Buying Used in 2026: Which of These Six Model Years to Target

Six model years of the same four motorcycles are now sitting on the used market, and they are not equally good buys. Some years are mechanically identical to their neighbours and priced as though they are not. Others are the first year of a ground-up redesign, which is a different kind of purchase entirely. This post sorts them.

Street Glide: 2024 is the value year, with one caveat

The 2024 Street Glide launched at $25,999 against $27,999 for the 2023 Special and $27,749 for the 2025. For less money it carried the Milwaukee-Eight 117 at 1,923cc, 130 lb-ft at 3,250 rpm and 105 hp, in place of the 114's 1,868cc and 118 lb-ft. Weight fell from 827 lb to 811 lb, a 12.3 inch TFT running Skyline OS arrived, four ride modes arrived, rear travel went to three inches, and Harley claimed a 60 percent average reduction in helmet buffeting.

The caveat is Harley's own framing. The company called this the most comprehensive product development in the touring platform in well over 10 years, which is another way of saying a 2024 is the first year of everything. A cheaper, stronger, lighter motorcycle and a first-year platform are the same bike here.

Street Glide: 2020 to 2023 if you want the settled version

The outgoing generation ran $27,699 in 2020, $27,099 in 2021, $27,449 in 2022 and $27,999 in 2023, all base Vivid Black excluding freight. Underneath: Milwaukee-Eight 114 at 1,868cc, 118 lb-ft at 3,250 rpm, 827 lb in running order, 26.1 inches laden and 27.2 unladen. Harley's published 2020 torque figure was different, roughly 122 to 123 lb-ft at about 3,000 rpm, because the published measurement changed for 2021 rather than the engine.

Read the model designation rather than the photographs. Through 2023 the Street Glide and the Street Glide Special were separate SKUs at different prices, and most of the desirable used stock is Special. 2023 adds a second wrinkle: it was Harley's 120th anniversary year, with seven limited editions carrying published build counts including 1,600 Street Glide Specials, so a 2023 listing may be one of those and priced accordingly.

The fault patterns on this generation are well documented by the people who own them, and we are not going to repeat them here. Our synthesis of owner reports on the 2020 to 2023 Street Glide 114 covers what to ask about and roughly what the fixes cost. The arrival of a cheaper, better-equipped 2024 is the reason these are now affordable, which is a reason to shop them, not a reason to avoid them.

Scout: the 1133 or the SpeedPlus 1250

From 2020 through 2024 the Scout ran a 1,133cc liquid-cooled 60 degree V-twin at 100 hp at 8,100 rpm and 72 lb-ft at 6,000 rpm, with a 25.6 inch seat. The Bobber held $10,999 in 2020 and 2021, reached $12,249 by 2023, and stayed there for 2024. We publish no weight for these years because the available figures, 552 lb wet and 533 lb dry, cannot be reconciled.

The most actionable fact here is that 2024 was a colors-only year on the outgoing platform, so a 2024 is a 2023 in different paint and a premium for the newer title buys exactly that. 2021 is the deepest pool, since Indian's global volume passed 30,000 that year and did not again through 2025. 2023 is the widest, at seven SKUs sharing one engine.

The 2025 is a different motorcycle: new steel-tube frame, new engine, 11 percent more power and 14 percent more torque than the 1133. The SpeedPlus 1250 makes 105 hp and 82 lb-ft, both at 6,300 rpm, and the Bobber weighs 522 lb as shipped at $12,999. It is the better machine on paper and it is also a first-year bike. Our Scout owner report synthesis covers the complaints that follow this platform, including reports on very early 2025 examples.

BMW: the superseded generation is the point

The R 1250 GS held $17,995 with the Adventure at $20,345 from 2021 through 2023, running the 1,254cc ShiftCam boxer at 136 hp and 105 lb-ft at 6,250 rpm, a 33.5 inch standard seat and 549 lb. That torque figure carries a note: BMW's global release says 6,250 rpm and BMW USA says 6,500, so quote the lower one and say why.

The R 1300 GS replaced it for 2024 at $18,895: 1,300cc, 145 hp, 110 lb-ft at 6,500 rpm, 523 lb. What changed underneath is substantial. A new sheet-metal main frame with a die-cast aluminium rear section, the gearbox relocated below the engine, EVO Telelever at the front and a revised EVO Paralever at the rear, a new Enduro mode, and 26 lb less weight despite more displacement and nine more horsepower.

For a used buyer the 1250 is interesting precisely because it was superseded. BMW published GS and GS Adventure figures of over 60,000 combined for 2021, almost 60,000 for 2022 and about 56,000 for 2023, which is a lot of the same motorcycle in circulation. Our R 1300 GS owner report synthesis covers the electronics teething and the seat height disagreements that shaped the newer bike's first year.

Rebel 500: the model year barely matters, except for one trim

This is the simplest case in the series. The 471cc parallel twin, the 27.2 inch seat and the 408 lb figure, 414 with ABS, are unchanged from 2020 through 2025, and the only change was a revised seat and handlebar position for 2025. Base prices ran $6,199 to $6,499.

The one thing that does matter is trim. ABS was optional through 2025 and Honda dropped the non-ABS bike entirely for 2026, making ABS standard at $6,799. On the used market that means checking which configuration a given bike actually is, because the model year will not tell you and the listing photograph will not either.

The years to approach carefully

The three first-year bikes are the 2024 Street Glide, the 2024 R 1300 GS and the 2025 Scout. All three are the most capable versions of their platforms and all three carry the risk profile that comes with a launch year. The 2024 Scout is the mirror image: an outgoing platform in its final season, which is a reason to pay less rather than more.

What this means for a buyer today

If you want the most motorcycle per dollar, the 2024 Street Glide is the standout of the six years and you should read the owner reporting on the redesign before you commit. If you want the fewest unknowns, the 2021 to 2023 Street Glide Special, the 2021 to 2023 Scout and the R 1250 GS are the settled, high-volume, widely documented options.

Two rules apply to all of them. Buy the specific bike rather than the model year, because within these platforms the years are often mechanically identical and priced as though they are not. And on any bike with an option list, confirm the configuration in writing before you travel, because seat, suspension and ABS decisions do not appear in the model name.

A gear note on buying used gloves with a used bike

Buying a used motorcycle tends to lead to buying used gear, and leather is the item where that logic breaks down. Leather stretches to the hand that wore it, so a secondhand glove arrives already shaped for somebody else, and a new one feels wrong for a while by design. Legendary USA's note on how leather gloves stretch and break in is a clear explanation of what that process actually involves, which is useful whether or not you buy from them.

The pattern across these six years is consistent. Best value sits a year before or a year after a redesign, almost never on the redesign itself, unless the manufacturer cut the price. That happened exactly once.

Cover photo: "Harley-Davidson Museum May 2024 06 (The AMF Years--1981 Nova Touring non-functional prototype--OHV V-Four)" by Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.