Finally scored a 15ES - the deals are out there if you're patient

Spotted this bike over 2 months ago at a dealer 70 miles from me. Went and looked at it, made an offer, and was turned down cold (I thought we were supposed to haggle?). A month went by and I noticed the dealer still had the bike. Called and made a 2nd offer, $500 higher than the first. Turned down again. What's going on here? Another month went by and I noticed the bike listed at Ebay. I bid on it and won, paying $1000 LESS than what I'd offered them a month ago. What a bizarre deal, but I'm not complaining.



Bike had 7,900 miles, came with Shad top case, two tank bags (Yamaha & Nelson-Rigg), Yamaha touring screen (and stock screen), bike cover, bar risers (unknown brand), and goofy running lights (which I promptly removed). Have spent a number of hours detailing it. Did I mention it has deer whistles?

Love the front end of this machine:



Runs like a dream. The cruise control alone is worth the price of admission. As part of our bonding on the way home, I decided we needed to (briefly) exceed the ton mark, which the bike was more than eager to do. Best freakin' bike I've ever owned!

Most excellent!!! Sounds like the dealer is a moron. Did you tell them you were the guy that offered them $1,000 more a month earlier?

So how much did you pay for that turd of a color '15 ES?

SkooterG said:

Most excellent!!! Sounds like the dealer is a moron. Did you tell them you were the guy that offered them $1,000 more a month earlier?

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Strangest dealer experience I've ever had. When I saw it at Ebay, I expected the price to go through the roof. But the pictures and description were terrible. And the bike was dirty.

I thought about rubbing their noses in it, but decided to play it cool. A couple of the guys at the dealer showed some vague recollection of having seen me before, but they didn't connect me to the previous offers I'd made.

SkooterG said:

So how much did you pay for that turd of a color '15 ES?

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Do you think it would be worth 11.5 out the door?

Way to get to know your clientele.... Dumb asses...

Great score - glad you got an awesome deal with tons of add ons to boot....

There is a button on the dash, left side... push and turn off trac control.... Celebrate with a nice wheelie....

Congrats and Welcome to the forum.... always fun shit going on here !!

BTW - 11.5 OTD is a freakin steal....

I saw that bike on ebay, and sent the seller a message about the trunk and tank bag. They didn't seem to know much about the bike. You got a great deal.

Warpdrv said:

Way to get to know your clientele.... Dumb asses...
Great score - glad you got an awesome deal with tons of add ons to boot....

There is a button on the dash, left side... push and turn off trac control.... Celebrate with a nice wheelie....

Congrats and Welcome to the forum.... always fun shit going on here !!

BTW - 11.5 OTD is a freakin steal....

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Sincere thanks for the welcome and words of encouragement. I'll get someone to take a pic of my first wheelie on the bike! The salesman at the dealer had my phone number, but never followed up with me, as he said he would. He didn't seem to care.

El Toro Joe said:

I saw that bike on ebay, and sent the seller a message about the trunk and tank bag. They didn't seem to know much about the bike. You got a great deal.

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Are you the same guy who placed bids and then retracted them? Whoever it was, I expected to be sniped in the closing moments of the auction.

The overall feeling I got was that nobody knew much of anything about the bike. Or cared. When I went to pick it up, I talked to the *one* person who knew about it. The previous owner was an old guy (even older than me), who bought the bike new from the dealer back in January, 2015. Also had it serviced there. He rode the bike primarily on the super-slab (tire wear would corroborate this). He came upon hard times, and the dealer bought it back from him.

Just sent a check to D&H for Y.E.S. warranty. Got their name from this forum. Thanks for the wealth of knowledge. I hope to be a helpful contributor!

whoknewit said:

Do you think it would be worth 11.5 out the door?

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WELL worth it! An awesome deal! Even if it is that God-awful putrid grey color. Almost as ugly as RFH's wife!!!

SkooterG said:

Even if it is that God-awful putrid grey color. Almost as ugly as RFH's wife!!!

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SkooterG said:

WELL worth it! An awesome deal! Even if it is that God-awful putrid grey color. Almost as ugly as RFH's wife!!!

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Whoa Big Boy! That is not cool. I don't make fun of how ugly your boyfriends are, you do not have to make fun of my ugly wife!

To be fair though, she is pretty darn ugly.

I think that the Liquid Graphite is a really good looking color but I agree it is not for everyone. Many of the more feminine members of this forum prefer the Lipstick Pink of the 2014, but that is their privilege.

And I also think that Fred W's version is the most clever. He described my '15 ES as being "AssFault Gray". You know what an AssFault is don't you Skooter?

whoknewit said:

Warpdrv said:

Way to get to know your clientele.... Dumb asses...
Great score - glad you got an awesome deal with tons of add ons to boot....

There is a button on the dash, left side... push and turn off trac control.... Celebrate with a nice wheelie....

Congrats and Welcome to the forum.... always fun shit going on here !!

BTW - 11.5 OTD is a freakin steal....

Click to expand...

Sincere thanks for the welcome and words of encouragement. I'll get someone to take a pic of my first wheelie on the bike! The salesman at the dealer had my phone number, but never followed up with me, as he said he would. He didn't seem to care.

El Toro Joe said:

I saw that bike on ebay, and sent the seller a message about the trunk and tank bag. They didn't seem to know much about the bike. You got a great deal.

Click to expand...

Are you the same guy who placed bids and then retracted them? Whoever it was, I expected to be sniped in the closing moments of the auction.

The overall feeling I got was that nobody knew much of anything about the bike. Or cared. When I went to pick it up, I talked to the *one* person who knew about it. The previous owner was an old guy (even older than me), who bought the bike new from the dealer back in January, 2015. Also had it serviced there. He rode the bike primarily on the super-slab (tire wear would corroborate this). He came upon hard times, and the dealer bought it back from him.

Just sent a check to D&H for Y.E.S. warranty. Got their name from this forum. Thanks for the wealth of knowledge. I hope to be a helpful contributor!

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Nope wasn't me...but I did see the two retracted bids. I was going to place a bid for 12k, then figured it probably would not be enough to get it...maybe I should have bid. Congrats on the winning bid.

El Toro Joe said:

I was going to place a bid for 12k, then figured it probably would not be enough to get it...

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If it makes you feel any better, 12k wouldn't have been enough. I was determined to win!

Dude. You got a smoking deal. But the color is the reason. Pretty much have to give them away. Hell in 5 years the Candy Red of 2014 won't be down to that price. But I'd still ride with you, albeit at a distance, but................

AssFault Gray.....

Looks good from here, nice bike! Colors like that make it harder for leo to spot ya?

Congrats on the '15ES...you did real good!

Don't let Skoot bust your balls with the color - deep down he wants one bad.

--G

You more than scored. That was the winning run of the last game of the World Series, congratulations on the win!

G Squared said:

Dude. You got a smoking deal. But the color is the reason. Pretty much have to give them away. Hell in 5 years the Candy Red of 2014 won't be down to that price. But I'd still ride with you, albeit at a distance, but................

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Give them away? Give them away you say? Really? My salesman robbed me so badly that he did not have to sell another bike for 4 months. Which was good because he was so inept that he was lucky to sell anything.

Honestly, my salesman was (and is) awesome. He had me over a barrel and he knew it but he did not take advantage of that fact. I called him the day the '15s were announced and asked him to order me one. At that time he could not order one yet but he did so as soon as Yamaha let him. I still left the dealership feeling like I was treated with respect. For me the '15 ES was worth every penny I paid and the fact that the salesman was a trusted friend made the entire transaction even more special.

And to answer the "invisibility" question, LEOs have no problem seeing it but apparently birds cannot see it. I have struck more birds in the 12 months I have owned the Liquid Graphite FJR than in all the rest of my riding years combined.

I waited until mid November last year to buy my '14. The dealership, though large, was a ghost town. I had been planning on buying for a while, but I knew with it being out of season, and my buying a year model that would be last year's news in a month, I could get a good deal. I stole it (but they cleverly stole have the air out of both tires, and roughly half the torque from the steering nut while I was completing paperwork)... It was worth waiting until off peak.

That is an excellent deal on a '15 - ES. I just paid $12K for a '14A model and thought the price was fair. Of course, I paid the "lipstick premium" with open eyes.

Thanks to everyone for the encouraging comments (and even the detractors).

I can appreciate the beauty of the Lipstick Red, but it's not "me." The putrid AssFault Gray fits my personality better (what does that say about my personality?). I do think the bike will be more difficult to spot from a police helicopter.

Not that I would do anything unlawful, of course...