That's right.......I bought my Low Rider 4 months ago for $1,000 under the msrp when it was snowing. Buy your bling from Zanotti's or any other discount spot on the internet.

 

I see a big change in the dealers attitude since the 'waiting list' days ended. Suppily will just about meet demand if not surpass it with the ramped up production well into the 300,000 mark. Its going to be tough for the dalers to turn on a dime but I see 'em changing in my area...big time.

 

Yeah i feel for you man. The same with me when i bought my heritage new back in 2000. The salesmen Bob Smith was the best part of the deal .He wanted to do everything for me but they kept shooting him down. They didn`t want to swap out the back wall tires for the whitewalls. They did want to give me a t-shirt , but i told them i wanted the leather gloves instead. Which they finally gave me , so when i got home i took off the cheap chrome license plate frame with there name on it . No freebe`s from me either ! Enjoy your new ride and get your bike serviced from another dealer or bike shop !

 

I think in this day and age if you got it at MSRP that's o.k. Tried my darndest to to knock them down on both bikes, no luck. But I refuse to pay over MSRP. My current bike is a SE Fatboy that I wanted since the day I saw it in American Iron. But I refused to pay the typical 2,000 over MSRP. As it is I'm currently **** poor broke, but smiling.

 

I thought I would chime in..

Lots of things going on here, but different markets (supply and demand), and different dealer attitudes and philosophies will make the biggest difference in the price we pay for a new H-D. Supply and demand are easy to understand, in some markets there are not enough bikes to satisfy demand and in others the market is flooded. Bikes are priced accordingly, new and used. The attitude and philosophy is another story. My humble opinion is that in retail, in general, all businesses go through a cycle (no pun intended, lol). When a business is growing they are hungry and work very hard to get and maintain your business, when they hit that peak they tend to get lazy and arrogant, but then comes the down slide, we the people stop buying from them because they treat us badly and they either get smart real quick or they go away. Survival of the fittest. I am in Pittsburgh and I can easily see which dealers are focused on doing a good job ( focus on relationships, have great staffs and continuously train them, great attitudes, etc). I wont name names here. LOL

Many times you can walk into a dealership and it feels down right toxic. Others make you feel like your best friends. I know where I like to spend my hard earned cash, its where I feel the best. One of my good friends walked into a local dealership to buy a new Fatboy and the owner and one of his family members were standing in the middle of the store screaming and swearing at each other, you thought you walked onto the set of Orange County Chopper, he walked out and bought else where and so did most of his friends.

lastly I am going to talk about price. To me the price is the whole package, from purchase of the motorcycle and accessories to service work for years to come. I do not buy on the initial price of the vehicle when I buy a car or motorcycle, or something big that I know I will want a relationship in the future. I know several dealers in Pittsburgh where you can get a great price, but talk about a toxic waste dumps. I would much rather pay a "reasonable" amount more and get the entire package than deal with some moron who's obvious compelling reason for me to buy is only initial price, because he cant afford to do anything else right including paying good staff. I am sure many of you will disagree with me, but I personally do not feel that buying a Harley is the same as some commodity item. I need good advice when buying chrome, adding horse power, the right sound, the right helmet, jacket, raingear, I want one of the best technicians working on my bike not some moron with no training, I want it safe (seen tires mounted backwards from the new local chopper shop) etc,

Ok, maybe I was ranting a bit but hopefully someone will agree with some of what I wrote... :-)

 

well i did get it at MSRP so i guess i didnt do all that bad. i didnt get any lube or even a hello and thank you .. everything was fast paced in and out. i go back tuesday to look the bike over since that is when it will be in stock then they will do paper work and add my BLING (forward controls) i have 1000 bux deposit on the bike they will slow down and answer my questions before i sign anything might even have him get me a soda hahah for the money i am spending i just feel alittle screwed .. not that i am there to buy a freind. i want the bike that sold itself. maybe i am over reacting but when i bought my truck new they would have jumped though hoops if i wanted them to and that was less money then the bike hahaha

 

WoW, you got vaseline, nice dealer.

 

[sm=funnypostabove.gif]

 

When I went looking for an 06 Ultra I let the local dealer who did not want to deal that I was going to get one and it was immaterial to me if I got it from him or his competition. I was perfectly willing to go somewhere else.

They came down in price.

 

Hey up until last year the local HD dealers were ADDING several GRAND over the sticker price of the bikes they were selling. Harley would say a bikes worth 16 grand and the dealers would sell it for 20 grand and treat you like crap on top of it! HIGHWAY ROBBERY!!!!! [:@] It's only this riding season they've come down to sticker price in my area. (Southern New Hampshire) That's why up till now I've never bought a Harley. Not because I didn't want one, I've always wanted one ... but because I refused to BEND OVER and get screwed for several grand over the sticker price plus put up with poor treatment from salesman for the "privilage" of ownership! [:'(] (Pisses me off!) NEXT year i plan to buy my 1st Harley and frankly can't wait because i've always wanted one. But if they go above list again and the salesmen get "that" attitude like they're doing me a FAVOR by selling me a bike again I'll change my plans.

So if you got your Harley for list price plus one free service visit thrown in you should feel WARM and CUDDLY inside for being so well taken care of. I LOVE Harley's but my local dealers at least up until 2006 WERE a bunch of thiefs and they're the main reason there are so many Harley copies on the road. Because people like me wanted Harley's but refused to bend over so the metrics filled the void. Thank GOD the prices have finally come down to list!!! IMO Harley dealers should be ashamed of themselves for allowing the metric market to flurish. Dealership greed (Not the HD company but their dealers) was the metric motorcycle companies best friend!

OK ... I'll step off my soap box now!