How to negotiate the best deal on any bike from a Motorcycle Salesman

A few months ago i lost my job as a computer technician. I couldnt pay my bills and had to move in with my cousin who has been a member of your forum for quite some time now. I had been riding bikes since i was 14 but it was just a hobby. I met my current boss (our sales manager) at bike night and he told me to come work for him. I have been doing this for 4 months now and i figured you guys should know some ins and outs of this business to keep yourself from getting *** when you buy a bike.

1. This one should be a no brainer but some folks are still dumb enough not to get it. ALWAYS TALK ABOUT THE OUT THE DOOR PRICE. If there are any dealer fees, Freight or Prep fees you can ALWAYS get out of them (dont let them convince you otherwise). Never talk about what kind of a monthly payment you want or anything along those lines. Quite frankly do your homework before you walk in and ASK for what YOU want. Dont let them talk you into any bike. They will bash one product in favor of another if that puts more money in their pockets. This month there was a 250 dollar bonus on ZX14s and i think i sold 3 to complete newbies who had recently done the MSF because i was hurting for money. This business like any other is about making money not about moral standards or safety of bikers.

2. Dealers will avoid giving you out the door prices unless they know you are buying on the SAME DAY. So always give them the impression that you are taking the bike home today even though you arent going to do so.

3. You are NOT legally binded EVEN IF YOU HAVE SIGNED THE PAPERWORK to take the bike as long as you have not taken delivery. If you feel you are getting *** WALK AWAY. Even if you have already signed the paperwork.

4. Just like the price of the bike the interest rate is ALWAYS negotiable and they will try to get you for as much as they can. Ask for a reasonably low APR and stick to it. The finance manager gets a cut if he talks you into a high interest rate. Dont be a victim. Same with the extended warranty and lojack. Dont let them talk you into it and if you are interested MAKE SURE YOU NEGOTIATE THE PRICES of the lojack, Gap insurance and extended warranty as well.

5. If you want the best possible deal ALWAYS take one dealer's OTD price and throw it at another. They will tell you that you can buy from them at a lower number and then take that number and throw it at another dealer. Keep doing this until the price reaches a point where it cant go any lower. This will ensure you got the best possible price.

If any of you have any other questions feel free to post em up. Im leaving the business so im letting you in on what goes on in these places.  

Motorcycle_Salesman:
This month there was a 250 dollar bonus on ZX14s and i think i sold 3 to complete newbies who had recently done the MSF because i was hurting for money. This business like any other is about making money not about moral standards or safety of bikers.


While your advice and candor about purchasing a bike is appreciated, it also exposes a lightning rod issue that we've talked about before in the magazine regarding many dealership's choosing short-term profits over the long-term health of the sport. You may not have any reservations or conscience about what basically amounts to putting a loaded gun in the hands of a child, but I certainly hope that those supposed "newbie" customers don't end up dead or seriously injured because of a salesman's lack of ethics.  

I completely respect your opinion Mr Kunitsugu however what many of you fail to realize is that in this economy as Salesmen we have a minimum profit quota to meet at the end of every two week pay period.

Recently we had a MSF instructor working for us and he was truly a great man with ethics and he one of the few in this business who actually cared about the riders. He was fired within in a month for not making enough money for the dealership. The sales and finance managers are not interested in your safety. All they are concerned with is the numbers. Although they too are under pressure from the GM to meet those sales quotas or else they would be looking for new jobs pretty soon.

Its a vicious cycle and im extremely happy that im getting out of it. I will always be a motorcycle rider but i most certainly wouldnt want to work in this environment again.  

That's why I stated that many motorcycle dealerships are behind the short-term greed (profit quotas), not necessarily the sales force themselves.

I can sympathize with people recently unemployed and faced with the enormous specter of paying the bills like yourself. And I can also understand that many dealerships are struggling to stay afloat in these trying economic times. However, we see too many big dealerships that are run in a cutthroat corporate-style atmosphere (such the one you describe), where pressure to meet unreasonable quarterly profit margins is enhanced by any and all means, with no regard for the long-term health of the sport that is providing them with these profits.

One big dealership that sponsored me back in my racing days had a sales force with the majority of people who could care less about the sport (and several of them didn't even ride!). The GM was a cutthroat individual who also had a lackadaisical attitude about selling motorcycles to people who had zero motorcycling experience as well.  

I should add that this definitely isn't a simple problem with a simple answer, and I'm not claiming to have that answer. I'm not attempting to paint all dealerships or salesmen with a broad brush of greed. But there's a difference between the sport of motorcycling and automobiles that many people who own or run motorcycle dealerships fail to understand (or they do understand, but they don't care).  

Thanks for the tips. Could've used you about 6 years ago when i finally bought my first XB9R.  

What kind of FICO score would I need to 100% finance an 09 1000cc Supersport?

..just wondering