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9/7/2017
Location
Palm Coast, FL
US
I'm half assed kicking around the idea of buying a new bike and it's amazing how stone aged the process still is.
If I'm putting a new seat cover on my bike and decide that I want a new Milwaukee M12 stapler to do the job I can go on Home Depot's website, and it will tell me if it is in stock at my local store and if it isn't it will tell me the closest store that has it. That scenario actually happened. Now, when I search for a specific motorcycle, I need to Google search for each dealer's inventory to see if they have the specific bike I'm interested in.
Why can't I go to the manufactures website and when I am on the specific model page it will tell me what dealers in the selected radius has the bike?
And don't forget, your new stapler with have an accurate price listed online!
Its a complete guessing game trying to figure out which dealer charges what hidden fees and how much they are.
I personally love when they advertise a good price, not out of the realm of reality. Then boom out the door price is back up to msrp plus tax, title, etc.
Yamaha had a dealer inventory page on their website when I was looking.
That would be really cool for consumers. I support your message. It won’t happen though because Home Depot’s are owned by one entity where Kawasaki dealers aren’t.
Not sure if this is new information or not, but all Home Depot stores are owned by the same corporation. Dealerships are independent businesses (obviously there are some that are part of multi-location groups) that aren’t really linked to each other.
The Shop
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Free shipping: VITALMX
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
I never saw that but I did just check their inventory tool and it showed a 250f at a dealer I was at last weekend and they told me they were out of mx bikes.
It shows dealer price which seems to be more than the MSRP, I wonder if that's the all in price (- tax) with set up and dealer fees.
I work at an auto dealer so I along with probably every adult with an IQ over 79 is aware that a dealer with the owners name out front is not owned by the manufacturer. The manufacturers still know the inventory within at least a week, most times it's instantaneous. How do you think dealers do dealer trades?
Support your local dealer and build a relationship and it will last forever. You need them and they need you.
Moto dealerships are mostly like an auto zone who ask your year, date etc for your vehicle when your buying a snickers bar.
That's a great theory but unfortunately most local dealers suck really bad. Example, just yesterday I went to a local dealer for a clutch shaft lock washer for my KTM 350. You need this every time you do a clutch and around me you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a 350. Why do I have to wait 4 days for something that should be on the shelf? The other problem is my local dealer doesn't have what I'm looking for, hence the desire to search easily.
Yes build a relationship with them and you will always get the best price possible.
Dealer Inventor is calculated from inquiries and orders on the part number. If there is enough demand for it they will stock it.
I was told years ago IF the parts manager rode a certain motorcycle that they would stock parts for it.
Ding ding ding there is your winner!
Buying a motorcycle, truck, or home… should be the same as buying a pair of shoes in my opinion. Why is it such an emotional event every single time, it’s awful, and they make it that way and then complain about it. I have now bought two motorcycles from Carter Motorsport here in vegas and i’m treated as a stranger everytime i go in … it’s horrible!
How does that happen? If I go to buy a motorcycle, I'm dealing with a salesman. I buy the bike today and hope to ride it for 2-3 years. In 2-3 years, will the salesman even be the same guy? Will he remember me?
And if I go to that same shop to buy parts and accessories during the 2-3 years, I won't be dealing with the salesman. I'll usually be dealing with a different cashier every time I go. How will the salesman (or owner?) know that I spent another $1,000/year at his shop?
I'm not blaming the dealership for this. I'm just asking how am I supposed to "build a relationship" with the dealer in order to get a fair price next time I buy a bike?
Perfect example was Temecula Motorsports last week. 2025 RMZ listed at $4999. I called for OTD price, told them paying cash. He came back with OTD of around $7500. I laughed and said cool thanks. $2500 in fees is insane. $500 for tax because of my area, $530 destination fee and $200 for DMV fees I understand. $6230... so they've added another $1270 on top. I get they have to make money, but I hate the advertising at $4999 and a jump to $7500otd.
You haven't bought a new bike in a decade, the fuck do you care?
I completely agree supporting your local dealer if all things being equal or at least close to it. I would 100% be down with that. Is building a relationship part of paying the $2k higher price that my local dealer is quoting me for the same exact bike that a dealer 3 hours away is quoting me? Is that the initiation fee for future discounts from my local dealer? We're not talking a couple hundred $$$. When it comes to thousands, why should I pay more of my hard earned money just to keep it local? Now if they were closer on price I would pay a few bucks more to stay local.
Na, not with parts. Things as simple as air filters for anything up to 5 years old should be a stock item and we aren't getting that. And why? The answer is always "we can get it in 2-3 days." Well guess what, so can I when I order from RM and they ship it straight to me so I don't need to take the time to go back to the shop.
It's the one thing I loved and miss about the shop I worked at from 09-12. You needed a throttle or clutch cable from an 84 RM250? We had it! Needed it for a 98 YZ250? We had it. Air filter for an 83 XR350? Yup, we had it. Shops now, I needed an air filter for a 21 YZ65 and called multiple local shops and my three closest Yamaha dealers. You know how many had them? Zero, but they could order it and have it in 2-3 days! So I ordered it from RM and had it 2 days later at my office.
Pit Row
cycletrader.com sort of does what you want, but it's not direct from the manufacturer's website.
Like this?
https://starkfuture.com/
Not always. Our 2 local dealerships (in my town) were almost always MSRP for price + tax, setup, freight, etc. Even when I was younger.
I can go to other dealerships within 1.5 hours of me and save hundreds; in the case of a big bike, thousands.
I bought a brand new KLX 110L in 2010 for $1900 OTD cash (no tax), my local dealership had theirs for I believe $2300 (MSRP at the time) + tax. I saved over $500 as a 20 year old kid. I don't think dealerships were including freight and setup at that time.
What did I do 6 months later? I bought another one for $1900 and had two. My brother still owns the 2011.
The local Kawi dealer sold us 2 PW 50's, 2 KX 60s, a YZ 85, we recommended a friend buy a KX 125. When we tried talking about the 110 they wouldn't budge at all. So much for that "relationship".
When i called the closest motorsport dealership to purchase a 2024 CRF250R, they did not have it an asked if i wanted one. i said yes, and they just ordered it for me after i put down a deposit. i had to wait a few months for it.
I used to buy at least one new bike a year. What I have done recently is search for a low-hour bike that someone bought and realized they don't need and buy it. The bike I have now I bought new (a 2024 that was discounted because 25s were arriving), but have bought 3 of my last 4 bikes used with less than 5 hours on them and one had the gas the dealer put in it when it was sold! You just can't be in a hurry and you may have to travel some, but they are out there.
This is the real ding, ding, ding in this thread.
My last bike purchase i stopped by my local dealer every week for around 6 weeks just to chat. I ended up saving around $1,500 off an already decent price.
I think I'd prefer to just spend $1,500 more. 😃
Local KTM shop, bikes are $7999 on the website, over $13K otd when you go the shop. $1500 for prep and $1500 for shipping.
Ask for a B8EV and a 6X20 flange bolt and watch them short out. I do it just for fun.
Haha, funny thing it was T.O Motorsports😂
We settled on under $10k otd on a 23 GG mc350 2 years ago when things were still kinda high. I think we're hitting a buyers market?
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