Not sure why it’s a surprise that a bike depreciates in value in the first few years of it’s life. Same thing happens with almost all cars and half of all marriages.
You biggest depreciation comes the first 5 minutes you roll out of the dealer’s lot. First year is the worst year, followed by the second and then the third — and you get the idea. Depreciation typically flattens after a decade or so, and then at year 20-25, if you can keep it running, you have yourself a Classic and the value starts to rise.
So you’re 34-year-old Beamer is now worth more than you paid — that’s no big surprise. But also keep in mind that the $4,200 you paid in ’85 was worth probably 3 times as much in the current economy. If you’d invested it instead, say in GM stock it would now worth something like, umm, nothing… haha. But you get the idea.