So long story short. Bought a softail springer last year in June, rode it a couple months while changing up a few things then I knew I wanted to ride more. The wife couldn't ride with me on the softail with her back and the heartland fender kit so I stopped by the dealer to see what kind of deal I could swing on a new '13 FLHX once the 14's hit the floor. As luck would have it the vivid black, non-ABS, w/CC model I wanted was one of the only two still there. After about an hour of dickering we finally settled on 19.4 + 20% off all parts. Still feels like a pretty good deal.

Now FF about 6 months and my wife is ready to get her endorsement and on a bike of her own. We've (including her) have raced ATV's for years so the controls, HP, nor shifting will be an issue - just the traffic and possibly cornering on two wheels. So, she's enrolled to take her rider safety course this weekend and has the day off on Monday to go to DMV.

Now, the softail I have is killer but it's a TC88a motor in a softail frame which means more vibration in the bars than she's going to like over long runs. So, I'm in the market to get her a first bike. I've looked at what there is to offer out there new and used and found a couple decent deals on the two bikes we're interested in but nothing that made me jump just yet. Especially if I can get the OTD price down on a new one I'd probably go that route again. BUT! - our local dealer is at MSRP + 1495. So I'm not going to do that, I'll go used instead. So what I'm wondering is if any of you have purchased either the iron 883 or the 48 (XL1200X) in the Portland area or within 100 or so miles for what you felt was a good deal?

I mean come on, we all know there is markup already at MSRP for the dealer, do they really need to add another 10-15% to the price just so they can finally land on a price well over MSRP?

So far my best deals I've found used
A 2010 883 with 1500 mi for 6250
A 2011 48 with 1600 mi for 9995

New for the same bikes they're asking
2014 iron 883 for 9800+lic
2014 48 for 11,800+lic

So that's where I'm starting.
What do you guys think?

 

I just picked up my 2014 48 3 weeks ago, I'm in Virginia though... Cost of the bike was $10,500 but that was BONE stock on vivid black... Not including dealer fees and what not...

 

I guess that's where my issue lies. What are reasonable dealer fees? What did you pay to the dealer on top of MSRP?

 

my OTD price was about $15,000 but, which included the extended warranty, wheel and tire coverage, tags, registration, etc...

 

Never pay over the msrp. Included on msrp is the dealer fees and setup. They will not admit that, but it is.
I would offer them msrp or less, then add tax to that. No more.
I would not take any extended warranty plans or maintenance plans either.
If your financing this, don't. And don't even think of financing and adding a warranty or maintenance to the financing. You will end up paying several thousand more.
Call dealers a few hundred miles away and deal and just take a ride to go pick it up. Don't settle cause they are down the street.

 

I got a 14 iron otd for like $8000 I believe

 

Fly to Atlanta and ride the bike back, you will still be ahead. 14 Irons here for around $7000 plus TTL and freight. I just looked at one last week for my son.

 

Paid 9,500 OTD ..2014 Iron 883.

 

Hope this was paid for cash and not financed, add finance charges, time of loan etc and you'll end up paying a whole lot of dough. No thanks, extended warranties are not needed, wheel and tire coverage??? That's the biggest scam of them all. Proven fact is that the reason that warranties are sold is to make additional money and many of these so called warranties are never used to begin with.. Now grant it, if you want the false sense of security of feeling "safe" then by all means boo boo spent that money... I would of NEVER pay $15,000 for a sportster thats just INSANE~ but hey its not my money but I tell you one thing, whoever sold you that bike was laughing all the way to the bank and he got a REAL nice commission too~!

 

Go for the 2010 883 with 1,500 miles on it for $6,250, you've got nothing to lose there. I'd even try to chew them down a bit, it never hurts to ask and the worst they can say is no.

Almost two years ago I bought my stock [other than forwards] '09 Iron with 1,360 miles on it for $6,000, so I would say you are in the ballpark with the '10 for $6,250.

There's always a couple ways to look at buying used vs. new...the positive is you let the original owner take the hit in value; the negative is you don't have much or anything left of a factory warrantee, and if you're not into wrenching yourself any repairs can cost you more than it would to do it yourself. Everyone likes to save some $$, but nobody likes to have to pay out the patoot for repairs, so yes it is somewhat of a crapshoot buying used but in the end the fact is that these bikes are reliable and more often than not your lady should see years of trouble free use.

Mine now has 7,600 miles on it and I haven't a complaint in the world [knock on wood here].

=8^)