Anybody ever bought a new motorcycle?

[Creedmoor]

As do I !

Im happy when I can go for a ride.

 

[Indyhd]

I've bought 5 new bikes. As described above they are shipped partially assembled, and it varies by manufacturer. Not sure what my dealer set up was on my 2021 Goldwing DCT, but I imagine much more than a small cruiser like you have for sale in the classies.
Imagine the amount of time to mount wheels, handlebars, clutch and brake levers connected and adjusted, oil filled, started up and test ridden, mirrors attached, rear brakes adjusted...
It all takes time.

 

[chezuki]

Im happy when I can go for a ride.
View attachment 236936

Ah, I remember the ritual of starting my old Evo Springer.

 

[MindfulMan]

Im happy when I can go for a ride.
View attachment 236936

I bet that you spend more time riding a bike ..... then trying to make a deal on one !

 

[JCSR]

I miss having a motorcycle. And those rides.

As do I !

The solution is simple. The next time your wife is mad at you go buy a motorcycle. She'll still be mad but you'll have a motorcycle!

 

[Creedmoor]

Ah, I remember the ritual of starting my old Evo Springer.

I can honestly say, ive never owned an evo.
Im a Pan, AMF Shovel kid.
Leakers and kickers.
When I need reliable lol I push the FX 96ci twin cam out of the garage. One that I got talked into buying. That bike will start at 20°
Its a Shovel without Shovel problems.


Lots if evos are still on the road where I travel.

Shovelheads Rule, wear your gear.

 

[Creedmoor]

I bet that you spend more time riding a bike ..... then trying to make a deal on one !

The last new one I bought was a FXDC in 2010.
From a HD dealer and it was in the crate.
Salesman told me what it costs, I made a offer,
he accepted it and I wrote him a check.
I picked it up the following weekend.
It was painless.

 

[Creedmoor]

The solution is simple. The next time your wife is mad at you go buy a motorcycle. She'll still be mad but you'll have a motorcycle!

Or she will divorce you and you can buy as many as you want.

 

[JCSR]

Or she will divorce you and you can buy as many as you want.

Win! Win!

 

[Nazgul]

Retired in 2016, paid cash for a new Indian Chief Dark Horse. Never looked at the breakdown of costs, drove off. It has been one of the best things I have done since retiring.

Don

 

[WanderingSol07]

Okay, trying to remember what I did fifty years ago.... I remember the front wheel was not mounted, but packed next to the forks, handlebars not mounted, but all the controls were, just turned sideways to save space. No coolant, maybe half a quart of oil, battery was empty. Pretty much anything that could save weight was left out or could cause a problem if the crate was on its side or upside down. Tires had about ten pounds of pressure, just enough to keep them on the rims, but soft enough to compress for packing. Seat was wrapped in plastic, but taped in place. Remember, no fairing, bags, or trunks on the first ones, all that was third party, Vetter, Arthur Fulmer, ... There was a checklist of about five pages, first page showed how to disassemble the crate enough to start working on the bike, for example, you took the front top boards off just enough to free the handlebars and mount them. Then you could use them to lift the bike a bit to do more assembly and disassembly of the crate. I believe there was still part of the crate holding up the bike and you had to put air in the tires before removing the last wood.

 

[kawtech87]

Hello,
My name is Kawtech for a reason. For about 10 years I was a full time tech and part owner of a dealership here in Martinsville. Prep and assembly is factored in as you correctly guessed to cover the cost of assembling the bikes from the crate. However techs are not paid hourly they are paid flat rate. Some bikes take very little prep some take ALOT. So prep is usually a mean average of the cost of flat rate between the easy bike and very difficult ones. Also some dealerships use a prep and assembly service. They have the bikes sent from the factory to the prep service then delivered as fully assembled to their dealership. They pay the prep service for assembly so they must charge you for it or loose that money. Margin on bikes is razor thin usually to begin with. People think that a 30k bike must have a huge mark up from msrp. I'll tell you that isn't true. There was one particular model our profit from selling the bike at full retail was only $80. So yeah we had to add fees to make it worth while. If you don't let your local dealership make something then you won't have a local dealership very long.

 

[Timjoebillybob]

why should I pay for them to actually assemble the product?

I'm sure you could order all the parts and assemble it yourself. You don't think you're paying the manufacturer who puts it most of the way together for assembly? Or Acteon back in the day to make the steel that goes into it? Or the guy that takes that steel and turns it into the frame? Or... Each step costs money, and is passed on to the buyer. Maybe you can just buy ore and make your own steel/aluminum/copper/etc? But then you're still paying the guy that mines the ore.

 

[Basher]

But then you're still paying the guy that mines the ore.

Not if he’s also the guy mining the ore…

 

[Timjoebillybob]

Not if he’s also the guy mining the ore…

I almost included that. But then he'd have to pay the guy that owns the ground the ore is located on. Unless he bought that as well. Dang this is turning into one expensive motorcycle. Might just be cheaper to buy one or a hundred(or more) already assembled.

 

[JettaKnight]

 

[dvd1955]

Just looked at the receipt for the Yamaha RD200 I bought my wife in 1978. $799 for the bike, $31.76 for tax and $4.00 for inspection. I think my RD400 was similar, but no longer have the receipt. I know I paid $1075 for the bike cause I bought it in December without a trade in, so didn't pay the $1299 list price. Sold my Honda 175 for $275 so pretty happy with that deal.

 

[pmbiker]

All this talk makes me wanna go get a new bike!

 

[manifest destiny]

Itemizing dealer, doc, prep, etc. fees is disingenuous. I don't begrudge the costs to the dealer being passed to the buyer. But, those type of fees are hocus pocus. They're added after purchase price is negotiated (thus OTD negotiations are better). They too are usually negotiable to some extent. The same fees typically apply to used inventory where there is no assembly, though probably some prep is still required. All that to say the dealer might as well work those costs into the sale price and not itemize them. Lowes has in-house assembly costs for many of the items they sale. Dealers of nursery plants have quite a bit of prep before selling their stock. Neither of those examples separate those particular costs to the buyer. But you can damn sure believe they're included in the sale price. To the OP, I'd check other dealers. Since the fees are somewhat arbitrary, often negotiable and can vary by dealer, play the dealers against one another when possible. My recent example is the purchase of a RV this spring. Negotiated the price, ready to sign, boom- here come all sorts of fees. I walked out (camping world). Went to another dealer, purchased same make/model/size RV and the dealer fees were hundreds less (mt. comfort). There was a dealer up north that agreed to waive the fees entirely but the costs for me to retrieve made the deal not worth it. All that to say, the dealers do have legitimate costs that should be recovered when product is sold. The dealers do play games with the fees. Out the door negotiations are best.

 

[kawtech87]

Itemizing dealer, doc, prep, etc. fees is disingenuous. I don't begrudge the costs to the dealer being passed to the buyer. But, those type of fees are hocus pocus. They're added after purchase price is negotiated (thus OTD negotiations are better).

What you are calling "hocus pocus" and disingenuous are part of what keeps the lights on for smaller dealers. I could start talking about floor plans and interest rates on inventory and the pressure on the dealerships to move inventory by the manufacturers but people who don't understand won't and don't care. These fees are only a small part of the margin anyway and usually where the big money is made is on aftermarket accessories after the fact. Ever wonder why Harley dealerships immediately take the buyer over to the "Crome wall"? Because that is where the real money is on new unit sales. Back of the house is where all the money is made anyway. Parts, service and accessories make the cash. New unit sales are flash and sometimes loss leaders.