Dealer called wanting my business... thoughts on my offer?

[bvail]

So you pay a sales tax in Colorado huh. We pay what is called a street use tax of 3% here in NC then title and tag. I paid $11,999 at D & H Cycle in Cullman, AL so you paying $1500 more seems high to me. I've got about $14,000 total in the bike with farkles etc. Of course hitch hiking all the way to Alabama was the hard part ::025:: .

doctorj

Here in my town/county, the sales tax is over 8.5% I believe and applies to motor vehicles as well as just about everything else one can purchase. On top of that we pay property tax on vehicles - every year when renewing tags. Plus road use, bridge fees and actual registration. You'd think we would have highways as smooth as glass or a newborn's ass. Not!

They're bleeding us dry!

 

[nondairycreamer]

For those in the southern/central IL, eastern MO areas, perhaps a good place to put in a plug for my local dealer, Niehaus Cycles in Litchfield, IL. They presently have two Raven and two Blue Super Teneres in stock and one of the blues is a demo that you can ride, weather permitting. Right now they have an off season sale going on and I am sure will match that $13.5 price plus TTL for in state buyers, no TTL for out of state. Click on their logo on the home page for contact info.

Full disclosure: I have been a customer since I bought my first Yamaha from them in 1973, a TX500. They have treated me very well since then and after I retired from my real job at the local electricity factory in 2003 I have helped them out part time from time to time. This summer I worked full time in sales when the sudden death of one of their salesman left them short handed. I really enjoyed that, especially having the pleasure of selling 5 of the PDP S10's and getting to know the new owners. Good people.

Their site lists it today at $12,999.

 

[bvail]

I visited two Yamaha dealers last week, both long term players in the Denver market. The first is close by the house and the second is about twenty miles away. Right next door to my Harley dealer.

The salesman from the second dealer called this morning, they have a 'loaded S10', and with all the dealer accessories, their farkles, dealer prep, transport, etc... they asked well over 17K.

I told the salesman nicely that I want to accessorize the bike myself... just want a base model and offered him as my bottom line, non-negotiable price, this time of the year, snow on the streets, I'm in no rush to buy, etc... 13.5K (plus my sales and local taxes).

What are your thoughts re: the offered price?

I left him profit on the table and told him that my offer is contingent on my final confirmation.

For the record, I haven't yet ridden the model of bike due to their no demos in the area and snow and ice on the streets.

I'm open and in no rush... but if I can get a good price... WTF!

Coyote Yamaha? They gave me a price of $12.5 last year. I ordered,but turned PDP back in August. Went back this month and they wouldn't give me that price, said it was special PDP price, but would give me $13.5. Those prices are not OTD.

I went to Colorado Powersports on 104th in Northglenn and offered $12.5 or 12.8, don't remember. They ok'd it and OTD price was $13.1 + $1.1 tax or $14.1 OTD round numbers. I will still have to pay the governor for plates :

They asked when I wanted the bike and told them I didn't really care. They delivered it to my house the next day ) So far I have no farkles and 10 miles on the ODO

 

[colorider]

Here in my town/county, the sales tax is over 8.5% I believe and applies to motor vehicles as well as just about everything else one can purchase. On top of that we pay property tax on vehicles - every year when renewing tags. Plus road use, bridge fees and actual registration. You'd think we would have highways as smooth as glass or a newborn's ass. Not!

They're bleeding us dry!

We are not quite that bad on sales tax up here in the "sticks", but we get stuck for all the the other add-ons, just like you city boys.

 

[kgfire]

Here in California ( Ventura County ) we get SOAKED! My two near-by dealers were asking $13,936 and $14,500 plus 7.75% sales tax and all the fees.
Bottom line one dealer wanted $16,500 OTD and the other dealer accepted my offer of $15,000 OTD. Standard bike, no accessories.
Still thats a heck of a lot less than a equally equipped BMW which goes for around $20,000 OTD.

 

[Tremor38]

Here in California ( Ventura County ) we get SOAKED! My two near-by dealers were asking $13,936 and $14,500 plus 7.75% sales tax and all the fees.
Bottom line one dealer wanted $16,500 OTD and the other dealer accepted my offer of $15,000 OTD. Standard bike, no accessories.
Still thats a heck of a lot less than a equally equipped BMW which goes for around $20,000 OTD.

Count your blessings. Considering what I doled-out after the Dollar - yen conversion, the BMW price would have been a good deal to me.

 

[snakebitten]

Paid sticker (12,900 + TTL?) for a PDP orphan bike. Then paid even more for +4 years of YES plan. Then paid yet more for a service plan. (They are gonna lose on that one. They already admit that)

This is all from a guy who takes pride in acquiring cars, trucks, and bikes at someone elses depreciated loss.

But I haven't regretted it for a minute. I ride it every day. Total disregard for weather or conditions. The damn thing owns me. I have been looking for this bike for 40 years.

Just get one. None of the prices seen in this thread is too much to pay for this bike.

 

[bvail]

We are not quite that bad on sales tax up here in the "sticks", but we get stuck for all the the other add-ons, just like you city boys.

Shhhh, we'll keep it a secret. 8)

 

[Blue_eyes]

Stop complaining you cheap skimps!

Here in The Netherlands the Explorer Edition like I have it is EURO 18.999,- which is US$ 26,600.- so stop crying! I should be the one shedding tears! :'( :'( :'(

Standard the bike is EURO 15.999,- which is US$ 22,400.- :exclaim:

 

[Tremor38]

Stop complaining you cheap skimps!

Here in The Netherlands the Explorer Edition like I have it is EURO 18.999,- which is US$ 26,600.- so stop crying! I should be the one shedding tears! :'( :'( :'(

Standard the bike is EURO 15.999,- which is US$ 22,400.- :exclaim:

Ahhhh, I feel better now, thanks! I paid the equivalent of the Euro version in US$. The 'no frills' version, of course.

 

[Climb14er]

Here's the update:

One of the dealers did not want to do the $13.5 deal. They wanted more. Fine with me. The other dealer still wants to do the $13,488.00 deal.

I went to visit them yesterday to say hello. Nice young guys. Went back late this morning and did a test ride. Very windy, temps in the fifties, twenty mile loop, highway and arterial roads. Got a good feeling of the bike.

One problem that I found very disconcerting...

Every time I hit the throttle, the motor felt as if it was VERY notchy. Not smooth. Felt as if the motor was juggling a bunch of marbles.

When I got off the throttle and just kept 'er in gear, cruising... no problem.

Being that this was the first time I rode the bike, I was expecting smoothness throughout the power band. Wasn't there as mentioned.

Brakes were fine. Heated grips... toasty. 31.5 inch inseam, was just about able to flatfoot wearing my Wesco Boss Engineer boots. That was positive.

They asked me 'what I thought' and I told them the same as I'm posting here. None of the guys had ridden the bike. Over two hundred miles on the odometer. Don't know if it was the nature of the bike or this one in particular.

I went in prepared for the best and came away with a 'so-so' feeling. Not trying to be a downer here folks, trust me on that! ::008::

His offer to me was to do the deal before the end of the calendar year... two days from now.

Honestly, I had to take a reluctant step back... sorry to say.

If you have any comments, please keep them in the positive as I tried my best to be open-minded and willing to BUY! ::003::

 

[Tremor38]

Here's the update:

One of the dealers did not want to do the $13.5 deal. They wanted more. Fine with me. The other dealer still wants to do the $13,488.00 deal.

I went to visit them yesterday to say hello. Nice young guys. Went back late this morning and did a test ride. Very windy, temps in the fifties, twenty mile loop, highway and arterial roads. Got a good feeling of the bike.

One problem that I found very disconcerting...

Every time I hit the throttle, the motor felt as if it was VERY notchy. Not smooth. Felt as if the motor was juggling a bunch of marbles.

When I got off the throttle and just kept 'er in gear, cruising... no problem.

Being that this was the first time I rode the bike, I was expecting smoothness throughout the power band. Wasn't there as mentioned.

Brakes were fine. Heated grips... toasty. 31.5 inch inseam, was just about able to flatfoot wearing my Wesco Boss Engineer boots. That was positive.

They asked me 'what I thought' and I told them the same as I'm posting here. None of the guys had ridden the bike. Over two hundred miles on the odometer. Don't know if it was the nature of the bike or this one in particular.

I went in prepared for the best and came away with a 'so-so' feeling. Not trying to be a downer here folks, trust me on that! ::008::

His offer to me was to do the deal before the end of the calendar year... two days from now.

Honestly, I had to take a reluctant step back... sorry to say.

If you have any comments, please keep them in the positive as I tried my best to be open-minded and willing to BUY! ::003::

Can't say I'd ever characterize the motor as feeling 'notchy'..but not exactly sure what you mean by that. Also can't say that I've felt overly abrupt throttle response either, if that's what you mean by notchy. 'Juggling a bunch of marbles?'..nope, can't say I've felt that either. Did you try the various drive modes... T (touring) S (sport) mode?

Sorry I can't be of more help. Sounds like you either had an improperly set-up bike....or were just expecting something totally different...not sure which. Not sure what your frame of reference is as you haven't stated the previous bikes you've owned. I think this is the first I've heard a test ride on this bike characterized in this way...unless something getting lost in the description. From a vibration standpoint, there is a certain roughness during acceleration, from about 3500 - 4500 RPM that smooths as you put more miles on. Syncing the TB's helps this and others report it all but gone after fitting a after market exhaust.

 

[YamaPA]

Here's the update:

One of the dealers did not want to do the $13.5 deal. They wanted more. Fine with me. The other dealer still wants to do the $13,488.00 deal.

I went to visit them yesterday to say hello. Nice young guys. Went back late this morning and did a test ride. Very windy, temps in the fifties, twenty mile loop, highway and arterial roads. Got a good feeling of the bike.

One problem that I found very disconcerting...

Every time I hit the throttle, the motor felt as if it was VERY notchy. Not smooth. Felt as if the motor was juggling a bunch of marbles.

When I got off the throttle and just kept 'er in gear, cruising... no problem.

Being that this was the first time I rode the bike, I was expecting smoothness throughout the power band. Wasn't there as mentioned.

Brakes were fine. Heated grips... toasty. 31.5 inch inseam, was just about able to flatfoot wearing my Wesco Boss Engineer boots. That was positive.

They asked me 'what I thought' and I told them the same as I'm posting here. None of the guys had ridden the bike. Over two hundred miles on the odometer. Don't know if it was the nature of the bike or this one in particular.

I went in prepared for the best and came away with a 'so-so' feeling. Not trying to be a downer here folks, trust me on that! ::008::

His offer to me was to do the deal before the end of the calendar year... two days from now.

Honestly, I had to take a reluctant step back... sorry to say.

If you have any comments, please keep them in the positive as I tried my best to be open-minded and willing to BUY! ::003::

The bike gets smoother with mileage. I honestly think Yamaha does the test ride crowd a diservice by letting very low mileage bikes go out for test rides. They should have demo bikes with 1500 to 2000 miles on them for test rides to give a better idea of how the bike behaves. Mine certainly did smooth out after the first 10000 miles and then again maybe at 3,000 miles.

The biggest difference in engine smoothness however was the combination of PCV, AT, arrow headers, Leo Vince exhaust......amazing how smooth the bike is with those goodies and a decent map.

 

[Climb14er]

The bike gets smoother with mileage. I honestly think Yamaha does the test ride crowd a diservice by letting very low mileage bikes go out for test rides. They should have demo bikes with 1500 to 2000 miles on them for test rides to give a better idea of how the bike behaves. Mine certainly did smooth out after the first 10000 miles and then again maybe at 3,000 miles.

The biggest difference in engine smoothness however was the combination of PCV, AT, arrow headers, Leo Vince exhaust......amazing how smooth the bike is with those goodies and a decent map.

I'm going to have to agree with you on this!

I've owned many bikes over the years and about half of them new from the factory. Yes, bikes do get smoother as they break-in.

Honestly, I was as mentioned, surprised at the 'roughness' of the motor... definitely not what I was expecting.

Also, please understand, I am NOT knocking the bike or other's experience! Most if not all seem to be very pleased. It could have been this one bike.

Also, nobody at the dealership showed me any of the 'modes' to change or vary! There were four people who easily could have taken a moment's time to do so.

Perhaps they did not know the bike as evidenced by most of them not having ridden it as of yet.

 

[jajpko]

As some on here know, I pretty much hated this bike, or at least was very dissatisfied with it.
I kept the bike and added a PCV with Auto Tune and headers with a Leo Vince can. I now have a smile on my face and ride almost ever day.. This bike will transform into a very nice ride, and there are more after market parts becoming available all the time.

The bike you rode is probably running too lean. The above will cure that. It also sounds like you may have a (what I call) a snatchy throttle. I have that and it can be fixed with a lighter throttle spring which will smooth out the power delivery in the slow speeds. Just been riding too much to fix it right now. ::025:: There is a thread now about that. You can read more about it on the FJR forums.

It sounds like you are ok with the rest of the bike, so you may want to consider the above, and give it a go..

Good Luck on whatever you do... ::26::

 

[Tremor38]

Re: Re: Dealer called wanting my business... thoughts on my offer?

As some on here know, I pretty much hated this bike, or at least was very dissatisfied with it.
I kept the bike and added a PCV with Auto Tune and headers with a Leo Vince can. I now have a smile on my face and ride almost ever day.. This bike will transform into a very nice ride, and there are more after market parts becoming available all the time.

The bike you rode is probably running too lean. The above will cure that. It also sounds like you may have a (what I call) a snatchy throttle. I have that and it can be fixed with a lighter throttle spring which will smooth out the power delivery in the slow speeds. Just been riding too much to fix it right now. ::025:: There is a thread now about that. You can read more about it on the FJR forums.

It sounds like you are ok with the rest of the bike, so you may want to consider the above, and give it a go..

Good Luck on whatever you do... ::26::

Yes, japako's case is a perfect example of how one persons non-issue is unbearable to somebody else when it come to vibration. We even had a case where a guy that had no sensitivity to the lower freq vibes (stock pipe) added an aftermarket exaust and found he didn't like the higher freq vibes brought about by that change. (He later solved that with a throttle body sync). If you are feeling the low freq vibs to that extent, adding an aftermarket pipe shifts the vibes to a higher freq where most report they dont feel anymore vibes. Good luck whichever way you choose.

 

[colorider]

If at all possible, try for another test ride on either another demo bike, or perhaps one of the local members bikes here. I honestly do not think you will be disappointed.

 

[hANNAbONE]

what Rod stated...and also, get the whole skinny on the Throttle modes - that alone can make or break the test ride.

"T" touring is subtle

"S" sport is whack it

totally changes the bike per these modes.

Also, TAKE OFF THE TRACTION CONTROL .. upon starting the bike - hold the left side instrument pod button for 2 seconds...it'll put a smile on your face with this completed AND the throttle mode in "S"

now...go back and re-ride

then report back, private...

 

[Tremor38]

Another thing you might want to give a whirl is ask the dealer if they will sync the throttle bodies before you take another ride...while letting them know you are very interested in the bike ::025::

 

[Climb14er]

Another thing you might want to give a whirl is ask the dealer if they will sync the throttle bodies before you take another ride...while letting them know you are very interested in the bike ::025::

I left a message with the dealer's manager asking him to double-check the modes of the bike I rode yesterday. They have one bike on demo.

I also mentioned the synching of the throttle bodies and anything else they could look at that might have caused the notchy throttle.

Doing my best on this side of the table!

Appreciate the suggestions from all!