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I went in looking for a Kawasaki Ninja EX250, which retails for $3000. I know there is little to no markup for these bikes so I came in knowing that. I went to two dealerships in the Bay Area, California.


Well anyways I got financed for alot more than the value the bike I wanted to buy. The salesperson kept trying to upsell me to the Ninja 500 saying he could do a better deal, when I said I was happy with the 250 because it was just in my range. He explained to me all the taxes, license, dmv docu which sounded normal to me. Then he told me the final charge which was some freight, building bike charge which came up to around $800. Some red flags went off in my head because that doesn't seem logical at all. He told me some story about how the bikes came in crates from Japan, had to be put together piece by piece and they were all shipped in from Long Beach. I took it all with a grain of salt and told him I'd think about it. I called another shop and the gave me the same deal which as $4000 total out the door for a $3000 bike. I mean is that right?

$3800 is way on the high side IMO. I wouldn't pay it and I like my 250.

The bike costs them $27NN, they pay a fixed freight charge (doesn't matter where they are), and Kawasaki pays them to set it up. There are charges for the DMV paperwork, etc... but it is all automated so no labor.

Stick to $3400 OTD...heck, try to get it for less, but $3400 is fair....or get them to throw in $400 worth of gear. I had a dealership "insist" that $3500 was the lowest they could go...wouldn't take $3400...but they were willing to throw in a helmet or jacket free.

Tell him you'll take a 500 for 4000 otd. See what happens.

Good thing I walked out, I had a feeling I was getting screwed over. You know what the shitty thing was? I was gonna buy two bikes, because both me and my housemate wanted bikes. He said he was giving us a "deal" cause we were buying two bikes.

He overstated the amount of assembly involved. Some of the bigger bikes (ElectroGlides come to mind) do require quite a bit of assembly for the fairing and whatnot, but a smaller skinny bike like the Ninja 250 probably requires nothing more than installing the bars, battery, and fluids. You could probably uncrate one and have it ready to ride out the door in a half hour.

Bubble Gum Jr. wrote:Good thing I walked out, I had a feeling I was getting screwed over. You know what the shitty thing was? I was gonna buy two bikes, because both me and my housemate wanted bikes. He said he was giving us a "deal" cause we were buying two bikes.

I guarantee you that no matter what kind of dealership you visit (car, motorcycle, etc...), the salesperson is going to tell you you're getting a great deal, no matter how badly they screw you over. I've seen some postings on this board about the great "deals" that some people got, that had me howling with laughter.

It's up to you to know what the bike is worth, and what you can get it for at various dealerships. I'd say you've got good instincts so far. Always shop around. It makes absolutely no difference to you if they sell you a bike for $3000 with $1000 worth of "extra charges", or if they sell you the bike for $4000. I always tell the dealer to forget the fees/charges mumbo jumbo and just tell me what the price is. The bottom line is the bottom line. The rest is just sales babble that serves no other purpose than to attempt to confuse you and disguise what you are really paying for the bike.

I'd try to go $3,000 OTD (delivery, assembly, inspection, taxes, license plate, etc, etc) but, wouldn't pay any more than $3,500. I got my S50 for MSRP OTD. They wouldn't go any lower. The invoice on mine was around $5,600 and MSRP was $6,499. They didn't give me any free gear but, discounted 15% off anything I bought that day. Didn't matter if it was clothing or accessories.

When I bought my 250 they rolled the bike off the floor and into the shop to prep, and told me to come back in half an hour to pick it up.

Why am I mentioning all of this? Well, they had a little paperwork screwup. The salesperson thought he was selling me the bike on the floor... but selected the VIN of a bike in the warehouse when doing the DMV stuff via computer... when I went to pick up the bike the VINs didn't match... so the assembler had to get out the forklift, shift, uncrate, assemble, and prep the other bike. The problem was discovered at about 1PM.

I picked up my bike a bit before 6PM. What took all the time? Charging the battery. He had it on a charger until I came to pick it up... he installed it when I arrived and did all of the "initial start" type checks while I was there.

Prepping the bike was, according to him, mostly a matter of cleaning it, adding the spillable fluids, setting up the front fork correctly, adjusting a few basics, and inspecting for simple/obvious/common problems (e.g. dead lights), cables not routed in their guides, etc.

just FWIW

ZooTech wrote: You could probably uncrate one and have it ready to ride out the door in a half hour.

No , you couldn't .
Best regards, Wizzard

Wizzard wrote:

ZooTech wrote: You could probably uncrate one and have it ready to ride out the door in a half hour.

No , you couldn't .
Best regards, Wizzard

I had my Alphasport GV250 ready to roll in about 45 minutes, from the crate... that includes removing it from the crate. That was the first time I put together a bike, and I did it by myself... you bet your "O Ring" they can get it done in 30 minutes.