[whiting57]

No, they don't have to treat any inquiry as a potential sale. The number of sales they lose by ignoring e-mail inquiries must be less than the expense of entertaining all of the inquiries that don't result in sales, or they wouldn't be doing it. While dealerships are in business to sell bikes, they don't owe a sale to anyone. It seems the only way the OP is going to get a bike bought is to present himself and his trade in person somewhere and talk to someone, and the way he has been treated by the Cycle Trader sellers, maybe he should consider trying his local dealer. The savings on the price would probably mostly be eaten up by travel expenses anyway. Not to mention that he is probably going to use a local dealer for any recalls or warranty work rather than travel several hours to have it done. Either that or the OP has left something out that explains why nobody seems to want his money.

I agree , dealers are sick to death of price only shoppers and tire kickers ... while the OP wants to do business his way, the industry is generally a conservative one. Getting calls or emails all day does not generally end up in sales ... It is usually some one who want the best "rock bottom " price that they will never see again who wants to unilaterally screw them over for every last discount possible. I have bought my last 3 bikes off 1 dealer ... I get a price on my trades that is fair and a price on new that is competitive. Deals have to be a win - win situation, otherwise there will not be a dealer around to do your warranty work, regardless of where ever you bought the bike.

FYI ... dealers make around 11% on Kawasaki and 9 % on Yamaha's.

How does it work out for me .... sat morn I called him to find the availability of a service time on Monday to get a 16 tooth sprocket and my motech crash bars fitted ... well, I got in at 8.30 am this ( Monday) morning, despite them being 2 days behind in the service dept. All accessories that I purchase thru them are at a 15 to 20% discount and I get a favorable price on their dealer installed stuff ... todays bill for the bars and sprocket install was $78 tx included.

As an interesting side note , my buddy called a local Yamaha dealer near his house at the beginning of the month to get his bike a oil change .. no he did not buy the bike there and the earliest date avail to him was the 28th of this month .... go figure.

A dealer with a customer in the store is worth more to them than 10 on a email inquiry.... I suspect that you are not the only one "phishing" for a rock bottom price ... as far as your trade goes, most dealers will not even "ball park" trades due to incorrect, not up to date pics and unsuspecting damage, this is also not including the amount of internet fraud that is around.

If you cant take the time to call the guy, how do you have the time to pick up the bike ... because the reality is that they will probably be closed on your day off. I am home generally once every 7 to 10 days for 36 to 48 hrs, and I still find a way to conduct my life from a different country.

This conversation kinda reminds me of the people who shop E Bay for the best price and then take their warranty claims to the nearest store that sells the same brand and expects a substitution for new..

One lost sale is a small price to pay to save countless hours saved wasted by tire kickers, after all, he has already contacted 4 dealers looking for that illusive deal.

 

[twowheeladdict]

[
How does it work out for me .... sat morn I called him to find the availability of a service time on Monday to get a 16 tooth sprocket and my motech crash bars fitted ... well, I got in at 8.30 am this ( Monday) morning, despite them being 2 days behind in the service dept. All accessories that I purchase thru them are at a 15 to 20% discount and I get a favorable price on their dealer installed stuff ... todays bill for the bars and sprocket install was $78 tx included.

As an interesting side note , my buddy called a local Yamaha dealer near his house at the beginning of the month to get his bike a oil change .. no he did not buy the bike there and the earliest date avail to him was the 28th of this month .... go figure.

I do all my own maintenance and repairs, but am thankful for you and your friend helping to keep the dealer in business.

I shop for the best value possible when buying anything and everything I purchase. I try and support the local guy whenever possible and will always give him the opportunity to earn my business.

 

[ronheater70]

The biggest problem I see is that regardless of your intention, you are 6 hours or so away from a dealership that probably has some young guy who sat on it for 15 seconds and is ready to fill out paper work with a Credit score of 590 and pay 12% on a bike for 6 years. Dealerships (and Banks) obviously tie togther to try and pay more attention to THIS kind of buyer, because it makes them both more money, as opposed to someone like yourself who is knowledgeable about the product has a price idea up front etc.. Its all business..

 

[GDP RIDER]

In this area, most of the Japanese manufacturers dealerships sell 4x4's of all sorts and water craft along with a few motorcycles to stay in business. I was lucky the local dealership had a good deal on a Versys at the right time. The far vast majority of motorcycles sold around here are HD's.

 

[captpfd]

I am quite amused by all the fuss. Let's see: You don't want to talk on the phone during business hours but you have time to email back and forth. You want the absolute best OTD price in email form from the salesman and you want someone to commit to a trade-in value by email and your six hours away. Wow! what's the big deal. Get real man! Either you can afford to buy the bike or not. Sell your current bike then try to get the best deal on a Versys new or used.

 

[zirconx]

I am quite amused by all the fuss. Let's see: You don't want to talk on the phone during business hours but you have time to email back and forth. You want the absolute best OTD price in email form from the salesman and you want someone to commit to a trade-in value by email and your six hours away. Wow! what's the big deal. Get real man! Either you can afford to buy the bike or not. Sell your current bike then try to get the best deal on a Versys new or used.

He didn't say he wanted the absolute best price. He said he wanted their price. Many of us feel the same way. We don't want to play games with haggling and talking with managers and finance people. Just tell me how much it is.

The original poster also said

...Sorry for the rant. I just need to vent my frustration of the situation.

He's not asking you to fix his problem or give him advice. He just wanted to vent a little. So if you don't have anything nice to say, why even hit the post button?

 

[HOMERSlMPSON]

I am quite amused by all the fuss. Let's see: You don't want to talk on the phone during business hours but you have time to email back and forth. You want the absolute best OTD price in email form from the salesman and you want someone to commit to a trade-in value by email and your six hours away. Wow! what's the big deal. Get real man! Either you can afford to buy the bike or not. Sell your current bike then try to get the best deal on a Versys new or used.

Hahaha Zirconx burned you bro
I actually kinda agree with ya though. I was reading this at first and believe me I LOVE to complain about stuff lol but this doesn't really seem like a justifiable vent-worthy rant.
Salesmen suck. End of story. Doesn't matter if it's motorcycle, car, cell phone, computer, boat or anything else. If it's commission-based, you're gonna have the shady playa types trying to play ya
TrueCar.com worked out really well for me when I was looking for a new car. It'd be nice if they had that for bikes, but they don't.

And trust me I'm not trying to egg the OP on buuuuuut doesn't he get a lunch break? Make the phone call then and get someone on the horn. Make it happn capn!

I feel like I shouldn't even hit the reply button ...but ...I ...can't ... help...self


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[turn8a]

And trust me I'm not trying to egg the OP on buuuuuut doesn't he get a lunch break? Make the phone call then and get someone on the horn. Make it happn capn!




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He might not get a lunch break. They might schedule him for 14 hours with no breaks. And when he finally gets to a hotel he might be on min rest and has to be back at work 10 hours later and the 14 hours starts all over. Some of the places he goes to also might not have cell service. So all the emails he sends might be from the hotel when the shop is closed because that is only the free time fl410 has.

 

[HOMERSlMPSON]

He might not get a lunch break. They might schedule him for 14 hours with no breaks. And when he finally gets to a hotel he might be on min rest and has to be back at work 10 hours later and the 14 hours starts all over. Some of the places he goes to also might not have cell service. So all the emails he sends might be from the hotel when the shop is closed because that is only the free time fl410 has.

Hahaha yes this is definitely a possibility. I know in my office we all have colostomy bags and IVs. Nutrition is fed via the IV ...sometimes. Other times ...well, I'd rather not talk about it.
We're not allowed to leave our desk and the closest cell tower is 32 miles away uphill both ways. It's a real nightmare.


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[turn8a]

Hahaha yes this is definitely a possibility. I know in my office we all have colostomy bags and IVs. Nutrition is fed via the IV ...sometimes. Other times ...well, I'd rather not talk about it.
We're not allowed to leave our desk and the closest cell tower is 32 miles away uphill both ways. It's a real nightmare.


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you forgot 32miles uphill in the snow. The sad thing is I was describing my job.Thanks you did make me laugh!

 

[HOMERSlMPSON]

The truth is I feel bad now. I'm not one of those internet jerks who tries to make people feel like crap.

OP, I'm just messing around here so hope ya don't take offense to my silly comments.
Hope you find what you're looking for.


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[JRW2007]

I too did a lot of online shopping and calls and ran into the same things as you. Until I found a good price on CycleTrader. I assumed that when I would contact them they would add on some ridiculous "dealer fee". They did not. They were extremely quick to respond with OTD price it was the lowest of anyone. I rented a U-haul trailer for $16 and drove the 5 hours to pick it up. They had it all ready to go, priced as promised. Very straight forward dealer easy to deal with. Mine was a 2016 650ABS. The dealer info:

Josh Duckworth
josh@yamahaofsi.com
Ph: 618-988-9194
Yamaha, Kawasaki and Suzuki dealership - Good Guys Motorsports Herrin, IL (855) 891-3521

Much better than the 10 other dealers I called and or visited. I did not have a trade however. Sold my old bike pretty easily on CycleTrader.

Good Luck

 

[weljo2001]

I was in sales for years & years. When i moved from Texas to Cali the company wanted to keep me so they put a virtual office in my house. Everything i did was over the internet & phone. I was top sales guy every year I was so far ahead of the other sales people they wouldn't allow me any sales in Texas where the company was based. Even so i still remained the #1 guy. Some people work the internet & phones others are lazy and want the customer to come to them.

 

[weljo2001]

BTW the only calls e-mails or faxes that i ever blew off were from guys needing quotes on equiptment for government bids. They would send you tons of detailed specific pain in the ass stuff they wanted priced out and you would have to spend way too much time getting the quote together for something that was not going to happen. The only reason they contacted you in the first place because they already had the vendor for the equipment they wanted they just needed 2 other quotes to get their ordered processed.

 

[james75]

It's quite possible they don't even have the bikes you're inquiring about. I asked about the dealer in the St. Louis area for this specific reason. I won't name the dealership, but it's kinda like the Sam's Club of motorcycle dealers. They had a few bikes listed on Cycle Trader that I was interested in. So I went to the dealership a few days later and when I inquired about them, was told they sold them. So they sold them all in a couple days? My bet is they never had them. They put those adds on there to get people in the door to sell them something else. Also, when I was in there, they had about 5 salesmen all sitting down with customers working on selling them bikes. With that kind of volume, there is really no need to answer someone over an email when they're meeting their quota already. I'm not saying it's right at all, I'm just saying that's how it is. I much prefer the small dealerships, but I'm sure you can have the same problem with them.

 

[whiting57]

He's not asking you to fix his problem or give him advice. He just wanted to vent a little. So if you don't have anything nice to say, why even hit the post button?

Im sorry, i did not realise that when you post on a public forum you are only allowed to receive positive responces ... as a newb on here, i must be misguided in regards to the rules....... oops, i hit the post button again .. my bad.

 

[whiting57]

I do all my own maintenance and repairs, but am thankful for you and your friend helping to keep the dealer in business.

Somebody has to keep em in business ... as far as my mechanical ability goes ... I have sexy hands, everything I try to fix I screw up.

It is far less expensive for me to get them to do the job right the first time, than to fix up my mistakes first and then do the original work required.

I don't have the knowledge, the time, the tools nor the interest .... I would rather be riding than wrenching with the limited time that I have at the house.

 

[fasteddiecopeman]

...I don't have the knowledge, the time, the tools nor the interest .... I would rather be riding than wrenching with the limited time that I have at the house.

At least you're being honest!

:thumb: - :thumb:

 

[whiting57]

At least you're being honest!

:thumb: - :thumb:

I can bolt on accessories with instructions, just not do mechanical repairs. I had em do my motech crash bars because of overtight allen bolts and I don't have a impact driver, the sprocket, I would never have done.

The interesting thing is when I go there for service I have 3 choices, sit there for an hour or so, go in his truck for coffee or go ride what ever demo bike he is using at the time ... this includes FJR's, Vulcan 1700's and bolt 950's

Developing business relationships seem to be a thing of the past, but it sure works fine for me.

 

[aboyandhisversys]

Well, here's what I did....

I have become really perplexed with my experience with motorcycle dealers as of late. <snip>

Sorry for the rant. I just need to vent my frustration of the situation.

I went through this last year.

My .02:
Do your homework previous to contacting dealers.

Sell your bike privately. Keep it simple for the dealer.

Walk in with $$ and/or finance already set up. Again, keep it simple for the dealer.Understand what deals Kawasaki is offering so you understand how much skin the dealer is willing to put in the game. (Kaw last year was a $500 kickback, the dealer offered $400 off list price. I explained the math to what he was doing, and gracefully declined the deal. He came back with a MUCH better offer.)

Look for dealers where they're a slow seller (I found mine in Moses Lake, Wa where the dealer goofed and ordered 3x 2016 LTs. Not a one had sold. (heheh for me. :smile2: )

Check online stocks at dealers, most dealers will show their stock on their websites, or even Kaw does it? (I don't remember, don't hold me to that last comment.)

Put a deadline on the deal, i.e. "I'm interested in a 2016 650 LT, cash out the door price. (We're keeping this simple for the dealer, right?) I would like to wrap up the deal by [pick a day of the week, day of the month]. If I don't hear back from you within 3 days I'll assume you're not interested in a cash deal."

Don't be afraid to hike on a crappy deal.

Don't forget about "fly 'n ride", I think you're already looking @ non local dealers, so 'nuff said about that.

Check all essential bolts, nuts, etc. before leaving the parking lot. Ask me how I know...

Be prepared to tell your local dealer (if you have one), when you take it in for service: "You could have sold me this bike you know..." (Don't do that if the dealer's a nice or small dealer or the service manager looks like the type that would pee in your gas tank to get even..)

Remember to save about 1-2% for essential and non-essential farkles..