Money Question

[TOMIMOTO]

Hey guys I'm just wondering. I went to a Yam/Kaw dealer today to see what they would offer me on a trade in. My bike is an 04 with progressive springs and EBCHH pads front and rear. It also has a 4 year warranty Doh!! I forgot to mention that!! Will that make a big difference on the trade in price? Well anyways they offered me $3,800.00 as a trade in price and that's without mentioning the 4 year warranty. The guy showed me a book with the beginning trade in price of my bike and it was $3,270.00. So they say there giving me about 530 more dollars than the starting trade in value. Also my bike has about 3000 miles on it.

So to break it down does this seem like a good deal to trade in towards a ZX-6R or an R6? I'll also be putting down about $2000.00 in cash so I would only be financing about $2-3 thousand.

Also how much more should they offer me if I mention that my bike has the extended 4 year warranty?

Thanks.

[pizzleboy]

You can pretty much "give away" all your upgrades.  They don't mean duck to someone who's going to buy...unless you get really lucky.

I'm not sure you'll get anything extra for extended warranty from the dealer.  That might be more of a selling feature privately

IMHO.

[davipu]

you only put 3000 miles on her and you all ready thinking about gettign a bigger bike?

[TOMIMOTO]

Is half an inch of chicken scratch on both sides of the rear wheel enough reason to move up? Or am I not allowed to until I ride on the outer wall of the tire? My friend has watched me whip around this S turn off-ramp and he said my knee was about half a foot off the ground. I don't know. I know you guys think low miles and new riders means total noob but I've been on 2 wheels my whole life and it has always come naturally to me.

I am unsure as to what I am going to do though so don't start throwing stones at me just yet for going to the dark side.

Actually the stuff I have on the bike is one reason why they raised the price for me. My bike is flawless and still about showroom quality too so that helped. I'm going to call tomorrow and tell them about the warranty and I'll see what they say. I still need to go to other dealers to see what they offer me. Right now I would like to get a CBR600RR or ZX-6R. I'm leaning towards the Kawi though.

Then again I might not do anything. I'm young and I literally change all my life plans/ decisions on a daily basis. I've always had trouble deciding on things. I hate it. I'm an obsessive perfectionist so I always analize and think/rethink every decision/idea I have. My dad says that's a good trait though. It's almost impossible for me to do an "on the spur of the moment" kind of thing. I have to think too much about it. Ahhh! Here I go rambling. (I've edited this post about 5 times now) I think I have some kind of ADD or something. I'll just stop now.

really tired, going to sleep, bye bye :dunno:

[Laura]

Personally, I'd wait until I had saved enough cash to just buy the bike I wanted.

[mastrind]

right on.....save your $$ until you can simply just buy the bike....bikes are cheap enough to do that....it's not like saving to drop $20k on a new car....besides if they'll give you $3800 and you have $2k now then you're only about $4k away....keep rippin up the GS.....when you don't have a monthly payment, you'll be thankin yourself....

....as far as your mods go, don't expect to ever recoup the $$ you invest in them....I keep things from mods that I have done for my SV....if I sell her or trade her in, I'll rip off all my aftermarket plastic, exhaust, and most of my other mods.....it'll take a few hours, but I'll put her back to stock and sell everything else separate....the warranty won't help w/ the dealer, cause they'll try to sell one on the bike to the next owner.....but $3800 is a good price for your bike.....JMO

[mastrind]

...also be prepared to pay an arm and a leg for insurance on either of those two bikes....full coverage will probably be in the multi-thousand dollar range.....at least for me it was when I priced it (27 yr old male, married, 1 ticket, MSF, 4yrs riding exp).....

[Gisser]

I've always had trouble deciding on things. I hate it. I'm an obsessive perfectionist so I always analize and think/rethink every decision/idea I have. My dad says that's a good trait though. It's almost impossible for me to do an "on the spur of the moment" kind of thing. I have to think too much about it. Ahhh! Here I go rambling. (I've edited this post about 5 times now) I think I have some kind of ADD or something. I'll just stop now.

  You remind me of myself.  I can agonize for days, make pros and cons lists, work myself into paralysis, and then still make a bad decision.  In fact, it's easy to lose perspective with all that mental writhing.  I sense you are not satisfied with the GStwin, time won't change your feelings, and opportunity is knocking.  That's a very decent trade-in offer.  Next, you should discuss what you should replace the GStwin with.

[notoriouskeef]

Well, The gs is awesome bike.  I have an 2003 R1 and do you know what Bike I drove to work today?  The GS, ah yes, I love the GS. :kiss:   When i dont' feel like worrying about dieing, I ride my GS  

Matt

I would say, try and sell it privatley for  2 weeks-a month and if it doesn't sell then trade it in.

[cernunos]

Yeh, hey try to keep the lovable Baby G. I'm wanting a new scooter and had thought of trading the White Owl but I just can't do it...I love the little twin even though the riding position is not that comfortable for me. But she is just so unique. I have been leaning toward the White Monkey (savage 650) since I don't think I can afford an HD at the moment. But yesterday I was at J.....'s cycle shop and he had an '04 Honda 599 with about 1500 miles he was showing me. He told me to try it out, so I handed him my crutches and did just that. I actually liked it. Ergo's were fantastic and it even has pretty good torque down in the lower ranges...not HD torque mind you but enough to make it fun down low. He'll let me have it for 5500 OTD which seems like a pretty good deal since new is 7 grand and this one is just like new. Plus insurance should be cheaper than the RR or the 6R. Love the little GS500 and this forum is fun.

C........

[Anonymous]

I have to agree with notoriouskeef here...

I rode a lot as a youngster and I've been too close to killing myself too many times on bigger/faster bikes.  

If you're getting that low on offramps you're going WAY too fast.  I'll tell you that you shouldn't ride that hard on the street because you NEVER know what is laying on/in the road.  Hit a guardrail at 60 sometime after sliding in some sand that a truck just spilled and you'll agree with me.  When you're that low into a turn there's no room for a loss of traction.  I've been low into turns too.  In fact I once got my center stand caught on a manhole cover.  The bike just stopped, I kept going.  I've learned my lesson.  Kneedragging looks cool, it feels cool too, but it WILL get you into trouble on the street!

This is just my opinion from years of seeing other people crash and come close to crash.  Those "true" sport bikes shouldn't be ridden anywhere CLOSE to their potential on the streets.  Take it to the track for that.  If you get one, I'm sure you'll ride it fast.  And if you ride it fast, you'll crash it.  Why?  Because of something on the road or someone doing something in front of you and you can't correct fast enough.  I've seen it over and over.  Speed kills.

I've owned a GS750 and now I ride a GS500.  Why?  I'm crazy too.  At least I used to be really crazy.  I go as fast as the bike can take me.  BUT, I've learned something from my and others mistakes over the years.  I don't push TOO hard anymore.  I want to remain crash-free so I ride the "wimpy", "slow",  GS500.  It "forces" me to be less extreme.  It's all I need to have fun.  Hey, if I can beat all the cars at the lights I'm happy.  You can ride your GS well beyond "ticket" range.  

Sure I sometimes feel inadequate when someone on a "Busa" pulls up next to me.  But, I know with that much power I'd probably get myself into a world of hurt because I still like to "see what she can do".  Since the GS500 can't do TOO much, I keep myself out of lots of trouble.  Seriously, I can't imagine myself on a 150hp monster.  I'll stick to jet skis for my foolish speed cravings.  It doesn't hurt so much when you lose it.  And they jump better than sport bikes.

Do what you will...

Just a suggestion:

Why not a dedicated track bike for your speed craving and the GS for commuting?  Trust me, you WON'T be able to control yourself if you get a "real" sport bike.  I know I couldn't.

[notoriouskeef]

I love my gs500 and I love my R1.  Both are two different worlds.  The only reason I have my R1 is because I KNOW I can control myself on it.  Granted, it has more power then anyone could ever use on the street, but then again, so does a Corvette.  I bought it b/c I love the ride, and the fact that it does have power IF i need it.  

I havn't gone over 105mph on the R1 and it was a test run.  I've gone 105 on the gs500 too.  Anything more then 100mph on a bike on the street is retarded there is absolutly no way you can react to a bird, a deer, debree, let allone cagers in time.  I plan on making  it to the track w/ the R1 hopefully this summer.  But it's 600 miles away and my work schedule doesnt' permit many vaca's.

If you wanna live and enjoy whatever bike you get, you have to control yourself, doesn't matter what bike you get.  Do a search for motorcycle crash vidoes, 99% will be GSXR's, R1/R6's, and Ninja's.  I watch them occasionally when I feel the temptation to do stupid things.    One I ALWAYS keep in mind is a high speed run on an R1 a small wheely that turned into a tank slapper, guy was thrown off and lived fortunatley.  Watching these things keeps me in check.

I ride in full gear all the time.  I ride because i Love it, no matter what bike i'm on I'll love it wether it be a 40hp GS or a 150+hp R1.  But the greatest ride of them all is life.

Matt

P.S. If you get an R6 you'll love it.  Test drive everything and get the one you like the best.

[drvmystck]

I've heard many times that its more fun to ride a slow bike quickly than a fast bike slowly. I'm still a newb, so I'm riding my slow GS500 slowly. Still fun.

For me, its the same with cars - I have a 4cyl accord with a manual that I can wring out without the man coming down on me.  I think it depends on the person - for me its more about being in rythym with the machine and operating smoothly than it is about balls out reckless riding/driving.   I can run thru the first 3-4 gears on my car pretty hard on an onramp and end up at legal interstate speeds.  It doesn't handle that well, which requires that I be alert and smooth when driving.

I expect riding to be more of the same.  Thus far, I've been far happier with a delicate second gear turn, getting onto the throttle and smoothly into 3rd, than I've been with grabbing a handfull of throttle and holding on.  I can see myself buying a newer bike in a couple of years, with FI and some more torque, available luggage  (that ducati multistrada 620 looks just sweet) but I don't imagine I'll be looking for much more power.  These are my friends, neighbors, and coworkers in the lanes next to me - If I develop a need for speed, there's a track a few hours away.

[Rema1000]

New price on an 05 R6 is $7800.  $7800 - ($3800 trade-in + $2000 cash) = $2k financed.  If they want $2500 or $3000 extra, then they may be padding their sale price to cover their high trade-in offer.

[William M]

I'm completely with JoeRocker's comments.

Crash statistics show higher percentages of crashes in the first 6 months of riding AND in the 2-3 year range. I know I felt pretty smug in the 2-3 year range and my "closest calls" all happened about then. I just felt like I "had it dialed".

I really don't think knee dragging is an appropriate yardstick for street riding. Sorry, I really don't mean to sound like a preachy old fart, but I see this so much that I'm compelled to offer a counter opinion.  I just hate to see younger riders buy into the "superbike power game" and all its surrounding mentality and end up road kill.

Plus, on a purly bravado skill level, I'd argue that if just about any of us swapped  bikes at the track with an AMA superbike champian, the AMA racer would kick all our asses while riding the GS.

[mastrind]

New price on an 05 R6 is $7800.  $7800 - ($3800 trade-in + $2000 cash) = $2k financed.  If they want $2500 or $3000 extra, then they may be padding their sale price to cover their high trade-in offer.

ok....so lets start with $8399 (actual MSRP for a new R6)  then most dealers add shipping and setup....easily $500+.....then TTL.....lets say another $300.....maybe you pick up an extended warranty (not neccessary, but nice)....$300.....easily the selling price is north of $9500....remember with trading in the GS500 for $3800....don't expect the dealer to come down any on the price of the R6.....so I think you need to rework your numbers there Rema.....

....I don't think your going to find too many dealers that are going to overpay for the GS by $600 AND reduce the cost of the R6 by $600.....remember there out there to make money....not give bikes away....I still think he needs to have another $3500 to $4k to make the deal....

[notoriouskeef]

I bought my gs for $500 and put $300 in work.  A great deal.

I bought my 2003 R1  with 3,000 miles on ebay for $7800 shipped.  Custom paint, mods, etc..

I wouldn't buy anything from satan.  I just test drive things there and then buy online  

if you wanted to get rid of the GS, I beleive trading it in is possibly the worst thing you could do.  just sell it private.  

Matt

[TOMIMOTO]

I went back to the stealer today and told them about the extended 4 year warranty I have. They said it will add another $200.00 to the trade in price. So I would be getting $4,000.00 for my GS towards a ZX-6R. That plus my $2,000.00 cash would mean $6,000.00 already taken care of and I would finance the rest. My dad would like me to get atleast $4,200-4,500 for it. He thinks that it seems like a waste to have a bike for one season and lose a thousand bucks on it.

Once again I think I changed my mind though after going to the dealer and talking to my dad. I think I'm going to hold on to the BabyG and just save my pennies. We'll see how my vues are tomorrow though. Like I said I always change.

Oh yah also at the dealer. There was a pack of bikes and I saw the sickest GS ever. I think the guy worked there but I am unsure. He took off to quick for me to talk to him. Well the bike was an older GS. But the guy had a full solo race tail, VFR rims, the single side swingarm from a VFR on it and he had an underseat exhaust. No front or side fairings either. it was definately the sickest GS I have ever seen. I'm going to have to float around that dealer now to see if the guy comes back to talk to him about it and tell him about this site. I think you guys would be very pleased with seeing that bike. It sounded nice too. It was still quiet like a GS but when he ripped it he actually pulled a little wheelie without the clutch.

PS. as for that offramp it's a very long swinging S turn that turns a quick sharp right and is a long swinging left for about half of a circle. It's about half a mile long.

Here is a pic. I used a highly sophistimacated super high tech graphic editing program to make. It took me 5 hours to draw the lines in the road alone. :mrgreen:



(yah I know I say I'm a perfectionist and then put something like this up but believe me I actually edited that piece of crap about 6 times. hehe. I'm bad)

[Kzin]

Are you sure that was a GS?  Sounds like a Honda Hawk to me.

[TOMIMOTO]

At first I thought it wasn't a GS but then I looked at the frame and engine. It definately looked like a GS to me. Like I said I'll have to float around there again and hopefully I will see it and take pics to verify my sighting.