Hello from Southampton. On the hunt for an HP4

Hi Guys and Girls. Hope everyone is ok. I'm John and live on the edge of Southampton near the New Forest.

I have been riding a highly modified 2006 Honda CBR600RR for 10 years and it's time for a change! My misses has just passed her bike test and has bought a 2017 Triumph 765 Street Triple R. After having a go on it, I realise I need more torque in my life! It's definitely time to move up to a 1000CC.

I've kind of got my heart set on an HP4. I went and test rode an early 2012 HP4 (number 1428) at North Oxford Bmw. It rode well and confirmed that I do want an HP4. However, I was really disappointed after the test ride when I looked through all the paper work. I found the bike had been imported from the States in 2012. No mention of this in the advert, over the phone or even when I got there. It was only when I found the import document at the back of the paperwork and challenged them and they admitted it! Felt a bit cheated to be honest. I know it's the same bike as a UK one (although weirdly it is missing most the stickers), but I would have to declare it to my insurance company as imported and annoyingly if you do a number plate check it comes up as an S1000RR; so I guess it wasn't quite registered right when it landed in the UK. Being imported will affect resale value too if I ever want to sell on. Plus bike has only had 2 services over 10000 miles. Not what I was expecting out of a BMW dealer to be honest! They gave me the attitude of they couldn't care less. After promising a call back with a part exchange quote, I never heard back from them again. Bike is still for sale, but they don't seem to want to sell it. Obviously don't need the business.

I went to Bahnstormer BMW (Alton) to view a 2014 HP4 today with only 5000 miles on it and some nice extras too (de-cat, some extra carbon, tail tidy, rad guards etc). It is a great looking bike in good condition but massively over-priced. Was on a sale or return and has apparently been for sale there for ages. They phoned the owner to explain to him that it is priced too high compared to others for sale/sold and he was still not willing to budge at all on price. They just shrugged their shoulders and agreed it was too expensive, hence it not selling. Left there feeling a bit deflated after my second visit to a different Bmw dealer. I also phoned two other dealers on Autotrader (not BMW) selling HP4's and both promised me a call back and didn't. Who would think it would be so hard to buy a bike!

If anyone on here with an HP4 Carbon is thinking of selling, please give me a shout. The hunt continues........

Hopefully I will find a decent one at some point. The right one is out there somewhere, I know it is!

Interesting to read about your attempts to buy an hp4.

Some private sellers are dreamers having convinced themselves it is a collectors item. Only very low mileage ones fit that bill, and it will be many years before they look to appreciate as I am sure from what you said, you are aware already.

I would wait until the end of the season. By then the furlough situation will be well and truly over and the reality of the covid economy will start to emerge. There will be forced sellers of many asset types, even if they don?t realise that now.

As Mr Buffett once said, you only know who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.

I would just mention that there are some standard hp4s dressed up as carbon versions, a dealer can tell you from the number if it is genuine, a lot of standard hp4 bikes were used as trackbikes, so I would avoid those. Good luck with your search.

Barons motoline has got a nice example in....

I just found a great bike on Auto Trader:


https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202002227607155

Marc A said:

Barons motoline has got a nice example in....

I just found a great bike on Auto Trader:


https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202002227607155

Click to expand...

That?s the one that I went and looked at today in Alton. Motoline and Bahstormer Bmw are the same company. Lovely bike but well over priced. As a comparison, Bahnstormer just sold a mint example with less than half the mileage of this one for less money

It?s a shame as my local dealer have had one in stock for a couple of months and I can?t see it online now...
im sure your scouring the web but my next choice would be the one at cubo moto

Bit further afield but have heard
good things... and they deliver

Hi and welcome to this excellent and very helpful forum John, I am also on the edge of the New Forest so doubtless our paths will cross sometime. I have ridden a lot with my daughter who until recently rode a white Triumph Daytona SE, currently she is bikeless but borrows my elderly R1XV from time to time. Although its old can still travel quite quickly - which she does!

I sold my HP4 through cubo moto. Decent guys. Could be SOR.

Marc A said:

Barons motoline has got a nice example in....

I just found a great bike on Auto Trader:


https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202002227607155

Click to expand...

16k for 2014 bike...oh my

Marc A said:

It?s a shame as my local dealer have had one in stock for a couple of months and I can?t see it online now...
im sure your scouring the web but my next choice would be the one at cubo moto

Bit further afield but have heard
good things... and they deliver

Click to expand...

I've seen that one too, but a fair distance. Another dealer that never phoned me back! You would think that dealers just aren't interested in selling at the moment! It also has full R&G engine covers. I always worry when I see a bike like these with full engine protection.....

Rednine said:

Hi and welcome to this excellent and very helpful forum John, I am also on the edge of the New Forest so doubtless our paths will cross sometime. I have ridden a lot with my daughter who until recently rode a white Triumph Daytona SE, currently she is bikeless but borrows my elderly R1XV from time to time. Although its old can still travel quite quickly - which she does!

Click to expand...

I'm on a few other forums like M3 Forum and RS owners forum and always find them informative and full of friendly helpful folk. Always the odd weirdo too, but that is life!

Nice to see someone else from around the New Forest. Funny enough, my Misses originally wanted a Daytona. Then she test rode one and hated it! She felt much more at home on the Street Triple. We ended up going to the IOW to find her current bike.

soofsayer said:

I sold my HP4 through cubo moto. Decent guys. Could be SOR.

Click to expand...

I assume it isn't your bike that they are selling?

MirrorJohn said:

I've seen that one too, but a fair distance. Another dealer that never phoned me back! You would think that dealers just aren't interested in selling at the moment! It also has full R&G engine covers. I always worry when I see a bike like these with full engine protection.....

Click to expand...

being in car sales I can understand where your coming from... people travel for the right vehicle/deal nowadays. As I said they do delivery and if it?s the one... ask for a pic of the bike with out the engine covers if your that concerned.
if I was that salesman and it was the dealbreaker for me I?d be booking one of my techs to get some pics over to the customer...

Marc A said:

being in car sales I can understand where your coming from... people travel for the right vehicle/deal nowadays. As I said they do delivery and if it?s the one... ask for a pic of the bike with out the engine covers if your that concerned.
if I was that salesman and it was the dealbreaker for me I?d be booking one of my techs to get some pics over to the customer...

Click to expand...

I don?t mind travelling for the right vehicle. My M3 came from London, my RS4 was purchased from Kidderminster.

I?m not necessarily concerned there is damage under engine covers, more the reason they were put on in the first place. Whether it was a track bike.

If paying extra to buy from a dealer, I?d rather buy from BMW. That way I get a full 2 year warranty covering everything with no excess or limits. Gutted I missed out on the 2k mike one from local Bmw Dealer.

I guess I just need to be patient and the right bike will come up

Good things come to those that wait.... best of luck with ur search... keep us posted

Im also just outside Southampton near the new forest give Reiten a call in essex they took my mates HP4 C in PX today against a S1000XR

MirrorJohn said:

I don?t mind travelling for the right vehicle. My M3 came from London, my RS4 was purchased from Kidderminster.

I?m not necessarily concerned there is damage under engine covers, more the reason they were put on in the first place. Whether it was a track bike.

Click to expand...

Remember some of us put the engine covers on and will never ride the bike on a track, my engine protection is there to protect the bike in the unlikely event of a minor spill.

Why don?t you sell one of your cars and buy a new HP4? Simples

MrSmooth said:

Remember some of us put the engine covers on and will never ride the bike on a track, my engine protection is there to protect the bike in the unlikely event of a minor spill.

Why don?t you sell one of your cars and buy a new HP4? Simples

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I will remember that now that you?ve told me.

Why would I want to sell one of my cars? You can?t buy a new HP4 anyway so bit of a weird statement to make really.....

Before you get carried away and start calling me weird. You have got me mixed up with someone else about giving a flying fook whether you could buy a new HP4 or not.

It was the Goldilocks story we had to endure about various bikes you had looked at being like a bowls of porridge either too hot or too cold and not quite right ?ooh it might have been ridden on a track!? coupled with the M3 and RS4 ?get your wad out? grizzle that marked your card for me pal.

Sorry Mods if this gets me into trouble with a newbie post but I was having a bad day! Delete it if you want...

MrSmooth said:

Before you get carried away and start calling me weird. You have got me mixed up with someone else about giving a flying fook whether you could buy a new HP4 or not.

It was the Goldilocks story we had to endure about various bikes you had looked at being like a bowls of porridge either too hot or too cold and not quite right ?ooh it might have been ridden on a track!? coupled with the M3 and RS4 ?get your wad out? grizzle that marked your card for me pal.

Sorry Mods if this gets me into trouble with a newbie post but I was having a bad day! Delete it if you want...

Click to expand...

Just because you are having a bad day doesn?t give you the right to act like a tw@t and come on here all aggressive and start ripping in to me for no reason.

Bearing in mind my M3 is an old girl and over 15 years old, it would have cost me considerably less to buy than your motorbike did, so hardly bragging ?pal?. I was just explaining I have already travelled distance to buy the ?perfect? vehicle. It is just that, I am looking for the right one for me. It?s easy buying a new bike, there are a lot less variables. As I have already said, you can?t buy a brand new HP4 so I don?t have that option.

You didn?t have to ?endure? anything. You didn?t have to comment, but you felt the need to. Just move along and keep your feelings to yourself old boy. Time to act a bit more like your username or if you don?t want to change your unnecessary aggressive attitude; maybe you could ask a mod to change it to MrC*nt for you