Looking for a bike, what years to avoid....

[alanmcorcoran]

Most of the fees dealers add in are not related to the DMV. On new bikes it is customary to charge for shipping (from japan, if it's a japanese make) (usually about $500ish!) and assembly (sometimes this is waived.) If a bike is in short supply, or sales are brisk, there can be other less common fees applied (safety check, "documentation", etc.) These are complete bullshit.

Then there is license(registration/plates/whatever) and taxes. Very real. I don't know the Florida practices wih regard to plates and registration, but in CA, they fill out the paperwork and the registration and plates are mailed to you. You just ride around with a temp pirce of paper for a few weeks.

If you want to buy a new bike and avoid ALL of the fees, and get a pretty good discount to boot, look at bikes from the previous year (or, sometimes two years!) In recent times, many dealers got overstocked, many have gone under, and there are new bikes (sometimes, in some places) that are actually two years old. You can generally get these "out the door" (that means total price net of all fees, taxes, everything) for 15-20% below list. Unfortunately, the GZ is not likely to be available under those circumstances due to it's low cost and relative popularity.

I bought my '07 Strat (list price about $16,500) in early '09 for $12K out the door. If you backed out the taxes, assembly and shipping fees, this was about equivalent to about $10K. Still comes with the same warranty. Made up (a little) for the complete hosing I took when I bought my GZ.

[FLAJIM]

Yes I fully understand about, shipping, prep, setup..... but down here dealerships are adding to new and USED bikes, doc fees, computer fees, adm fees. I just bought a new Ultra and the dealer wanted almost 800 in "paperwork" fees over the cost of the sales tax and plate fee. If I buy from a private seller, I pay him the cost of the bike only, than go to DMV and pay the tax and plates without and "service" costs..... I am not cheep but I really hate getting hosed for BS. One local dealer has a 2007 for sale, he wants 2200 for the bike and besides tax and plate, he want 275 doc fee and 175 computer fee. I questioned it, he told me doc fee is him going to and picking up the plate. Computer fee is a great one, it is a fee now charged to make sure the bike isn't stolen ??? and the title is good........ well isn't that what DMV does ????? Oh my rule is New = Dealership, used = private...... been doing it with my cars, trucks and bikes for years and haven't gotten burned yet.

Thanks for all the replies. Be Safe JIM

[Water Warrior 2]

A $175 computer fee !!!! :fu: For that money he should throw in the computer and a new helmet.

[alanmcorcoran]

A lot depends on the scarcity of the particular bike, but the fees aside from shipping taxes and registration can sometimes be negotiated away. Again, if you can, look for "new" bikes that are having a birthday at the dealership. I paid no fees at all on my '09 KLR (bought in '10) and also got a pretty good discount off list.

That said, I've seen some pretty good deals on here for very lightly used GZ's from private parties.

[BillInGA]

Remember that all these extraneous fees are just methods of bumping up the total revenue on the sale. The only fees that the dealer doesn't have control over are the tax, tag and title. Beyond that, everything else is negotiable. Rather than get caught up and distracted by their "fee game", I look for the "out the door" price. Make an offer - if it's too low for the them, they'll tell you so. If it's too much for you, don't be afraid to walk away.

Of course, if it's a popular item the dealer may not budge, expecting to be able the get the price he wants tomorrow or the next day. But the longer something sits in inventory, the more he'll want to get it gone.