Hey guys,

First... I'll introduce myself....

names Josh, and i'm from the Buffalo/Rochester area of New York... Not the best riding area in the country, but my wife tricked me into moving here... so thats what i've got to work with... lol

This will be the first Bike Forum i belong to, but am on several off roading, and nissan specific sites as I wheel my 01 SuperCharged Frontier pretty hard...

Anyway... I've owned several bikes in the past, the last few where Yamaha's... FZR600, FZR1000, and the last was a R6...

One of the things that I missed most about the FZR's was the comfort vs the R6... After riding the R6 for a long time, I realized that its fun, but not exactly the most comfortable bike in the world..... I sold that last year... Haven't owned anything since...

I talked to the wife about buying a NEW bike this year, as everything i've ever purchased was and I figured I could save some money on gas since my truck is gets 15mpg with the lift, tires, and supercharger requiring premium fuel, which is $3.50+ currently here... We figured we would do the finance thing on a Honda card or something...

Soooo....

I stopped into a local (small town) Honda dealer to take a look at some things... didn't know what i wanted, or even what type bike... Didn't really go looking for a sport bike at all... I looked at the cruisers, and just couldn't do it.... Looked at a couple CBR1000's, and just didn't get me excited either... I figure i would just get myself into more trouble if i buy a race inspired bike like that... So... We got to talking about leftover inventory as he had a 06 CBR1000 there, and then he mentioned the warehouse having two "older" bikes that where new, no miles, but just WAY leftover... Of the two, he has a BRAND NEW 02 RC51, and 03 SuperHawk... And the superhawk is blue, just like my truck...

One of the bikes i had planned to go look at was the SV650, because that style ride was what i was looking for... But when he told me about the SuperHawk, I couldn't help but show some interest... Its a BRAND NEW 03, no miles... still gets warranty.... They are asking $6599 for it... I'm closer to sold at $5500, but figure I would spend $6000 on it and not feel ripped off... I booked them out, and a used 03 in perfect shape should book retail for 5600-5800... so i suppose with a year warrenty, and no miles or previous rider, it could be work 6500 even.. but we shall see...

Anyway... Just wanted to introduce myself as i think i'll be buying the bike, just gonna try and work the price some more....

I'll post pics of the bike when i get it... for now....



The most fun toy CURRENTLY in my garage...

01 Frontier SuperCharged Crew Cab 4wd...
To many mod's to even list...

 

Is the $6599 out the door?

Between you and me, that would be the best deal you're ever likely to get on a new bike as cool as a VTR. But heh, they've been trying to sell that bike for FIVE YEARS.

I'd go in with $6k cash, OTD, and see what they say.

I paid just under $6.3k (plus tx, title etc) for my '03, but that was three years ago next month.

 

Well...

The price is $6599.00, plus $200 destination charge, $10 inspection, $5 tire tax, $45 registration fee's, and 8% sales tax...

So...

6600
525 or so tax
200 destination
45
10
5
----------
$7385 +/- out the door... including tax/tittle/registration

My plan is to get it down to $6500 with tax and all, out the door... Or atleast as close as i can to that....

I agree... the price is not horrible... But i figure that its been there that long, they have to be REALLY wanting to get rid of it... After all, the owner has owned that thing for a LONG time... Plus, its sales, so they figure things monthly, and this month is HORRIBLE for bike purchases up here, its last month of the year, so they have a shot at closing it out before year end.... which i'm sure would make them happy...

So... If i try buying for $5500, and can get them to meet me half way, i get my $6000.00 bike

I will keep you guy's updated... in the mean time, i'm gonna do some search stuff for the undertail piece, and lower faring. Those are the two things i'll probably look into short term... (well, flush blinkers and such too...)

 

Welcome aboard! I live just outside of Buffalo NY and yes its definitely not riding weather these days... Good luck with the purchase, its a great bike.

 

Where abouts? I'm a few miles north of Batavia, Ny. But when/if I become the proud owner of this new bike... We should get them together sometime when there is actually a riding season... lol

I want to hold out on it as long as possible to attempt to make them chase me with a lower price, but am just to excited at the same time... I wanna get it in my garage... lol

 

I think you have a good plan... odds are in your favor that the bike isn't going anywhere quick (not because it's a bad bike by any means) but its winter, and been sitting there for 4 years, plus it's not the latest and greatest so not so hot to have in the squid crowd.

I'd push 5500 out the door, hard. You can always go back a couple days later if you wanna meet their counter offer. From what I've learned on buying used bikes at dealerships... if you have cash in hand, give a reasonable offer, and sign the paperwork right then and there, they are willing to deal.

The other option is to find a used bike... you can find Superhawks with 10k-20k on them for half of that price.... they are basically all the same form 97-06, only difference is the 02's and later have a real gas guage, and the colors.

J.

 

$7385 OTD is hundreds more than I paid for same bike/same year in Jan. of '05. I'll bet they'll take a lot less.

A dealer in Denver has new '03 VTR for $6999 OTD and they've been advertising it for months. I bet they'd take a lot less also.

You can get a good used '03 with under 10k miles for $5k or so. Good luck on bargaining.

 

$6k out the door. Fair for both of you.
Welcome aboard!

 

Well i'm trying to stay new this time around... I'm gonna use the Honda card to pay for it...

I went ahead and had them get me approved ahead of time... So as soon as we agree on terms, I can sign as soon as he can get the paperwork ready...

Hey RK1... The Denver area dealer is advertising $6999 out the door (including taxes?) Seems odd for a dealer to advertise a price with tax included... for one, tax rate can sometimes change between county's/cities... second... tax makes the price higher, so it kinda defeats the point of the advertisement... most will just say $6999 (and have +TTL (tax-title-license)).

 

joshuatest;

That dealership in Denver is owned by the same corporation as the dealership here in So.Ca. where I bought my bike. They own several other dealerships around the country.

Mega dealerships, selling 8 or 10 brands of bikes and advertising "OTD" prices are taking over, at least in urban areas, from mom amd pop outfits.

I'm sure the otd price at Denver dealer is for bike to be registered in Denver. I guess out of state buyer would pay $6999 minus Denver Colorado ttl, which would need to be paid at home state DMV.

 

MMmmmm... The smell of breaking in a new Supe... To quote that nasty lil' ho Rachel Ray, "YUMMO"!

Hope ya buy her, and I am sure there are some great riding roads not more than a few hours ride in upstate NY... Sure as hell beats flat assed Florida!

 

I'm in Cheektowaga right near the Buffalo Airport... would be cool to ride with another SH - a co worker had another '02 but sold it last year.

I bought my '02 in Feb 2005 from Hamburg Honda with 56 miles on it - one of our Buffalo Bills defensive tackles (320 pound guy) bought it originally and was too big for it then upgraded to a big cruiser.

 

Nice... Cheektowa... yea, that word... isn't far at all... So when/if I get this thing, we will have to do some riding when the white stuff goes away, and nice weather returns....

Anyway... 1st... OTD pricing huh? Thats cool... and yes, thats new to me... Seems like it defeats the purpose some... I mean for the buyer, its GREAT.. but from a dealership owners point of view, it seems backwards.. but hell... i'm a buyer, not a dealership owner.. lol

I stopped back in today to check on some things... ask some questions, and lead up to the price... And as of right now, the price is said to be lowest he can go... But I have thought long and hard about it... And I have a payment amount in mind that I want to be at, and at $6599, I would have to put about 600-800 down total to get the figure i wanted... And its christmas time, and i just don't wanna do it... So i'll sit on it for a while and hopefully he will change his mind...

The one and only other bike i was really interested in particularly was the SV650S, which i have loved the look of since i first got the change to see one... I called the Suzuki place today and they don't have any in, but will have 08's the first week of January, and its said to have a $250 rebate on it, and can be bought for $6000.00 with the rebate... I guess its 6400.00, minus rebate, and little discount...

I know the SuperHawk is more bike... but its also a 03. Yes, its got 34HP more, 8 ft/lbs of torque more at lower RPM, and is a HONDA ! hmmm... The the SV is lighter, fuel injected (i think!), and a 08... so i'm really torn here...

I signed up on here fully intending on buying this bike... but after getting the SV pricing, I am having second thoughts on what to buy...

The figures i've found online are

SuperHawk
996cc
104 HP
70 ft/lbs @ 5500 RPM
426lbs wet (i think thats wet weight)

SV650S
645cc
70 HP
62 ft/lbs @ 7000 RPM
395lbs wet (listed as wet weight, so i'm sure)

I think i saw one site listing the SuperHawk at 110hp, but thats close...

come on guy's... talk me into this superhawk.. lol

 

It's all about what you really want. If money is that big of an issue though why not just hold off a while on both. If your last bike was an R6 and you were happy with it you might not be satisfied with either of these bikes and spend a bunch of money on mods.

Check Ebay and Craig's list often and you'll be able to find a good deal on a low milage used one in your price range.

 

Thats of course the best idea... but the problem is... I've got a pretty bad off roading habit. My truck gets WAY to much money devoted to it for that reason... I've got a uncompleted home addition that well, i guess that say's it.. is uncompleted... So... every bike I've ever purchased has been used, and I was supposed to buy another one already... But i keep spending money on the house/truck... So... I can honestly say that It would take FOREVER for me to have enough extra cash to buy a bike with low miles that i really want...

Which is why buying new is so easy.. just finance it on the Honda card.. I have the low payments that i can be secure about, and when i've got a extra grand or so, i can just make a lump sum payment...

Which is why i'm going new.. not because i don't have the money now, and want it now.. but because i know that i'll come up with other stuff to buy with my money, instead of saving the money for the bike...

I can think of WAY to many things for my truck that are under 1000.00 i would surely buy before the pot got big enough to buy the bike....

 

Josh;

The SV and VTR are both great bikes, you can't go wrong with either of them. If the deciding factor was the price, I'd wait for the SVs to come in, I'd offer the Honda dealer the price of the SV. If he didn't grab it, I'd go get the SV. If the Honda guy won't budge on the price on a bike's been collecting dust for 4.5-5 years, let him keep it for another 5 years.

 

RK1, good point...

I think it is coming down to price... The idea of paying more for the 03 is just hard to swallow. Even though i would rather have the Honda. I think i will work with that approach.

And since the 08 SV's won't be out for a few weeks, it gives the Honda guy some time to dwell on it...

 

I'd buy the hawk and not look back. I bought my new 05 in 07 for 6500. The hawk is a lot more bike than the sv650.

By the way, do you know how much the dealer wanted for the RC51?

 

$7999 for the RC51 - i think...

I know the SuperHawk is more bike than the SV650, but its just knowing that the moment i leave with this bike, its a 5yr old, super low milage, used bike... vs. having a 1yr old sv... And while i'm sure i will enjoy the extra bike i get with the superhawk, its still hard to swallow paying more for it...

I think a mint 03 superhawk used it worth 5600-5800. I think paying $6000 is fair... but we shall see..

 

To put it all in perspective I bought mine this August, an '02 with exactly 7000 miles on it for $4000... It looked like it was straight from the showroom, original tires and all. The PO babied the **** out of it and wanted to go buy a VTX.

I am not a big fan of buying new, but there is something to be said about being the first and only person to ride it and break it in.

I agree that either bike is a great choice, but there are a few more "go-fast" bits on the market for the SV which are more readily available than there seem to be for the Superhawk, at least I think so.

 

Well...

The guy at the Honda store today asked me to give him until Monday to work on something... I am supposed to be going to the Suzuki dealer, which isn't as close as the Honda one is, and taking a look at the SV's... They don't have the S model in stock new, but they have some used, and have the plain SV's without the fairing's... So i'll be able to sit on one, and play some... I've ridden the SV's before, so i have a idea of how they handle and feel. I Never got the chance to really ride one like it was mine or anything, so the performance i don't know for sure, but It was still a quick bike.

I'll still go look at the SV's Sunday, but since the 08's won't be in stock until first week of January, there is no real need to commit to anything yet... However i will inquire on rebate value's now, vs. waiting until January to sign.... That may or may not change...

I would love to tell you that I will be able to say i'm a proud SuperHawk owner on Monday, but as of yet, I don't know... keep your fingers crossed for me... (he's going to attempt to get a better rate out of Honda for me... Which would make up the cost differance, and still allow him to hold his price... which is fine with me, as long as the outcome is the same...)

 

62 ft/lb for the sv650. Uuuuhhhh, I think that's a big mistake man. they are usually around 45-47. Double check, but that's a mistake.