Interesting sales encounter

[RadioHowie]

So, if car dealers can manage to stock models specifically FOR test drives, why not cycle dealers?

It must be a liability issue...c'mon, if a dealer had a rep for allowing test rides, every 17-year-old-mush-for-brains kid on the planet would be lining up for R1 and Panigale "tests".

 

[Redfish Hunter]

When we bought Dad's FJR in '07 he never got a test ride. In fact, he never even got to sit on one. I had to do all the shopping and all the research. I brought home brochures and some very strong opinions. Finally, I TOLD him what I wanted him to buy. Surprisingly, he took that advice. Mom and I handled the paperwork and the money. I rode it home.

Pop came home from working nights and found his new FJR parked in his shop. I had even built him a ramp to get in and out of the shop. He sat on it for the first time after it was too late to back out. He has never once even hinted that he regretted his choice.

When I did the Demo Ride with Skooter I was terrified that EVERY time we rode, there was a kid with brand new minimal gear on the R1. And they were always rightnexttome or rightupclosebehindme. None of them crashed but I was watching them pretty close. I still cannot believe that Yamaha allowed us that opportunity. I will not forget that.

 

[jscasteel]

A couple of weeks ago I went down to the closest dealer to my house. Walked in and looked around. Saw a lot of cruisers, dirt bikes, ATV's, and some watercraft. Told the guy behind the counter that I was interested in buying an FJR. After that, for some reason (probably because I wasn't interested in buying a watercraft), he just wasn't interested in talking to me. Well, I am not going to beg to spend my money anywhere.

Last Thursday, I went down Stadium Yamaha in Irving, TX. The owner, Jason, told me he was busy for a few minutes, but to go ahead and look around. He had a pretty blue '12 demo and a lightly used '13 on the floor. When he came back, we talked for awhile. I told him that I was sort of interested in a '14ES. He offered me a ride on the demo, but I was in shorts and a short sleeve shirt. Then he said come look at the '13. He brought the key out, turned it on, and toggled to the odometer - 630 miles!

The previous owner had just brought it in for the 600 mile service, then decided that he wanted to sell it because he just didn't have time to ride it. He had just priced it at $12,750 that mornning. My wallet overruled that quiet little voice inside that kept saying, "But I really wanted a "14ES."

So I have now joined the ranks of FJR owners. YAAY!!

 

[rbentnail]

I simply could not imagine spending my hard earned with out taking a test ride first. Pretty sure the dealers here have got a good grasp of that as it has never been a problem in 30 years of motorcycling and I have bought around 10 bikes brand-new from various dealers.

Then in the area around me here in the states the only bike you'd be riding is a Harley. Talk about spending money...

 

[Warpdrv]

Wow great stories - I'm still runnin my 05 steed and haven't really had to step foot in a dealership in the last 10 years. Here and there I have had some wandering thoughts such as a BMW 1600 but it was easy to keep my FJR footing with the nasty reverberations about that BMW (brought my wallet) complaints and never ending issues. Since I haven't had to do much more then replace oil, plugs, brakes, tires and battery on my machine - not sure I could sway from my favorite brand....

With the new ES out there - I'm ready to make a move, when it isn't such a awful color....

Thankfully I got a few decent options in stealerships around here, knowing a few of the owners is helpful...

Good luck out there guys - don't hesitate to insult the crap out of the crappy customer attention when in a dealership that doesn't give you the time of day or makes you beg to buy something !! Be loud in the showroom, voice your opinion and walk out the door.... Make them question the way they do business....

 

[fjrrrr]

I frequent the dealer you mentioned and have bought a couple of motorcycles there. I have found that many times I know more than they do about the bike and came prepared, alas they do look like idiots when you talk bikes with them. There service department seems to have done good work for me in the past on the rare occasions that I let someone else work on my bike. If you want to test out an FJR, come on down to Fort Mill, I have a 2010 with 1600mi on it, you are welcome to test ride. Bring the wing, I've owned 2 2008 level 3 Goldwings. We can swap and go for a ride. Lot's of Yamaha dealers in the area, haven't found an ES yet at any of them, but I think Matthews Fun Machines may have one. Go see owner, Jack Parks, bought several bikes there too. Good luck in your search, good dealerships are few and far between these days. Too much cost cutting.

 

[Hammer Down Brown]

I frequent the dealer you mentioned and have bought a couple of motorcycles there. I have found that many times I know more than they do about the bike and came prepared, alas they do look like idiots when you talk bikes with them. There service department seems to have done good work for me in the past on the rare occasions that I let someone else work on my bike. If you want to test out an FJR, come on down to Fort Mill, I have a 2010 with 1600mi on it, you are welcome to test ride. Bring the wing, I've owned 2 2008 level 3 Goldwings. We can swap and go for a ride.

Lot's of Yamaha dealers in the area, haven't found an ES yet at any of them, but I think Matthews Fun Machines may have one. Go see owner, Jack Parks, bought several bikes there too. Good luck in your search, good dealerships are few and far between these days. Too much cost cutting.

Thank you very much for the opportunity. I'm going to swap bikes with Bruce McCrary soon. We've done some Iron Butt rides together and know each others riding habits pretty well. Thanks again for your gracious offer.

 

[bigjohnsd]

I had a Yamaha dealership from '99 through '05.

We encouraged test rides for riders appropriately licensed and equipped and that evidenced the appropriate ability to ride ( you might have to go on an old beater to prove you can ride before we sent you out on a new bike).

Before the test ride we verified that you could buy if you wanted too, financially.

All test rides were in the company of your sales person and you wore all the gear.

Each testrider executed a release and assumed financial responsibility for their machine (you break it you buy it).

How in hell can you sell a bike, especially a $16,000 FJR if the prospective purchaser can't test ride it.

 

[lnewlf]

I never found a dealer who would let me test ride....sooo, a trip to a rally like Americade where they give test rides was the only way...I had a hard on for a Harley in the '80s and rode several at Americade..got limp real fast..

 

[amboman]

Dealers here in NZ simply would not sell any bikes if they did not allow test rides!!

 

[palerider]

Hi!
To make everyone very happy, I propose that Yamaha go back to the same PdP program I (and many others) went through in 2002.

[bTW:

]

I was hoping they would do that for the auto-clutch ES version.

 

[Just Krusen]

Last year I went into my local dealer to buy a '13. They did not have one as they were still rare. I told the salesman to call me as soon as he got one in. A couple of weeks later I did the same with a different salesman. They all knew me because I bought my '11 Concours from them. A few weeks later I bought from a dealer 40 miles away.

Now, a year later I stopped in my local dealer just to see what he had in stock. They had a '13 on the floor and I was using it to color match a helmet which did not quite match. The sales manager came over to talk to me and tried to sell me the '13. I told him he had two shots at me last year but no one has bothered to call me in over a year. Needless to say he was a little embarrassed. But as we talked I asked why he did not have a '14 on the floor. He looked at me like I was stupid and said we are looking at a '14 now. I said NO that's a '13 with a build date of 03/13. His jaw dropped and he did not know what to say other than he thought it was a '14. You would think at least he would know what's on their showroom floor??

 

[gmwalk]

I went to two different dealers looking for my bike. The first dealer was going to let me test drive a used 2009 that they had in the show room. They had one 2014. But, is seemed that every time I was scheduled for a ride something came up. They were going to let me try it around parking lot. The second dealer I went to was very willing to let me test drive a new bike, but, they also had rentals. They told me I could rent the bike for a half day for $90. I liked the bike they would take the rental off the purchase price. I took the bike out for the half day and I didn't want to go back! I only got back before closing so I could buy one. They offered financing at 2.2% for 72 months. It was too good to pass up.

I knew I wanted and FJR when I went into the showroom, the rental and the financing made even sweeter. I have been driving it everyday and I am still grinning over the bike and the deal. Best purchase I have ever made.

 

[AKjitsu]

I too have experienced motorcycle "sales people" who were too lazy or stupid to take my money. One cannot help but notice how many posts in this thread reference dealers who have gone out of business. Coincidence?

 

[Canada Dan]

It would be a bit of a journey for many of you, but if you aren't able to find a 2014 locally - there's still one (Black) on the floor at Alberta Cycle here in Edmonton.

Great Dealership with exceptional service.

Think of the ride home! You could make your way west to Jasper, then head south through the Icefields Parkway past Lake Louise to Banff and Calgary - then head for the border! It'd be a great break in ride.

I stopped by this afternoon to pick up my top case - installed this evening and lookin' good!

All set for weekend trips with my daughters now.

 

[LgFJR]

I just went over to my local very small Yam dealer a couple days ago.........for a very minor problem, and expected to see maybe a 2014 on the floor. I knew they had a 2013 in there last year. Well they had an interesting outlook on things.........when I asked if they were getting a 2014 he said nope.........we HATE THE COLOR AND WON'T BE BRINGING ONE IN.........????? what the hey kind of answer is that...........I asked myself...........but the guy was dead serious............he did say they would order one ..............no Tenere either.............these Yam dealers are a different lot indeed.................

 

[Northsquad]

I'm a long term BMW owner looking to make the switch to the FJR once the red color is gone, so I'll likely be buying a 2015. BMW has a very generous test ride program, it's real easy to get a test ride, but I noticed that wasn't the case with Yamaha. I tried for months, but couldn't find a dealer who had a demo bike. Finally I telephoned Yamaha Motors USA and asked what I had to do to get a test ride. One day later I got a phone call from Yamaha in California telling me they shipped a demo FJR to a dealer close to me so I could test ride it. Then they put me in touch with the owner of that dealership who set me up. Two days later I had a one hour test ride, and was impressed enough that I want one. The dealer I visited on Long Island was knowledgable about the bike, and had no problem showing me his service area. It's a family owned shop run by a father and son, and maybe a dozen employees. It's exactly the kind of dealer I want, and it's where I'm buying my FJR.

 

[Jay in Ohio]

This thread is all over the map... much like my experience.

I figured getting a test ride on a used bike would be easy.

At one shop near Toledo, they let me ride an '07 AE and an '08 A. One had the suspension set "racy", the other "cruiser", so the test rides were very educational. I knew I wanted an A, but not with 30K already on it.

I found an '08 with only 8K mi. at a shop near Dayton. After several days of emails and phone calls, I drove 3 hrs., prepared to ride it home.

I was told there would be no test ride unless I closed the sale. If I didn't like it, they'd tear up the paperwork and refund my deposit. I figured we better go walk around it first and maybe kick the tires. (ya think?)

It wouldn't start.

The steering head was loose.

No soft bags inside the cases.

And I found the owner's manual under the seat (after I had already asked if they had it and was told "no")

It did have a nice Throttlemeister installed...

but it had fog lights mounted to the front brake caliper bolts.

Anyway, I ended up buying from a private owner who knew everything about what he was selling. THAT was a good experience.

J

 

[Blind Squirrel]

Anyway, I ended up buying from a private owner who knew everything about what he was selling. THAT was a good experience.
J

I suggest buying from a private party and taking a test ride. When the guy came to look at my 04 I swapped my FJR keys for his Ducati keys. I told him if he broke it he either bought it or traded the Duke for it. He was gone for almost 2 hours. When he pulled back into the driveway he had a HUGE grin on his face. He rode the FJR home that night and came back for the Ducati the next day.

 

[LagerHead]

I guess I got pretty lucky. I bought two bikes in a row from the same dealer. I even bought their protection plan, which cost me $1400, but I spent about double that since I actually ride my bike. The last month of the plan I got over $500 worth of electrical work done at no charge. My next bike will likely come from there as well.