Seduction
Remember to ride safe.
Bought a bike in LA before lol and I live in San Francisco lol
I've ridden with a friend who really likes his. But don't ride that thing at night. No way his headlight is anywhere near DOT compliant. A 6V VW bug would outshine it by a lot.Oh, crazy idea, you and your buddy both get CSC RX3 Adventure bikes. Cost $4200 new with side bags and a top case.
As for crazy dealers, I hear you. I was shopping for a new moto a few months back ... saw a great deal listed in SoCal for $9999 plus fees. Called them up, OTD was $14,000! What?!? $4000 in fees? Yes they added in "dealer markup" in fees. Not sure why they play that game, does anyone go "well, yup, you got yours fees, here's my $14,000".
It's not hard at all.....your just too cheap.
Having worked behind the counter at a local motorcycle shop, I've come to realize motorcycle riders are cheap.
And they wonder why places like Road Rider closes, or a favorite shop closes....
I'm buying a new bike as soon as it arrives......never asked price, don't care....cause I know it takes money for a dealer to stay in business.....and I want this bike.
I know when too be cheap and when not too, which means I'm willing to pay a fair price, but not gonna try haggle them to death.
I'm buying a new bike as soon as it arrives......never asked price, don't care....cause I know it takes money for a dealer to stay in business.....and I want this bike.
Ya know what? Obviously it works for them.
Because, apparently, "everyone" does it.
All we hear about with dealers is about the dealer prep and markup fees. Destination charge is set by the factory. Doc fees are set by the State (I think). That leaves the "prep and markup" fee.
Clearly the MSRP doesn't have enough margin for the dealer and doesn't appear to reflect market rates. And, apparently, no dealers are so hungry for business that they're advertising on high all about how cheap their prep fees are, or advertising bikes at "OTD" prices. The prep fee is an open secret.
Used bikes (typically) don't have prep fees, so it's more "what you see is what you get".
That means you get to eat it, haggle, or, if it's available, you can try running it through Costco.
One key thing, get a bike similar to what your buddy has. If one guy is on a Goldwing and another is on a Yamaha single, it will be a hard trip for both probably.
For pure mile munching, a Honda ST1300 is an awesome bike. And strangely enough, there seems to be several low mileage bikes popping up on CL frequently.
I'd be afraid of a RT1200 ... too many driveshaft failure on tour stories for me ... and it is like like a ~$3000 repair.
A V-Strom 1000 sure is boring, but they are super reliable and are fairly comfortable and easy to live with on a long trip.
As for crazy dealers, I hear you. I was shopping for a new moto a few months back ... saw a great deal listed in SoCal for $9999 plus fees. Called them up, OTD was $14,000! What?!? $4000 in fees? Yes they added in "dealer markup" in fees. Not sure why they play that game, does anyone go "well, yup, you got yours fees, here's my $14,000".
Oh, crazy idea, you and your buddy both get CSC RX3 Adventure bikes. Cost $4200 new with side bags and a top case.
Bought a bike in LA before lol and I live in San Francisco lol
Awesome touring bike for cheap? 2000 Sprint ST. $2900.....
Needs nothing. Bags, Ohlins, Corbin+stock.
There you go!
I just bought a Tracer GT. I got the call on Sat it is in and to come on down.
And it just was in........it was still parked where it was off load, still had the tie downs on the fork, no battery, no fluids.
It other words....it needed dealer prep and what was charged was a fair price, but that's because I worked at a mototcycle shop and seen first hand what it takes....the labor needed.......someone's paycheck.
Document/Administration fee was also reasonable cause I know it takes a person to do the paper work. It took a person to answer my phone calls prior to buying the bike.
So, now, just waiting on the prep to be done.....easiest vehicle purchase I ever made........
Are we to believe that dealerships make $0 on selling a bike at MSRP and so they have to charge the fees to pay their staff? The Doc fee and freight seem to be standard across all dealers, but setup/prep and dealer markup can vary widely adding profit to their owners pocket more than wages to their workers.
Do you think that the net profits for an MSRP bike sold in the Bay Area would be the same as one sold in, say, Lexington, Kentucky?
Is the cost of doing business in San Francisco the same as it is in San Jose?
I don't know Motorcycle Economics. I don't own a dealership, I don't sell motorcycles.
But the practice folks complain about seems to be, essentially, universal. And the practice is, apparently, not hurting the dealers as there aren't any out there squawking about how they don't do it. Nobody is listing "out the door" prices. It's just like most every car stereo shop or car wheel dealer. They don't list any prices at all, it's like getting prices from an Arab Rug Trader.
At a local large dealer, they don't have OTD prices on the tags. They list the MSRP, and "fees", and part of the description of the fees is "dealer markup". (They don't show the markup, they just say there's more coming.) So, they're not even necessarily "hiding" it.
If you want to get rid of most of that, buy a used bike. Those prices are much closer to the OTD price, because the prices are already corrected for the market. MSRP isn't.