Hey everyone, first off thanks so much for the congrats, and well wishes. If this new '14 ES is anything like my B4 has been for the past 8 years, I think I've got nothing to worry about.
re: That Skooter dude... It was my great pleasure to meet him,
finally, yesterday. But, he really didn't
sell me the bike, nor did the guy that wrote up the paperwork and will collect the commission on Friday. The design team at Yamaha sold that bike to me by designing it so damn well. To be frank, I would not have normally bought anything from that particular dealership (MOMs), but they had the good sense to bring the demo truck in. And as they say... the proof is in the pudding. The best way to sell one of these bikes, IMO, is to get some asses in the seats and let them
experience just how good they are.
I did talk briefly with the sales manager about trading the B4 in on the new ES, but I knew going into that discussion that we were not likely to come to terms on that. My '05 has 96k miles on it, and that is a big problem for them. They do not want to sit on a 10 year old bike with what appears to be high miles. He really did not want to take that bike in trade if it was in stock condition. But he did like the way I had the bike customized and set up and offered me $4k for it as it stood. I just shook my head and said no, let's just take that out of the deal.
The "deal" was not fantastic. The bike is a hot ticket right now and he could have sold it several times over the weekend of demos, no doubt. What he did do, because it was a special Demo Event, was to not charge me for anything except the bike. No freight, handling, dealer setup, etc. And he backed the documentation fees (required by the state) out of the msrp.
I hesitated for a second, then considered that I'll likely be riding this bike for the next 10 years. How much will it matter if I pay even a thousand too much over the long term? He had the bike, on hand in a crate. It is the color I wanted (I don't really care what the color is next year unless it is red again). I wanted it. Deal!
I know, I know... that is not the well reasoned voice of a frugal Yankee. That is the ranting of some hyperventilating motorcycle lover. So I guess I showed my vulnerable side. I'm OK with that.
It was great having some worthy company, old friends all of them, to share my post purchase euphoria with last night, and it doesn't hurt in the least that oysters and lobsters are two of my all time favorite foods. Watching Greg wolf down that first ever lobster and enjoy it as much as I do was a kick.
Best part about the no trade deal is that I had texted my son about getting the new Feejer last night. This morning he texted back that he and his girlfriend would like to take the blue one out for a test ride together and see if it is something they'd like to buy from me. Hell yes!! I'd much rather keep all the good stuff together that I've assembled to make that bike as good as it is. I know how well it has been maintained, and that's what I would want him to be riding. And to keep the ole' girl in the family, where I could ostensibly get visitation rights, well that would be too cool... But, I really don't want to get my hopes up too much, just in case. I mean, the FJR is an old man's bike right? What does a 30 year old couple want to do with it?
Or, just maybe he's paid close attention to our ride earlier this month. You aren't going to want to do that stuff on a VFR800 and expect to come back walking straight. Anyway, we'll see how that all pans out later. In the meantimne, I'm in no rush to defarkle and sell it off right now.
Oh, and AJ, fret not. Greg can't booger up my new bike 'cause it is in a crate in their warehouse in Massachusetts right now, and he's shuffling off to Buffalo (next demo event) before it even gets delivered to ManchVegas and uncrated.
Hey, wnyfjr... you are only about 15 minutes outside of Buffalo, right?