I was asking comments about the DEAL, not the bike. I know the C14 is the bike I want (THAT was what I meant), even though the BMW K1600GT was the intended replacement for the recalled 2014 RT, with the $26K BMW gave me back. This will be my cheapest bike in over a decade, so a compliment to Kawi. And yes, I can tolerate any RELEVANT negative comment just fine. But being called a troll is high-school crap (plus all the other irrelevant comments). Life's too short to put up with that crap on ANY forum, and that's what ignore lists are for . And no, I'm not going to ignore you for that. Have a good one.
Well, salesman called that the deal was on, but only today. He never replied with the broken-down total to make sure no crap fee was being sneaked in, and banks are about to close, so I'm sure it'll be done Friday. Will probably go visit the dealer so I can scrutinize the bike with a fine comb, and be ready to do the deal on Friday if bike could be made perfect, either with buffing or part(s) replacement. Will keep you posted.
I do appolgise about the troll thing, it was a bad choice on my part, and admonitions have and are noted. You are new here, and that is no excuse for my actions, it was poor timing, and judgement by me. With this said, I have been here a long time, seen a lot of similar flameouts, and am a longtime proponent of both the C14, and the C10, and being a past Technical Editor of COG, who bought the C14 out of pocket, for the purpose of being able to assist, and carry on the transfer of technical assistance the group has grown with; just saw the epically long posts as a diatribe so to speak. Again, I'm sorry. If you hang here long enough, and get to know us a bit better, you will know what I am saying.
As for your dealers pricing, and his "deals", he needs to get realistic. He's sitting on old stock, and trying to make a generous profit at the expense of getting in new in new stock. I don't beat up a dealer for trying to recoup costs, but in reality, they should have sold those off a long time ago.. its all on the dealer, if they don't "sell" bikes, they just have a place you can "buy" a bike.. in my opinion, the dealer on old stock, and especially when it has cosmetic damage, needs to write it off, move it out the door, and become a dealer of higher level statute within KHI.
When you mention the salesman going to "the boss" to get a pricing, he's blowing you a line of $#!+ he ain't going to the boss...
You need to go to "the boss" and tell him exactly what you are willing to pay, and stick to it on a 1 or 2 year old showroom bike... most dealers have no idea the way salesmen rip them off... let's see, the word "comission" ever come to mind? The dealership owner doesn't get "commision" but he sure as hell doesn't realize how screwed he gets paying it to apathetic employees...
I'll suggest calling the people we know at Ultimate Cycle, in Richmond Va, and get the bottom line price otd ( out the door means the total, bike, prep, shipping, TAX and Title, the TOTAL figure you'd write a check for) and id be surprised if Pete can't beat everyone accross the USA. Hands down.
He wants that old stock off the floor, at all costs. And he will do a breakeven pricing to assure his status, and his supply of NEW stock will be delivered when he requests it. Kaw is funny, when a dealer with let's just say, 10 bikes of the previous year, and maybe 3 bikes of the prior year, are sitting on your floor...
They are not gonna forward brand new stuff to you without money down, from the dealership, to sit like what was demonstrated by their prior history. On the other hand, a dealer that has maybe 2 prior bikes sitting, and a track history of stock movement, will get their attention, and get the new stock as soon as its available...
Prices came down drastically this year on the new C14. Intended to provoke the outlets to sell off old stock. If those outlets refuse to sell, at a reasonable price (I.e. invoice plus a minimal profit) they will own them, and won't get the new bikes.... and eventually will shut down... because they were greedy, and lathargic in their sales.
I hope this is helpful. I believe the prices you were quoting from the dealers could be chopped by about 8-9% easily, and they still would profit. Now, would I go to those same dealerships for service? Mehhhh prolly not, even if it was warrenty service, and I surely wouldn't trust them.
When I made mention of riding before buying, it wasn't meant to be an insult. I bought mine 7/7/07 without ever throwing a leg over, luckily this bike fits my stature perfectly, we have been luckily able to co-erce big K to come to our National Rally from that point on, and bring mega bikes for members to ride and decide if they fit. It was a wise thing, and provoked by a few of us here, and they keep on doing it, knowing it is important to make sure people actually fit the bike. The C14 is a tall, and heavy bike, and wheeling it around, or moving it can be a challenge, low speed querky surface manouvers are even more dangerous, my comment that it ain't for everyone was not unjustified... we have a CDA list that proves this (connie droppers annoynmous).
Within the first 5 years of the C14 production, I can say I saw about 15 to 20% of buyers sell off, simply because the bike didn't fit them, and many of those people spent a bunch of money trying to make it fit. When you add up lowering links, seats, bar mods, shocks, tires, etc it can get to $1k real fast...
And then they sell it, and that money was a waste, because the next person may neer had needed those things...
I say this all, having owned, serviced, tech'd, and ridden this bike for 7-1/2 years.
I do hope you get a good price, and I do hope you're happy with whatever transpires.
Merry Christmas.