I admit it... had the fever and jumped right in on pure emotion, got the first RKC Vivid Black the dealer had sitting there back in August...
didn't test or demo...
paid sticker minus $350, and added about $1800 for extras...
total bill around $22k at 6% thru my credit union.

OK, so now I have about 3,000 miles on it and I really do love the damn thing, but I have to admit,
the Ultra is looking pretty good for those long trips, which is really what we (mom and I) bought the bike for in the first place.

So, I was thinking, the dealer is now offering 1% financing on '08 Anniversary models. Not really CRAZY about the color scheme, but no big deal....

Anyone have any experience on how bad you lose financially if you were to trade it in on the Ultra??

 

well, I love my Ultra,,, only way I'm gonna ride with mama!!!
the RKC is a sister of the ultra,,, what you could do, which many have, is look for a fairing for your bike,, lots of options,,, then thow on some soft lowers, or HD hard lower fairng
Might save ya alot of $$ in the long run,,, you decide

 

GET THE ULTRA!

 

Yeah, I thought about that, but do you really think it wold be cheaper... those upgrades are pretty expensive...

 

Yeah, that's the idea... but do you have any idea how bad the dealer is gonna hit you on a trade in of the RKC???

Just curious, seems the HD market is depressed about now... wondering if that will motivate them to work with you on trade ins like this...

 

If the dealership is only willing to give you the baseline trade-in value, then you're probably going to get hit pretty hard. Kelly Blue Book shows the trade in value for an 07 RKC (they don't list 08's yet) as $11,915 and an '06 RKC as $11,240 (a difference of ~$700 per year). Just guessing, but if you add $700 to the 07 trade in value, the 08 trade in value may be somewhere around $12,615. NADA lists the retail price range for an 07 as $12,890 - $16,827. Adding another $700 to each number, gives you a ball park range of $13,590 - $17,527 for retail value. The aftermarket parts don't do much to boost the trade in value.

Guess the bottomline is to start crunching the numbers with the dealer and see how much they're willing to give you ona trade in. Hopefully they value you as a customer and are willing to work something out. You mayfind that it's betterto sell the bike yourself, instead of getting creamed on the trade-in value or go withElectraRick's idea.

 

I doubt the dealer is going to go "above and beyond" in offering a good trade. You might want to try sell the RK yourself, you wouldn't take as big a hit, but you would likely still loose out on the extras you added....then if you feel the need to add the same type of upgrades to the Ultra you will see a really big hit. I guess a lot depends on how much you want the Ultra and if you are willing to eat the loss.

 

For two-up riding get the Ultra. Try selling yours w/o the trade and if you're lucky you'll sell it for much higher than a trade-in or if you're lucky you'll end up w/two great bikes!

 

take off your add ons, sell it yourself, then get the ultra, and put your add ons back on.....

or you could go with the aftermarket fairing, yes its expensive right now, but will probably be less in the long run after the dealer gets done raping you.

 

You will take a big hit trading it in and a downside to selling it yourself, is that anyone wanting to buy it will nearly have to come up with the cash since it is hard to get financing on a used bike. If you can, the rates are way up there. It has to be a great deal for any buyer to sway him from a new one. Remember though, if you trade, you only pay sales tax on the difference. I think a fairing,a tourpack and a comfy two up seat would be a lot less than what you'd lose trading. A couple of grand against a 6 to 8 grand hit