Hi gang, I'm looking at a luscious Smokey Gold 2004 Road Glide. It's at a dealer and there are asking $16,300. 6600 miles, immaculate and under waranty until July 2006. Not sure if it has any extras, it was near closing time. What do you all think about the Road Glide and the price? TIA, Art

 

I personally like the Road Glide the best of the touring bikes, even though I ride a Road King. I rented one for a week when on vacation, and thought it handled crisply, was comfortable, and had lots of storage. However, the frame-mounted fairing is a design feature which some like and some don't, and it appears to be a regional thing. Here in central Ohio, dealers don't order in Road Glides, and don't give much for one presented for trade-in. In other parts of the country, the Road Glide is one of the most sought after models.

It has become a buyer's market for HD bikes in most areas. A brand new '05 Road Glide has an MSRP of about $17,500, and my guess is that, depending on the dealer's new bike inventory, you should be able to negotiate a bit off that price. If that's the case, it doesn't make much sense to get year old bike for only $1,000 less. Of course, the dealer should have lots of negotiating room on the used bike at that price. If you have patience, I'd make an aggressive offer, and then be willing to walk away if they won't sell it to you for that price. There's a good chance that they'll call you back. It would be really handy to know how long it's been sitting on their floor. If Road Glides aren't that popular in your area, they would not have paid much for it knowing that it will be hard to sell. That should translate into them being motivated to take a lower price.

So if resale value is important to you, check around your area to see how they do. If you're going to ride it until it's a pile of rust, then pick what YOU want!

PL

 

Thanks for the advice. This is just he first one I saw in Smokey Gold and really liked it. I figure the diff between new and used is closer to 2,000 to 2,500. It has EFI and the paint alone raises the MSRP to 17,735 plus I don't have to [ay for set-up fee, crate fee, etc. Still thinking. If I get serious, I may see what they'll give me for my Dyna. Art

 

More info on the bike. It has had the fairing lowers added (maybe that's why I thought it looked so great), new grips, chrome rings around the gauges, aftermarket brake pedal and they think SE pipes, air cleaner kit and re-map. (I got the new young girl and wanted to tell her to just take a walk of about 8 steps and looka t the pipes and see if they said SE on them) but thought I'd go back and talk to the wrenches if I get serious. Does this info make the deal sound better? Anybody have the fairing lowers on a RK or RG? What do you think? Art

 

I personally like the batwing of the Electric Glides much better than the Fairing of the road glide. It looks too much like a jet ski, but everyone has their own preferences. The fairing lowers look great on a road king and really do as they promise...stop the cold wind and rain. I have the 2004 Ultra Classic and I love everything about it. The ambient air temp gage is not accurate, but other than that...it's awesome.

I would want to know exactly what the exhaust is and what map is in it. I have Vance and Hines Oval Slip-Ons and they sound awesome. The SE Stage I breather makes it all come alive.

Look at the prices of the other used bikes in your area and on Ebay and you should be able to get an idea of what you can pay for that bike. $16,300 for a used bike that another 1500 get's you a new one is a no brainer for me. I would prefer the complete warranty and not what's left and I like long warranties so I went with the 5 year on my Ultra. Shop around and if they don't budge on the price, walk away and find another Road Glide that is Gold and has SE pipes. They are all over the country.

Good Luck in your search.

[IMG]local://upfiles/494/39BEED8B65D9415B99962E59B84B3493.jpg[/IMG]

 

Scott, Thanks for your response and your thoughts. This is the kind of stuff I was asking about. Extremely helpful, but there are two areas where our personal opinions are different. First, I almost never buy extended warranties. I only mentioned the warranty, because with a used bike it gives me a year to find out if there's anything wrong with it. Secondly, I don't think you can look at MSRP for comparison. If you like the extras and they are basically what you would do to the RG if you bought it new (and in my case, it's a yes to both), then I think with the extra's and the dealer fees, you'd be looking at 20,000 - 21,000 out the door (not including sales tax.)
Now if you're talking 4 to 5 thousand difference for 6600 miles, well I don't know?
Seems to me everything should be and looks to be like new and that's only a monthe or two of riding for Markcuda. Only thing I can think of is that you're prob. 3/4 of the way to needing a new front tire and 50-60% towards a rear tire.
Thanks for helping me brainstorm. Keep it up. Art

 

Art,

The bike has around $1500 worth of stuff on it, and it's the right stuff. If you wanted the lowers on a new RG you will wait 6-8 weeks for the painted parts, they 're already on this one. And if you haven't ridden both the Electra Glide, (bat wing), and the Road Glide back to back you won't know the huge difference in the handling. The RG has it all over the EG.
The bike is the right price with the right accesories.

Good Luck DC.
'05 RG

 

One of the things you will notice about the batwing handle bar mounted fairing is that it transmits all the wind buffeting into steering input, thus creating a nervous feeling front end when traveling behind trucks or on windy days. The frame mounted fairing doesn't do this. Headlights point better on the batwing because they follow your steering input. Sometimes the frame mounted unit just shines the headlight into the ditch when going around sharp corners.

Steve

 

This bike sounds a lot like the Screaming Eagle Road Glide HD made about 2001, and they sold for about $24,000 as I recall. I ride with a guy who has one of these (we've taken a lap from Ohio to Sturgis to Albuquerque and back, plus thousands of miles of shorter trips together) and he loves it.

If you're going to trade in a bike, your bargaining position is very much weakened, as most HD dealers aren't really looking to increase their inventory, especially as we get deeper into the summer. It's the old story of how much you want that particular bike vs trying to get the best deal. If you're willing to accept the risk that someone else may buy it out from under you, I'd still suggest you make an offer with an aggressive "spread" (difference between what you pay for the RG vs what they give you in trade for your current bike), and be willing to walk away. Frankly, the HD dealers have had the upper hand for a long time with their crap of adding mandatory accessories and selling above MSRP. But we bought the bikes anyway. That's the way supply and demand works.

Bleustein and his boys pulled a nice scam at the end by building a huge dealer network, riding the wave of the 2003 100th anniversary, the stuffing the dealer network with thousands of bikes in excess of demand (HD reports revenue when the deliver to the dealer, not when a customer buys a bike), cashing in their stock options, and bailing out. The stock market has finally taken off their rose colored glasses and figured it out, which is the reason the stock took a $10 hit in one day and the bottom-feeding law firms are now filing shareholder class action suits.

HD isn't dead, but the glory days are over for a while. Classic business cycle. It's a buyer's market now if you want to press things.

PL

 

Art,

I run with my lowers on my Roadglide all the time. As you know, I have the Screamin Eagle model like the one mentioned above that came with the lowers and listed fot 24,500.00. I can't say enough good things about this bike. The smokey gold is a beautiful color and is Lisa's favorite. With the options you listed and without having to pay the setup fees and all, I think it would be a good deal. Just watch how they treat you on the trade in and go for it.


Terry

One of these days we'll get together (hopefully a couple of roadglides).