The Motorcycle Discussion Thread

[Dayze]

I figure there are some motorcycle guys/gals on CP, so I thought we could have a place to talk all things Motorcycles.

Tire Mount and Balance Prices (as of 10/29/16)

Prices based on if you remove the wheels yourself and bring the wheels and new tires with you:

Cycle Gear - $35 per wheel if you buy tires from them. $58 per wheel if you buy tires elsewhere
Rawhide - $65 per wheel (assuming it would be the same at other HD dealers. they book it at 1/2 hr per wheel)
C R Cycle Tires (DeSoto) - $30 per wheel

Cheapest I've found my Michelin Commander II's. Seem like they have good prices on other brands too.
http://www.jakewilson.com - Free 3 day shipping on orders over $75

[hometeam]

I posted in the gearhead thread about this, but I decided to build a bobber on a whim.

Stock form.




Today.



Still have a lot of small things to do, and a few big things also, but im quite pleased with the progress on the bike, especially considering I dont always have the right tools for what im trying to do.

[Fansy the Famous Bard]

I've only gotten to ride once this season to this point. Just had carpal tunnel release surgery done on monday (to both wrists) so looking forward to getting through this recovery process and back onto the road.

[Dayze]

Figured I'd post this here.
My brother is selling his '08 HD Soft Tail Nightrain. Screen shot of it below.

Basically, he bought it from a guy locally in October 2013, who then bought a HD Street Glide. we sort of all became friends and riding buddies - and actually, the guy is one of the most legit dudes I've met. So glad we all met. But, I digress....Then, that guy sold his Street Glide in September of '16 ....to me. so, my brother and I have bought two bikes from this guy. Crazy how things work out.

As for my brother's Nigh train, solid bike. I think he's put about 25k miles on it since 2013 - his first bike ever. Rode to Sturgis and back on it in 2015 (I think, or maybe 2014). He lowered it 2" I believe because he's a little shorter, probably 5'8" or thereabouts. My brother is the main machinist at ProCharger, and takes care of his cars and bikes, and the guy he bought from is the same. I think my brother is the 3rd owner.

My brother bought a Street Glide in December 2016, so his garage is running out of room. While I don't believe the price is FIRM/no budging, but he's looking to be int he ball park. The bike is paid off, title in hand, but he doesn't have to sell it. But, he would like to sell it (if that makes sense).


I can get some better pics upon request. IM me if you want to keep your info private and I can put you in touch with him if interested. It's his deal, I'm out of it in terms of getting involved (beyond putting anyone in contact with him etc); won't have any hard feelings at all if anything doesn't work out etc. Or post questions in here and I'll relay them if I don't already know the answer.





...just to see if everyone is still paying attention; me and my friend.

[Hog Rider]

Watching the Sacramento mile on http://www.fanschoice.tv/watch-live/american-flat-track
Joe Kopp rode a couple exhibition laps on a four cylinder two stroke TZ750 Yamaha like the one Kenny Roberts won the Indy mile on back in the '70s. I was at that race - it was crazy. Roberts could gain fifty to a hundred feet on the straightaways, but lose it to the Harleys in the corners. After the race Corky Keener said "I heard that screamin' son-of-a -biatch comin' and knew it was over. Passed Keener and Springsteen as I recall at the finish line for the win. I think there were three of them entered but only Roberts made the main. The cords of the rear tire were showing - one more lap and it may not have finished or worse for King Kenny.

That was a great race: night-time at Indy, wow.

[hometeam]

I have been slowly but surely building the bike. Have come a long way and got some really special stuff yet to come~

[Dayze]

Noice

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by mac459

I was about to buy one but when I went and talked to them about it they would not negotiate at all..they wouldn't even come down $500..they guy I started talking to was a complete dick and I just got up and told momma let's go..he said to me are you really going to let $500 to $1000 keep you from a new bike..I looked at him and said yep.. got to the truck and someone ran out said hold on let's talk..they were nicer but still wouldn't come off their price so I just left figured I would ride the Road King one more year
...

Mind if I ask what dealership was this?

I had a similar experience at Rawhide Harley in Olathe. I found the bike I wanted in June/July 2013. I had already gone through the process and knew everything I wanted to add on to it. Topeka HD ran up the quote on it. I wanted to see if any of the KC dealerships could make me a better deal.

While sitting at the table trying to negotiate with the sales man, they kept telling me oh you don't need this and that. They didn't seem willing to give me what I wanted for a good price. They weren't willing to come down much at all. When he went to talk to his manager I stepped outside and called the salesman at Topeka HD. I told him I where I was and asked if he would be willing to make me a better deal. Topeka HD was willing to take off $1000 and also give me a $250 gift card. Sold! I just walked outside to get on my bike a ride back to Topeka. Pretty soon a guy came running after me and asked why I was leaving. I just said that they weren't able to deal so I was leaving. He did the same thing, tried to talk me into coming back inside saying oh we can work with the numbers, blah blah. I left anyway.

This was late on a Friday afternoon. The manager of my wife's work employee credit, bless her heart, took the check down to Topeka HD so that I would be able to get the bike that day and have it for the weekend. Talk about service. We sent her flowers the next week. What a nice lady.

[Dayze]

similar experience with Rawhide. took 4 different trips up there to get to the deal I wanted in the first visit. I live really close and was always up there for bike nights, parts etc so the 4 trips wasn't a big deal. but it's like, ...dude.....I know what they go for / market value and my offer was $300 over that.

First visit I said I'd offer $18 k for a particular bike and wanteed $7800 for my trade.. they wanted $21k and offered $5k for my trade.. after 4 visits and multiple walk-outs, i got the bike for 18.2k. They tried the same stuff, tried to keep me there etc. Our 1st visit we were sitting there waiting for an hour for the main sales guys/manager to get back with us on our offer/counter-offer etc. I looked at my wife and said "5 more minutes, and we're out". 5 minutes came and went, and we get up to leave and they circles the wagons to try to keep us there. I was just Like "nah...i have shit to do. I'm not sitting here all day to give you money. This isn't that complicated. Don't nee you to bust out the 4 square and mess with term and rate to 'make the numbers work. Let me worry about term and rate.....you and i just focus on the net difference of the new bike and trade" lol.

about a month later, they got another used model in the color etc that I wanted, called me. we went and rode it and they said "you want to go inside and talk numbers", and I said "my number is still the same so if you're close to that, we can maybe work something out. If you're at $19k or more, don't even bother". They said "I think you'll be pleased, come on in." Easy peasy at that point. $18.2k for the bike and $7500 for my trade.


Worth was awesome to work with. bought my sporty with about 5 minutes of haggling. done.
If i were to ever buy at a dealership again, Worth would be my first choice here locally in KC. Rawhide probably wouldn't even be in the discussion.

[Dayze]

one other thing....My $.02.

anyone going to a dealership absolutely needs know what they're talking about in terms of make/model market value and trade value BEFORE even thinking about 'talking numbers'. This is true anywhere, but ESPECIALLY true at motorcycle dealerships. and DOUBLE ESPECIALLY at Rawhide lol.

on one hand, you don't want to go in there and offer $14k for a $20k bike because you'll look like a fool and they'll know you either don't know what you're talking about, and on the other they'll probably be like 'screw this guy...we're not coming off the price". I had a friend of mine who had $10k in cash money and said "I'm going to offier them $10k on a $17k street glide". I laughed and said "there's absolutely no way they're going to do that". he said "why not? I've got CASH". lol. BFD dude. yeah, maybe that would work on a bike they have for $12k....but they're not going to eat $7k just because you have cash. and I was right.

once they realize you're straight up, legit interested, and know you know what the market is on the bike/trade etc, they're more likely to just say "ok, let's just do it, make a few hundred, and move on to another person who might not know what they're talking about and make a few grand".

The other thing I didn't like about Rawhide was they had like a $450 'reconditioning' fee on used bikes, and a something like a $400 'title/paperwork processing" fee. Maybe not those exact numbers, but total, it was about $800. Not sure if this is the case at every dealer in the area or not. But they absolutely wouldn't take those off. So, right off the top, they're making $800. and I'm sure the 'recondition'ing' is an oil change and someone wiping down the bike. My bike was filthy even after the 'reconditioning'. So, $800 right off the bat.....and if you end up paying $2k above market etc / get taken courtesty of the four square game....they're making money hand over fist on selling bikes and I don't feel bad about going up there for free beers on bike nights lol.

[Fansy the Famous Bard]

My rawhide experience, i bought a slim for the wife about 5 years ago. I got the deal we wanted after playing rheir back and forth game for awhile . At first I almost left when the sales guy told ne "this is how much your mothly payment will be. Lets get it done." I asked what the trade and sale price was, his response was " does that matter? We got your payments where you want them". I about flipped my shit. We worked ipadt that after i explained it does matter and he realized i wasnt gonba be bamboozled.

At the end I said to the sales manager that i will only do the deal if i could have a hoodie i liked from upstairs. He said "done!". I went and got the hoodie and finished the paperwork etc. I shook the hand of the manager of the sales guy, who said "nice choice on the hoodie." When i responded that it was part of the deal, he about flipped his shit this time. Literaly tried to get that reversed. He was irate about the freaking hoodie. Paperwork was already done and the hoodie was actually part of the deal in writing. Im sure some butts got chewed... but jesus to get angry about upgrading from a $20 shirt to a $70 hoodie? gimme a break.

Had i not already have bought the bike and spent half the day there, i would have left over that alone. That place is horrible.

[Tombstone RJ]

Originally Posted by hometeam

I have been slowly but surely building the bike. Have come a long way and got some really special stuff yet to come~

Love it! Love that you're keeping functional things like shaft drive and big disc brakes up front. Does it have drum brake on back?

[Perineum Ripper]

Originally Posted by Lzen

Mind if I ask what dealership was this?

I had a similar experience at Rawhide Harley in Olathe. I found the bike I wanted in June/July 2013. I had already gone through the process and knew everything I wanted to add on to it. Topeka HD ran up the quote on it. I wanted to see if any of the KC dealerships could make me a better deal.

While sitting at the table trying to negotiate with the sales man, they kept telling me oh you don't need this and that. They didn't seem willing to give me what I wanted for a good price. They weren't willing to come down much at all. When he went to talk to his manager I stepped outside and called the salesman at Topeka HD. I told him I where I was and asked if he would be willing to make me a better deal. Topeka HD was willing to take off $1000 and also give me a $250 gift card. Sold! I just walked outside to get on my bike a ride back to Topeka. Pretty soon a guy came running after me and asked why I was leaving. I just said that they weren't able to deal so I was leaving. He did the same thing, tried to talk me into coming back inside saying oh we can work with the numbers, blah blah. I left anyway.

This was late on a Friday afternoon. The manager of my wife's work employee credit, bless her heart, took the check down to Topeka HD so that I would be able to get the bike that day and have it for the weekend. Talk about service. We sent her flowers the next week. What a nice lady.

Oh hell..thats been a while ago but I'm pretty positive it was Gateay Harley

They would not budge at all..price was over market and had stupid shit like fresh service or reconditioned service fee and a stupid price for their doc fees..never going back to that place

[hometeam]

Originally Posted by Tombstone RJ

Love it! Love that you're keeping functional things like shaft drive and big disc brakes up front. Does it have drum brake on back?

Yes its a drum brake on the back, it actually works just fine. I also have new EBC sintered brake pads that should show up in the next few days, I think that will really improve the braking because TBH, that worn, stock, single disc isnt what im used too.

I suppose one could argue that a 'true' bobber would have things like the front brake removed etc, but Im just hobby building it and I want to actually ride it~ I chose the v star specifically because of the shaft drive/air cooled powertrain in a small cruiser

I'm gonna go real deep on it this week. Relocate starter controls and install new throttle to clean up handlebars, start mocking up and fabbing the mounts for the new tank, I am also going to try and find anything else I can remove from the bike to lighten it up and clear off the frame, so any un-needed wiring, brackets, bits and bobs are about to go buh bye.

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by fahrenheit

My rawhide experience, i bought a slim for the wife about 5 years ago. I got the deal we wanted after playing rheir back and forth game for awhile . At first I almost left when the sales guy told ne "this is how much your mothly payment will be. Lets get it done." I asked what the trade and sale price was, his response was " does that matter? We got your payments where you want them". I about flipped my shit. We worked ipadt that after i explained it does matter and he realized i wasnt gonba be bamboozled.

At the end I said to the sales manager that i will only do the deal if i could have a hoodie i liked from upstairs. He said "done!". I went and got the hoodie and finished the paperwork etc. I shook the hand of the manager of the sales guy, who said "nice choice on the hoodie." When i responded that it was part of the deal, he about flipped his shit this time. Literaly tried to get that reversed. He was irate about the freaking hoodie. Paperwork was already done and the hoodie was actually part of the deal in writing. Im sure some butts got chewed... but jesus to get angry about upgrading from a $20 shirt to a $70 hoodie? gimme a break.

Had i not already have bought the bike and spent half the day there, i would have left over that alone. That place is horrible.

Good God, that's ridiculous! **** that place.

[Dayze]

Originally Posted by hometeam

Yes its a drum brake on the back, it actually works just fine. I also have new EBC sintered brake pads that should show up in the next few days, I think that will really improve the braking because TBH, that worn, stock, single disc isnt what im used too.

I suppose one could argue that a 'true' bobber would have things like the front brake removed etc, but Im just hobby building it and I want to actually ride it~ I chose the v star specifically because of the shaft drive/air cooled powertrain in a small cruiser

I'm gonna go real deep on it this week. Relocate starter controls and install new throttle to clean up handlebars, start mocking up and fabbing the mounts for the new tank, I am also going to try and find anything else I can remove from the bike to lighten it up and clear off the frame, so any un-needed wiring, brackets, bits and bobs are about to go buh bye.

I just put the same on my street glide a few weeks back when I replaced the rotors. really like them so far. a very rare squeal here and there, but nothing I'm worried about. they seem to grab well but still have good feel. haven't had a super heavy/ emergency type braking event with them yet, but based on what I've experienced so far, I'm sure they'll do awesome.