and no salvage title (sometimes called a 'branded title') on the vehicle before you hand over the money.

Michael

Although I agree with the warning, I live in a isolated area in Canada and have bought every one of my motorcycles site unseen without issue. I have also bought a bike in Ireland sight unseen (via ireland's kijiji) and two bmw's in England via MCN (England's auto trader).

I figure i have saved around 20k doing it this way, so even if i were to get ripped off sometime in the future, i'd still be coming out on top...

So, for James, ensure you know the bike actually exists. Look at how old the person's account is. Ask to a see a picture of their driver's license (offer up your's as a gesture of a goodwill). Ask a member here or on advrider to go and check it out. Lots of things you can do.

None of this is specific to Canada.

I just bought a 2016 CB500x with 5000km on it for $2500...

And always remember that even if a price seems high, that's the local market -and when you go to sell, it will ALSO be at the local market price. It's the DIFFERENCE that matters. If it's less than the cost of shipping - or RENTING - you win.
You could buy a used, "expensive" bike at say $8,000, and resell it for about what you paid or maybe 1000 less - a cheap summer's riding - a win.

the most friendly province towards tourists, national or international, is by British Colombia. No other povince come close.

The best place to look for a motorcycle is kijiji.ca

There can be no doubt at all that Red Lake is an "isolated area of Canada". :laugh:

I fully understand why you are buying motorcycles elsewhere - I understand that the motorcycle riding season in Red Lake is about 48 hours long.