Hello everyone! Help on my first purchase...

[Quickmike]

I am going to be purchasing my first ST. An '05 1300 non ABS. I'm in Northwest NJ and wonder what I should be paying. My best price so far is $12,599.
Questions-
1) What are the hidden costs usually associated with Honda Motorcycle dealerships?
2) Why did the MSRP just jump $300? Does it keep climbing until summer?
3) Are they really "hard to come by" as I've been told by some salespeople?(Do they really only get 2-3/dealer/year?)
4) Is there a thread here or anywhere that people honestly list the price they paid (for the good of others)?
5) Am I really as "obsessed" with this bike as my wife says :a13: WHEEWW!

An answer to any or all of these questions would be greatly appreciated!

[Mellow]

I am going to be purchasing my first ST. An '05 1300 non ABS. I'm in Northwest NJ and wonder what I should be paying. My best price so far is $12,599.
Questions-
1) What are the hidden costs usually associated with Honda Motorcycle dealerships?
2) Why did the MSRP just jump $300? Does it keep climbing until summer?
3) Are they really "hard to come by" as I've been told by some salespeople?(Do they really only get 2-3/dealer/year?)
I've never seen more than 1 or 2 at a dealership and I've been to many where I hadn't seen any...
4) Is there a thread here or anywhere that people honestly list the price they paid (for the good of others)?
If you look in the revew section under Dealers you might see some price quotes but there isn't an offical price quote thread...
5) Am I really as "obsessed" with this bike as my wife says :a13: WHEEWW!
Yes you are obsessed, so is everyone else here, the best thing to do is not fight it... go with it and walk towards the light... now, go order tons of accessories and have them delivered at work where the wife won't see it show up...
An answer to any or all of these questions would be greatly appreciated!

I have some answers above.. hope it helps a little..

[AZST]

Don't know if this will help or not. I paid 13,600.00 for an '04 ABS. This included tax, dealer setup, doc fee, prostate exam fee, etc.

The dealer had the bike sitting on the floor for several months and they claimed that they could not unload it. I negotiated a little bit and he showed me the invoice in the "secret" book on the shelf behind his desk which said that invoice was $11,200.00 (if I remember correctly).

I wasn't dissatisfied with what I paid considering I had talked with alot of guys that bought the same bike and claimed they paid more.

The bike is all that and a bag of chips. It does everything that I need it to and does it quite well. Of course, I've only ridden it a few thousand miles and just got my first recall notice in the mail and hear that a second is on the way. At least Mother Honda is taking a pro-active approach and my dealer called me to schedule the recall work. To me this is significant because recalls with other vehicles that I have owned...never got a call from the dealer. I like the fact that my local dealer called me.

My bike was $11,500, $348.00 in freight and $290.00 in dealer prep. B.S. charges I know...but I really wanted THIS bike and Honda Man was very happy to move it.

Hope this helps.

--Bryan
04ST1300A
STOC#5197

[Quickmike]

Thanks a lot guys! I really appreciate it. Talk to you soon.

[dannyk]

I believe Honda just had a 4% price increase or so I've been told, just happened within a couple of weeks, I am grandfathered in as I have the deal set, just have to give the man 300 bucks when I pick up the scoot.

[sokay]

I do not see how prices of Japanese and German bikes can not go up at some point as the dollar keeps losing its value against those countries' curencies. I've read more than a few times that the dollar has to lose about 30% more in order to lower the value of our defecits. That would put the cost of an ST1300 at about US$20k. Anyway, I paid MSRP for mine plus a ripoff $300 prep fee. :( I just hate to argue with people about money. :)

[hippo888]

Sokay,

The major Asian currencies (Yen, Yuan) are either pegged to the US$ (like the Yuan) or are controlled by central a central bank that will not let the exchange rate hurt exports to the USA (like the Yen). Asian currencies won't fluctuate against the US$ like the Euro will. The US$ will plummet against the Euro, but only move slightly against the Asian currencies. The minimal increases in prices on Japanese bikes have only been a couple of percent (in line with inflation and commodities scarcity in metals).

In my opinion, the US$ has another 30-40% to drop against the Euro in the next year, but the Asian central banks will devalue their currencies to keep in step with the US$ since they can't afford to lose their most important export market. BMW's are going to go way up in price, Japanese stuff only a little bit.

-----------------------------

Mike,

1) Hidden costs. Frieght, setup, and doc fees are common bogus costs. Frieght and setup are already included in the MSRP. I love to see the frieght costs that some dealers charge. $500 for frieght? Give me a break! It doesn't cost that much to ship over a 2 ton Lexus from Japan! Actual shipping costs for a bike are probably around $50 or so -- it's all slow-boat container stuff so it's really cheap (negotiating tactic). As far as setup goes, divide the shop rate by their setup charge (negotiating tactic). So, $400 @ $80/hour is 5 hours to uncrate a bike? Considering the only assembly today is the windshield, mirrors and sometimes the front wheel, it shouldn't take anyone more than an hour. Plus, they'll probably have an uncertified kid doing the uncrating/assembly and not a certified mechanic. The kid is a lot cheaper.

2) Price increase. Inflation or exchange rate or silly mark up. I don't know. Bike sales in the midwest, upper east coast is seasonal. The best deals are to be had when sales are slow.

3) Availability. The ST13 is not a popular bike in the USA. Some dealers know how to sell them, other dealers just sit on them. I've noticed that early in the season, dealers can easily get one from the Honda warehouse or dealer trade. Later in the season, there aren't many to be found. Honda does not import a lot of ST13s because they don't sell well here.

Bike prices are going to be dependent on location and timing. If the overhead costs are high for your dealership due to: property taxes, insurance, poor management, etc. then you will pay more. Running a dealership in downtown San Francisco is a lot more expensive than running a dealership in the country. Timing is important too. Motorcycling is a seasonal activity and prices will reflect that. The best time to buy is during the slow season when the sales person/manager/cretin is desperate to move inventory.

One last tip, GET THE ABS BIKE it's worth the extra money.

[crazykz]

Just as a comparison, I paid MSRP for my ST1300A '04 in September of last year and the dealer still had 2 others in crates.

Of course I traded in a 2 year old HD Ultra CLassic with 52K on it so that's what screwed me on negotiating a better price. I couldn't unload that bike on a Harley dealer to save my life.

Curt

[basco]

Don't know if this applies to most dealers or not. My dealer told me some of the reasons you don't see that many bikes on the lot, is because at least in the MI-OH area, there is a third party warehouse that stores and assembles bikes. They ship it to the dealer and the dealer preps them (torque bolts & fluids) and then out the door. The additional freight and storage cost is probably the cost that they are trying to push to the consumer.