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Buying a Bike Is Hard

cabanza

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 28, 2022
Member Number
1003
Posts
2,073
Location
Houston
I spent the whole day calling and talking to dealers. I'm ready to scream. I called several dealers out of state and called 6 in Texas and visited 1 locally in person. I don't even know how many websites I have looked at. I was looking at 5 different bikes from 3 different brands: Honda, Ducati, and Triumph.

One sales guy told me he wasn't going to try to hard with me.
One dealer told me to call back later because they were having an event. Didn't even take my phone number.
One dealer told me that I could only pre order a bike. It would take 3 to 6 months to get it. Deposit was non refundable.
One dealer told me that Ducati now charges a mandatory $500 fee. Didn't explain what the fee was.
One dealer told me that Triumph has increased their fees - not msrp, fees.
One dealer had a $1,000 discount but charges $3,000 in dealer fees. They said is it's because they 3rd party the uncrating and assembly of bikes. Plus they gotta make sure everything's okay.
2 Ducati dealers told me essentially the same story about Ducati going to a pre order system only, one of them telling me that it takes 6 month to a year to get the bike and that there is a mandatory $500 deposit and that the other one told me that it takes 3 to 6 months to get the bike with a mandatory $1,000 deposit.
Honda dealers give you an OTD and if you ask if they're willing to come down a bit, they flat out tell you; "not in this market." Depending on the model, some charge $2,000 over MSRP - for a $7,000 bike.

I could keep going. This was exhausting. I obviously didn't buy anything. I'll play the waiting game. I believe that (some) dealers are trying to push the pre order on their potential customers to keep prices high. It's a lot easier to collect bs fees when you have someone pre ordering a bike. There's less dealing going on and the dealer can make up whatever excuse they want because you want that bike and it's in short supply.
 
Triumph Speedmaster
Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE
Honda CBR 500R and Honda Rebel 500 SE as a pair
No longer interested: Ducati Scrambler Urban Motard
 
I don't understand how anybody is buying anything new right now. Used isn't a great deal, but dang.

For me, set a price, see what exists, buy the most interesting one.

Something specific? Might as well plan on waiting a year or two, hopefully whatever is currently going in will collapse or skyrocket or stabilize by then.


Sort of how 2020 was chaos but had some reprieve a year later by 2021....just happened to be short lived and now longer backlogs again
 
Triumph Speedmaster
Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE
Honda CBR 500R and Honda Rebel 500 SE as a pair
No longer interested: Ducati Scrambler Urban Motard
There is a good dealer near me that I have bought a couple of bikes from. One of the brands they sell is Triumph. I'll send you a PM.
 
I recently bought a bike at Ridersville in WV. It was really easy and I highly recommend them. I called 2 weeks before and placed the order for the bike and gave them a $100 deposit. They called when it arrived. I went there and handed over a stack of $100 bills. The bike was sold at exactly MSRP, no freight, no setup and no tax (because I am out of state). I will pay my state tax when I finally get around to registering for my license plate. They even got me a 90 day temp tag for $10. The only hurdle was their state law requires insurance on the bike they are issuing a plate for. My state does not require that, we only need to show that we have motorcycle insurance on a different bike. So I had a 20 min call with my insurance company, with some hurdles because the bike was so fresh, the VIN was not coming up as valid.
 
Bentleys here in Pittsburgh is very good too. They sell bikes at straight MSRP and nothing more. Since they are in my state, the only extra is sales tax. When bikes sales were slower, it was common to get a left over bike from them for well under MSRP. I got a left over KTM 150 for $6200 plus tax.
 
One buddy was looking for a MT09SP, nobody locally thought they would get another anytime soon and looking three states away, found one. The dealer told him there is no chance they would see any residual service, tire or parts $ if they sell bikes out of state. In this market, they prefer to sell bikes to locals and even better, people that will bring it in for oil changes. Makes sense to be picky on the buyer. Theres no downside
 
Bentleys here in Pittsburgh is very good too. They sell bikes at straight MSRP and nothing more.
We have a place around here that has a sign that reads they don't negotiate prices. What the tag says, is what the bike is selling for. I kind of like that. None of that bouncing around bullshit.

Hell with dealers. Private sale all the way.
 
Tried to buy a Grom a few months back. All the models on the floor were "already sold" apparently. Didn't matter to me, I was coming in specifically to get that sexy red white and blue version they came out with this year.
Conversation with salesman goes like this:
SM:"Yeah basically all we can do right now is take a $500 deposit today and in about 5 or 6 months..."
Me(to myself):"Dang 5 or 6 months, the market sure is wild right n-" he interrupts me
SM: "I wasn't finished. In 5 or 6 months we'll tell you when it will come in. "
Me: "ok cool have fun with that :)"

He was also saying the OTD price out the door on a grom was 5500. $2000 in fucking fees and shit on a $3400 msrp bike. Yeah whatever dude. Get lost with that shit.
And the used market for groms pisses me off even more.
People buy them then sell them used for $5000+. In what world does a used motorcycle retain 95-100% of its value? That's just insanity to me. Maybe I'm just jaded by dirt bikes or something. I don't ever recall a time period where asking prices wildly above msrp for your used bike was the norm.
 
Just wait for the economy to take a total dump. It’s a matter of time before the credit card crunch hits as people are spending more on fuel, food etc. Add in increased property taxes and insurance… I see it already in my (townhouse) neighborhood with a few neighbors not being able to pay the quarterly vig that went up because the insurance sky rocketed due to the building collapse last year in Surfside… I foresee many for-closures happening as quite a people overpaid for properties that are now dropping in value… YMMV
 
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