Thinking of buying a new motorcycle, what should I know?

I have been thinking of buying a motorcycle and have decided to as the mighty GRM hive for input. The bike in question is the Harley-Davidson Iron 833, I like the size and looks of the bike and the price is within my range.

http://www.harley-davidson.com/en_US/Motorcycles/iron-883.html#/c/gallery

Since I have never purchased a new bike how much wiggle room is in the deal and how flexible will / should I find the dealer? Any back door stuff I should know about? I am well versed in purchasing cars but have zero experience with motorcycles.

Thanks Paul B

Ride the Iron first before you make a decision. There is no rear travel in the bike and it suffers for it.

The 48 rides a bit better IMO and is worth the little bit extra in terms of money.

The 48 caught my eye but the small fuel tank (2 U.S Gallon) is kind of a put off, BUT the fat front tire is nice looking

Thanks for the input wearymicrobe.

Paul B

wearymicrobe wrote: Ride the Iron first before you make a decision. There is no rear travel in the bike and it suffers for it. The 48 rides a bit better IMO and is worth the little bit extra in terms of money.

XR1200X?

I sell Harleys at www.halshd.com

Feel free to contact me...Erik

Dealer prep and depreciation were enough to make me swear off new motorcycles forever.

There are enough low mileage 883s for sale by people who aren't quite as cool as they thought they were that you shouldn't even consider buying new.

Sorry, Erik.

Woody wrote: Dealer prep and depreciation were enough to make me swear off new motorcycles forever. There are enough low mileage 883s for sale by people who aren't quite as cool as they thought they were that you shouldn't even consider buying new. Sorry, Erik.

Maybe get one with a shot engine and save a few bucks while getting exactly what you want.

Woody wrote: Dealer prep and depreciation were enough to make me swear off new motorcycles forever. There are enough low mileage 883s for sale by people who aren't quite as cool as they thought they were that you shouldn't even consider buying new. Sorry, Erik.

We don't charge freight and prep. And we sell a ton of inspected, pre-owned bikes too.

Well, there you go. My apologies.

The only new bikes I have bought were race bikes because, well, race bike. At the time (1996-2001) 4 stroke technology was changing so quickly that a two year old bike was not at all competitive. Otherwise, someone else took the depeciation hit and I had all the fun.

ST_ZX2 wrote: I sell Harleys at www.halshd.com Feel free to contact me...Erik

Can you sell out of region?

wearymicrobe wrote: Ride the Iron first before you make a decision. There is no rear travel in the bike and it suffers for it.

For the same price as the Iron 883, check out the 883 Super Low. Better ride than the Iron.

Donebrokeit wrote: The 48 caught my eye but the small fuel tank (2 U.S Gallon) is kind of a put off, BUT the fat front tire is nice looking

The Iron has a 3.3g tank, the Super Low has a 4.5g tank.

wearymicrobe wrote:

ST_ZX2 wrote: I sell Harleys at www.halshd.com Feel free to contact me...Erik

Can you sell out of region?

I can sell pre-owned bike to anyone in the universe...new bikes to US addresses only (not CA--due to emmissions).

FWIW RealMini and Mrs RealMini bought their bikes from me.

FWIW Mrs RealMini now sells bikes at Hal's, too.

RealMiniDriver wrote: FWIW Mrs RealMini now sells bikes at Hal's, too.

Yeah...but she's not a GRMer (is she)?

I mean how cool is it that your sales person is so great that you want to go with him!

Donebrokeit wrote: The 48 caught my eye but the small fuel tank (2 U.S Gallon) is kind of a put off, BUT the fat front tire is nice looking Thanks for the input wearymicrobe. Paul B

Tanks are easy to swap, there has to be someone with will pay dearly for a factory peanut tank. I will say over say 80-90 miles on a 48/883/Iron I would want some off the bike time anyway.

Unless your one of the crazies who likes doing iron butts.

ST_ZX2 wrote:

wearymicrobe wrote:

ST_ZX2 wrote: I sell Harleys at www.halshd.com Feel free to contact me...Erik

Can you sell out of region?

I can sell pre-owned bike to anyone in the universe...new bikes to US addresses only (not CA--due to emmissions).

Crappy California.

I bought a year-old V-Star that was new but unsold, at the worst point in the recent recession, and got a fantastic deal. My impression is that there is a lot more competition between the Japanese manufacturers and therefore better deals.