Finished My MSF Class - Now What's a Good deal?

[WARainMan]

I just finished my MSF class. Man, was it a blast! It rained for most of the class, which was a confidence builder. You CAN ride in the rain. It only started clearing during the final riding exam. When the sun came out, I was wishing it would rain again. I didn't have my sunglasses. At the end of the class, one of the instructors suggested that after I get a few months experience, I consider joining them as an instructor, (tootin' my own horn for a moment). I guess I made an impression.

Now I am bike shopping. Out of all the bikes I've sat on, I have my eyes on a 2007 Boulevard M50 Limited. It is the most comfy and seems to be well liked (except by MotoF150 - that's OK. I think the F150 sucks). I've been getting quotes from local dealers. One dealer offered MSRP + tax and license, forgoing assembly, setup, etc. My question is this: how much bargaining room is there on 2007 bikes? What would be considered a good deal?

Thanks

[DivideOverflow]

I just finished my MSF class. Man, was it a blast! It rained for most of the class, which was a confidence builder. You CAN ride in the rain. It only started clearing during the final riding exam. When the sun came out, I was wishing it would rain again. I didn't have my sunglasses. At the end of the class, one of the instructors suggested that after I get a few months experience, I consider joining them as an instructor, (tootin' my own horn for a moment). I guess I made an impression.

Now I am bike shopping. Out of all the bikes I've sat on, I have my eyes on a 2007 Boulevard M50 Limited. It is the most comfy and seems to be well liked (except by MotoF150 - that's OK. I think the F150 sucks). I've been getting quotes from local dealers. One dealer offered MSRP + tax and license, forgoing assembly, setup, etc. My question is this: how much bargaining room is there on 2007 bikes? What would be considered a good deal?

Thanks

Forgoing assembly and setup is a good deal on a new bike. That is a lot better than they offer around here unless they are leftovers.

[Bubble Gum Jr.]

If you have a general idea of the bike you want, you can find out what the dealer's invoice is. Which tells you how much the dealer pays for the bike, what all their internal fees are and at what price they break even at. This will give you a good idea of how much bargaining room you have. Now would probably be a good time to get a bike because winter is coming up and there's not alot of demand during this time because it's not very safe to ride in the rain.

[WARainMan]

How does one find out what the dealer paid? Will they provide that or is there another source.

Thanks for the replys

[VermilionX]

a good deal to me is if you can get an OTD price that is close to the MSRP.

of course... there's so many factors involved on how much the dealers are willing to let go of the bike but the biggest factors are supply and demand.

[Bubble Gum Jr.]

How does one find out what the dealer paid? Will they provide that or is there another source.

Thanks for the replys

For the most part you can ask the salesperson to give you this info; most won't however. The easiest way to find this info out is to get it online, they'll charge you around $10-15 to get this info. If you get an exact model you want you can ask around on different forums and some members can give you an idea of what it is or what they paid for it.

It's worth it in my opinion because it gives you a ball park range in terms of what can bargain with. Whether your offer is reasonable? How badly the salesperson is trying to ride you for?

Close to MSRP as you can get is best. For some bikes you can get it for less than MSRP out the door. But it really depends on the supply and demand of the bike you want. You can scope out a shop before you actually buy it, ie. checking out what type of supply they have for the bike you want. If they have a bunch of them, they're going to be lenient but if there's only one or two they're going to be very stingy in regards to bargaining.

I mean it sounds like alot of work but it can make a big difference. It's scary how most regular people will come into a shop not knowing anything and get their wallets taken for a ride because the salesperson was able to exploit their lack of knowledge.

But yeah what you the offer you got for the bike isn't too bad. MSRP + Tax + LicenseDocs. But depending on the supply of that bike and what the dealer invoice is, you could probably get it down a little more below the MSRP.

In general though if you're buying a motorcycle always be wary of the salesperson trying to throw in additional fees. Freight, Shipping, Handling, Assembly, etc. are the most common ones they try to throw on. MSRP covers all of the dealerships costs, they make money if they sell the bike out the door for MSRP + Tax + License/Doc.

I remember when I tried to buy my '06 Ninja 250, it retailed for $3000. I knew the dealer invoice was around $2800. But I knew it was a pretty hot bike and the color was kind of difficult to obtain. So I was happy with just getting it OTD. When everything was said and done we agreed to $3300 which included tax and license/doc fees. However after that the sales guy tried to throw on an additional $900 for freight and assembly charges. I called BS on this one because of how obsurd it was and because the salesperson wasn't very truthful and was very pushy to get me on a liter bike despite my lack of experience and no m1 license or msf course work.

[WARainMan]

Good info. Thanks. I just got a Dealer Invoice Report from Cyclebuy.com. I am going to use that info and see what kind of a deal I can get.

[WARainMan]

Well, I pick up my 2007 Boulevard M50 Limited tomorrow morning! The Dealer Invoice Report was useful, I think. I was able to negotiate a pretty good deal.

Let the ride begin...

[basshole]

Congrats on passing!! M-50 is a great bike! you'll love it!!!

I just finished my MSF class. Man, was it a blast! It rained for most of the class, which was a confidence builder. You CAN ride in the rain. It only started clearing during the final riding exam. When the sun came out, I was wishing it would rain again. I didn't have my sunglasses. At the end of the class, one of the instructors suggested that after I get a few months experience, I consider joining them as an instructor, (tootin' my own horn for a moment). I guess I made an impression.

Now I am bike shopping. Out of all the bikes I've sat on, I have my eyes on a 2007 Boulevard M50 Limited. It is the most comfy and seems to be well liked (except by MotoF150 - that's OK. I think the F150 sucks). I've been getting quotes from local dealers. One dealer offered MSRP + tax and license, forgoing assembly, setup, etc. My question is this: how much bargaining room is there on 2007 bikes? What would be considered a good deal?

Thanks